Category: Uncategorized

Helping bridge school funding gap

A SHANNON business which man- ufactures and distributes sports and health nutritional powders has re- ceived a top national award.

ABC Nutrition, at Knockbeg Point, Shannon, has been awarded by Bord Bia at the food and drink industry awards. ABC was one of seven com- panies nationally that scooped acco- lades.

The company was set up in Febru- ary 2007 and is fully Irish owned. It initially had just one customer and has since gone from strength to strength and currently distributes all over the world.

It is owned by four people — Sean McNamara (Tuamgraney), Wil- lie Wixted and Lorraine Gunning (Broadford) and Atis Vitolins (Lim- erick) — and eight people are em- je Key (orem

Mr McNamara explained the back- ground to the company being set up, on foot of demand globally. “It start- ed off in the States 25 years ago with body building. Now rugby players, GAA players and people who train use the products. It has grown at a massive rate. The products are based on protein and powders are the main part of it,” he said.

“Our main business is_ blending the products. We buy in the ingredi- ents and source them from all over the world. We design products for groups of people with different re- quirements. There are different for- mulations for people trying to lose weight and those trying to put on weight,” he said.

The company manufactures its own brand of supplements, which are available