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this week that she is still optimistic that the mys- tery into her brother’s death will be solved. She has appealed to anyone with information on the killing to come forward. “It seems to have been left there, shelved. There doesn’t seem to be

anything new. It is maddening, gall- ing. You keep thinking you might get a phone call but there is nothing,” said Ms Horgan.

“However we can’t give up hope and we hope that something will happen yet,” she added.

Ms Horgan lives in Ballyheigue, County Kerry and has not had direct contact with gardai probing the death. However her brother, Ray, who re- sides just 100 yards from where Sean lived in Ardnacrusha has liaised with the investigation team. But there has been no breakthrough as of yet.

“I am appealing to anyone with information, anyone who knows something and if they were afraid to say anything all along, to go to the guards now, five years on,’ she said.

“I know there might be fear in- volved as well. It could be that, but if they went to the guards they would never be known. Is it that they don’t understand what the family is going through?” she asked.

She said she firmly believed some- one was staying quiet and was refus-

ing to disclose information which might lead to the murder being solved.

‘There is not a hope that someone doesn’t know something. It is fright to see an innocent man left there. We don’t even have a proper idea why he was killed. Along with not knowing who, we don’t know why,” she said.

“They (the killers) are out there free. They could do it to anybody else. Have they any conscience at all’? How do you live with that?” she asked.

‘All we know is he was kind and soft-hearted. A lot of people wouldn’t have cars without him. He more or less told them to pay whenever they had money,’ said Ms Horgan.

“It doesn’t get any easier for us. It is like a burden you are carrying around. Maybe if there was some bit of closure it might help, but it is not going to bring him back,” she said.

One month before Sean was gunned down, Limerick nightclub bouncer Brian Fitzgerald was murdered at his home in Corbally, Limerick. Four

men were tried in relation to this case at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin this year. That trial concluded in November. Three of the men were acquitted, while the other, a 24-year- old, was found guilty of murder.

Ms Horgan said the breakthrough in that case left her with some hope that her brother’s killers would be caught.

“Brian Fitzgerald was killed just a month before Sean. We kept hoping that something might come out of Sean’s case, even though they were completely different cases,’ she said.

Mr Poland was born in Portum- na, County Galway and his family moved to Ardnacrusha several years ago. Sean had lived at the family home when he was murdered. His father and brother have since moved back to Clontuskert in east Galway.

‘HOW is my annual leave entitlement calculated? My employer hasn’t giv- en me a payslip – what do I do? What is the new Green Card employment permit? What is custom and practice in the workplace?’

These are just some of the ques- tions answered by the Citizens In- formation Board’s booklet, ‘Employ- ment Rights Explained’, which was

launched earlier this week. Now in its fourth edition, the guide is part of the board’s ‘entitlements Series’, which empowers citizens to obtain access to information on their rights.

According to Paul Woulfe, man- ager with the Citizens Information Service in Clare, “It is hoped that the booklet will be a useful and practical geulide for employees, employers and new comers to our country who take Vue mesento)onisnsloislmssuer

“If you are starting work for the first time check out the sections on contracts, wages and hours of work. The new year will bring a plethora of work-related queries to our cen- tres throughout the county – mostly as aresult of not knowing what basic rights you have as an employee in the workplace.

The Clare Citizens Information cen- tres received 30,/66 queries during 2006 and a growing number relate to

the area of employment rights.

‘This is not surprising as the range of employment options has expanded in recent years and includes part- time work, agency work, fixed term contracts and temporary employ- ment. We also assist clients in bring- ing cases to the Employment Appeals Tribunal and offering representation at Rights Commissioner hearings,” added Paul Woulfe.

The guide includes a summary of

key employment rights and brings together information from different government departments and agen- cies. Each chapter includes a list of the relevant legislation, a section on where and how to enforce your rights and a case study showing how the law works in practice. The latest edi- tion includes a new chapter on seek- ing redress, an expanded chapter on employment permits, a glossary and a detailed index.

DISBELIEF, amazement, agony, glory turned into depression. Just some of the expressions used to de- scribe the Clare Junior team’s year in review. Camogie in Clare enjoyed new heights in popularity as the Jun- ior team forged its way to an All-Ire- land final appearance in Croke Park. The coverage that camogie got this year opened the minds of many to the game and the girls playing it.

This coupled with the live coverage on the final day and the lead up to it allowed the sporting people of Clare watch and enjoy what was a skilful game of camogie and wait in hope of that elusive All-Ireland title. This seemed to be in the offering as the final few seconds ticked down but the announcement of six minutes of injury time which turned into eight did little for the nerves.

Then within 30 seconds of that eventual full-time whistle the pow- ers that be in Croke Park had to whip the saffron and blue ribbons from the New Ireland Cup and re-adorn it with the red and white of Derry as a last gasp goal denied the girls of the Banner.

Strange as it may seem, this loss

has awoken the plight of camogie to an even greater number of people within the county as support over- flowed in the county. Those who never before batted an eyelid at the mention of camogie were now inter- ested and expressed their wishes for Clare to succeed.

That team, after losing the All-Ire- land, went on to win a Munster title, proving their mettle and gave some consolation to the deserving players.

The management of the Junior team was only established in February and with games fast approaching there was little time for settling down.

The team quickly got into training and markers laid down for all. The team had wins in the League over Kildare, Offaly, Derry, Antrim and a draw with Down which gave them a place in a play-off with Down for the league final. With little between these teams in the last number of years, Down edged this encounter by a one point margin. Clare threw themselves into preparations for the championship and with easy home wins against Antrim and Down, Clare then had a thirteen week wait to the All-Ireland semi-final, after Kildare failed to field and the sem1i- final dates were changed.

Clare were impressive winners over Waterford in that semi-final and faced an All-Ireland final appear- ance with Derry, one point losers the year before. Clare were confident of their ability heading into that final and many will say that they were extremely unfortunate to have lost in the way that they did.

With a young squad of players and six of the panel Under 18, the fu- ture 1S positive for this team. There are no retirements from the team at the moment, there is the return of Laura Linnane and Claire McMa- hon to look forward to and they also possess many strong underage play- ers. This will make competition for places very tough in the coming year which should be extremely beneficial for the Junior team.

This team represented Clare in the Munster Intermediate Final in Octo- ber and while the team was largely comprised of the All-Ireland squad, there were additions to the panel as some were unavailable. Shona En- right, Chloe Morey, Mary Clune, Ci- ara Lynch were all part of that panel and should be amongst those pushing for places this coming year.

Captain Deirdre Murphy and corner forward Claire Commane were both

nominated for All-Stars and although they were unsuccessful in that chal- lenge, the nominations were merited after solid displays from Deirdre at centre back who was a driving force for Clare throughout the campaign. In a position where she was unaccus- tomed to, Deirdre quickly settled in and was easily the best centre back in the Junior Championship.

Claire was Clare’s top scorer and added 1-6 in the All-Ireland fi- nal and received the player of the game award. Just some of the stars that shone through were Catherine O’Loughlin who had had a strong campaign at centre forward and Kate Lynch, Carina Roseingrave who made huge contributions as younger players. Dee Corcoran was very re- liable at full back while behind her Denise Lynch had kept Clare ahead in the semi-final with some fine saves and catches. Aoife Ryan had a great campaign as did Sharon O’ Loughlin, Amy Colleran, Sharon McMahon, Cathy Hally and Jane Scanlon.

The panel was then bolstered by the presence of Siobhan and Fiona Lafferty, Helen McMahon, Aimee McInerney, Aine O’Brien, Stehanie Moloney, Maire O’Halloran, Jane O’Leary, Edel Keating, Aiveen

O’Shea, Aoife Griffen and Rachel Lynch.

Clare are now ready to re-group and are anxious to start into a new campaign. They’re again setting their sights on preparing for a challenge on the All-Ireland title and the hope to lead Clare to the Senior ranks.

CHILDCARE, education, social housing, training, healthcare and physical infrastructure were the ar- eas targeted for investment in Clare under the National Development Plan during the past year.

Childcare services were allocated funding of €7.3 million for such projects as Cuan Aire Creche in En- nis, Kildysart Community Focus and West Clare Early Years Care and Education Service.

Ten schools received funding to manage their own building projects, while under the Summer Works Scheme, 26 schools received a total of €2.1 million for remedial works. Schools to benefit included Quilty National School, Ennis Community College and Kilrush Community School. A number of health projects were completed, including the Health Clinic Extension in Ennistymon which received over €500,000.

Meanwhile hundreds of local people are employed due to participation on a wide range of FAS training courses and other programmes. Industry and jobs have been created through the support of the NDP-funded County Enterprise Board (CEB). Clare CEB was allocated over €874,000 with 28 different projects grant aided. Com- panies included De Barra Publishing Ltd; Authentic Ireland Travel and Olga O’ Malley Childcare Creche.

Clare received €14.9 million for social housing, including projects in Sixmilebridge, Corofin, Scar- riff, Killaloe and Kuildysart. Over €332,000 for voluntary housing was provided for projects such as Kilmi- hil Community Housing and the Banner Housing Association. The Local Development Social Inclu- sion Programme (LDSIP) continued to fund local partnerships like Eiri Corca Baiscinn, Ennis West Partners and OBAIR, Newmarket-on-Fergus Limited.

The Clare Accessible Transport Initiative, which provides services to rural communities, was also assisted, while €900,000 was allocated for refurbishment of the Bus Eireann station in Ennis. Over €20million was allocated to non-national roads including the Ballybeg Road.

Over €25 million was allocated for national road improvements and maintenance. The opening of the En- nis Bypass is estimated to have taken 20,000 vehicles a day off the streets of Ennis.

The second phase of the NDP’s Metropolitan Area Networks pro- gramme will see the roll-out of broadband infrastructure to many towns. Kilrush was selected for this scheme and the network is currently under construction.

The waste infrastructure grant in 2007 was over €1.04 million to pro- mote greater use of recycling and

recovery. The allocation to upgrade and expand water treatment capac- ity, improve drinking water quality and supply, and improve and expand wastewater treatment was over €24

million. €24 million was allocated to upgrade and expand water treat- ment services.

Clare received an allocation of €1.13 million for tourism develop-

ment. The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre opened and other projects included Blackhead Angling Facili- ties and Lough Derg International Waterpark.

A CLARE politician has accused the HSE of telling lies in its response to a query from Kilrush Town Council.

Outspoken Councillor Deirdre Cul- ligan (Ind) was reacting to a response to a query about the future of Ennis General Hospital and its services, presented to councillors at their De- cember meeting. In the letter the HSE reiterated its statement that the mam- mography unit at Ennis would not be recommissioned.

It said its decision was driven by the “need to provide the best possible clinical practices for patients in the mid-west”.

The letter added that, as a stand- alone unit, Ennis would not have the benefits and protections of a centre of excellence with the associated “checks and balances”.

Cllr Culligan asked, “If the mam- mography machine at Ennis General Hospital is not to be recommissioned, why does the planning application for the re-development of the hospital make provision for a Mammography Unit at the Hospital – with separate offices for two radiologists?

“The HSE refuses to accept that dig- ital mammogram equipment at Ennis would enable women to have the con- venience of having a mammogram in Ennis – and it could be relayed digit- ally for analysis by teams working at

the cancer centre,’ she said.

“It 1s worth noting that Prof Tom Keane, who 1s heading up the cancer programme, has said he accepts the case of localised cancer services sup- porting the cancer centres.”

The town council also asked the HSE what its plans were for the hos- pital. The HSE replied that it had en- gaged an “independent management consultant” to review the services and visit the hospitals in the mid-west. In addition to site visits, a number of fact finding interviews were held with consultant representation from each of the hospitals, senior nurses, GP representatives, ambulance, risk management staff were interviewed.

“Individuals or bodies were encour- aged to forward written submissions in relation to the scope of the current and future service activity for consid- eration. The management consultants are currently finalising their report,” the HSE said.

“The HSE reneged on public under- takings that the Teamwork consult- ants (independent consultants) would consult widely with all stake-holders. SW sleavas nate Mm sl Oe MnO elomm elo yo)lesDemere)ecuseNI tee for just 30 minutes. It is com- pletely untrue to claim Teamwork invited public submissions – no pub- lic notices inviting submissions were advertised,” said Cllr Culligan.

“I don’t agree with that response. I think it is a heap of lies.”

THERE have been calls for Ennis Town Council to provide a more detailed breakdown of expenditure after it was shown that €38,000 was spent on training and sending coun- cilors to conferences.

Expenditure figures for 2006 re- vealed in the council’s budget, also show that spending on expenses rose by €2,700, from an estimated figure of €27,000 at the start of 2007, to 29,700.

The amount spent on members training and conferences was also up on estimated figures from €35,000 to €38,000.

Green Party councillor Donal O’Bearra said the figure was too high and has called for the nine-members of the council to be provided with a breakdown of what the money was Spent on.

“If you divide €38,000 by nine, it works out at almost €4,000 and then add on the figure for expenses, which works out at €3,000, 1t means that €7,000 was drawn down by each councillor. I can certainly say that I haven’t drawn down €7,000 or any- thing near that figure. I would like to think that we will be provided with a breakdown and I will be looking for one”.

Cllr O’Bearra also questioned the

merit of sending the councilors to conferences, saying, in his experi- ence, they were poorly attended.

Speaking last week at Ennis Town Council’s budget meeting Town Man- ager Tom Coughlan said trips abroad and conferences allowed members to observe examples of best practice.

He said, ““When we went to Brug- ges, it was allowing us to see best practice in operation.

Meanwhile, each of Clare’s 3,000 plus rate payers will this week re- ceive an abridged version of the Clare County Council Annual Report for 2007. This moves comes after a mo- tion tabled by Cllr Martin Conway (FG) earlier this year calling for the

local authority to be more account- able to the people who fund it.

This is the first time that details of the council’s budget will be posted to ratepayers.

‘For too long now we have had a situation in this county and in this county where there is not enough accountability. It’s all been one way traffic and | think that the rate payers deserve to know what their money is being spent on,” said Conway.

“I felt like there was no feed back at all to the rate payers of the county. But this will help keep people in- formed about the positive things that are going on within the council as well as the not so positive things.”

AN OUTBREAK of measles in the county has led the Health Service Ex- ecutive to issue a warning to parents to have their children immunised.

There has been one confirmed case of measles in Ennis and two other suspected measles cases in Clare in the past few weeks.

According to the HSE the parents of children in contact with the con- firmed case of measles have been advised to ensure that their children have two doses of MMR, which offers 99 per cent protection against measles.

The MMR vaccine is part of the routine immunisation from GPs. It is usually given when a baby is 12 months old and again when the child is four to five years of age.

The HSE is now asking all parents in Clare to ensure their children have oreo eMDOSDOSIUNOD ILO D

“Tf your child has not had the MMR vaccine and is over 12 months of age, please contact your GP. If you have public health queries in rela-

tion to measles, please contact the Department of Public Health on 061- 483337 and one of the doctors will be able to help you,” a spokesman said.

According to the VHI website, measles is an acute, highly infectious viral disease that attacks the respira- tory system, eyes, gut and skin.

It mainly affects children between two and five years of age, although it can occur at any age. In Ireland, the number of cases tends to rise in win- ter and spring.

In recent years some _ parents have delayed having their children vaccinated against measles due to reports suggesting a possible link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism and bowel disease.

Uptake levels have remained low in parts of the country. In the year 2000 over 1,500 new cases of the disease and two deaths due to complications associated with measles were report- ed to the National Disease Surveil- lance Centre. This compares to 147 cases the previous year.

THE business community has criti- cised as unfair Ennis Town Coun- cil’s decision to increase commercial rates to 4 per cent.

The council approved the 4.8 per cent rate hike at its annual budget meeting last week.

Explaining the decision, town man- ager Tom Coughlan said in his re- port to the council that rates may not come down for a number of years.

‘The increase in the rate on valua- tion in 2007 of 4.8 per cent continued a downward trend in the rate on in- crease over the previous three years. The proposed increase of 4 per cent

in 2008 continues that trend for a fifth year. While it is an objective of the council to reduce the rate of increase, as has been achieved in re- cent years, it must be acknowledged that a future economic downturn, a reduction in central funding, increas- ing energy costs, increase in interest rates or unanticipated events may not allow this objective to be achieved in future years.”

However, in a statement, Ennis Chamber of Commerce said, “While Ennis Chamber acknowledges the proposed reduction in the increase of the commercial rate to 4 per cent, it is still an increase nonetheless. The business community funded 39 per

cent of the council’s expenditure in 2007 and this will increase to 40 per cent this year. Ennis Chamber will continue to reiterate that this is not a fair Share and reflective in the number of businesses that have ceased trad- ing in Ennis in recent years’.

Figures in the budget project that businesses in Ennis will pay €4.9 million in rates next year.

In his report, Mr Coughlan said, “The budget does not make provi- sion for any increase in car-parking charges. This measure will benefit members of the public who wish to conduct business in Ennis and also businesses which are dependent on the public. Provision is made for an

increase in parking permits, which have not increased since 2005, this increase is less than €1 per week.”

Parking permits are set to increase by €50 to €400 per year.

Ennis Chamber stated the increase was “not justified, given the fact that there has been a decrease in public car park charges for customers in En- nis. The increase in car permits for businesses is not justified given the fact that there has been a decrease in public car park charges”.

The chamber welcomed the coun- cil’s statement on its “continued com- mitment to the promotion of Ennis in partnership with the private sector and other agencies in 2008”.

CALLS were made yesterday by a number of shareholders set to benefit in the €7.2 million from the pro- posed sale of Clare FM that the sta- tion’s 30 staff should also profit from the sale.

Yesterday was ‘D-Day’ for the sta- tion’s shareholders to decide on the acceptance of the Radio Kerry offer for the station.

The offer values individual shares at €20 each — almost 20 times what shareholders paid for the shares in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

A cross-section of the Clare public is set to benefit following a success- ful share drive in the early 1990s and three of those who opted for minor shareholdings, Cllr Christy Cur- tin (Ind), Cllr Pat Keane (FF) and Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) yesterday called on the Clare FM Board to en- sure that the station’s staff share in the anticipated windfall.

The station’s only two employees set to profit from the sale are chief executive, Liam O’Shea and the station’s Head of Operation, Susan Murphy.

Mr O’Shea set to receive €407,300 through his 20,365 shares and

Ms Murphy is set to receive over €200,000.

Details of the sale circulated to shareholders show no indication of a bonus scheme for the station’s 30 employees.

Cllr Curtin is to receive €2,000 through his 100 shares and he said yesterday, “I believe that the station’s staff should share in the money from the sale and their interests should be protected.

‘This must be done to ensure that there is continuity and stability in the station’s staff so there must be a mechanism in place to allow the staff access a share of the money.”

Cllr Frankie Neylon is set to receive €4,000 and he said: “I would hope that the staff will profit from the sale and there jobs would be secured.”

Kilkee-based Cllr Pat Keane said: “IT would be disappointed if there wasn’t in place a scheme for staff to purchase shares. They should have been given that opportunity. Staff play an important role and if they were given an opportunity to pur- chase, they would take additional interest in the station.”

Other politicians set to benefit from the sale are Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (€4,000), Cllr PJ

Kelly (€2,000), Cllr Martin Laft- ferty (€1,000), while retired Fine Gael TD, Donal Carey is to receive €2,000.

Cllr PJ Kelly quipped yesterday,*! thought it was a subscription I was buying back then. It was done with a sense of patriotism. It 1s a fairly good return on the investment made and better than some of the other invest- ments I’ve made.”

The figures show that the Ennis Chamber of Commerce Is set to re- ceive €50,000 from its 2,500 share- holding, while prominent Ennis busi- ness man, Oliver Moylan is to receive €10,000 from his 500 shares.

Cllr Keane said that is glad that he did not take up on the €2 buy-back offer from the Clare FM Board two years.

The share-offer was not widely tak- en up after founding chief executive, Caimin Jones dismissed the offer as “much too low”’.

The move comes against the back- eround of growing profits and listen- ership for Clare FM.

The annual returns for 2006 show that the company increased its annu- al profits to €240,000 on a turnover of €1.9 million.

YOU can show your support for the poorest of the poor on Christmas Day by taking part in the annual Goal Miles event at the Fairgereen in Ennis.

This fun-filled, worthwhile event is an integral part of the season of giv- ing for many thousands of generous people everywhere.

This is the 26th year of the event, with Goal Miles taking place at an unprecedented 65 locations na- tionwide — including nine brand-

new locations. The main event will take place in Dublin’s Belfield and is expected to attract 3,000 people on Christmas morning. But it is the impressive spread of Miles across the country that is the real source of pride for Goal.

Goal’s John O’Shea, who will at- tend the Belfield Mile, as always, says, “I’m urging every single person up and down the country to find their nearest Mile and take part.

“All you have to do is to turn up on the day, complete the Mile in your own time and style and then

make a donation to Goal. You can either make a personal donation or you can line up sponsorship from your friends and colleagues — it is entirely up to you what you do. The Goal Mile is a great opportunity to do something practical for the poor this Christmas,” he said.

Events this year hold a special sig- nificance, as the charity is celebrat- ing 30 years in operation.

Since 1977, the aid agency has spent more than €400 million in 50 countries, responding to virtu- ally every natural and man-made

disaster and implementing massive development programmes during ercLMm ab ealee

Goal’s outstanding success down through the years has been entirely dependant on the unflagging support of the Irish public.

This Christmas, the charity’s Goalies (volunteers) are working around the clock in 12 developing world countries throughout Africa, Asia and Central America, includ- ing Bangladesh, where the organi- sation is responding to November’s devastating Cyclone Sidr.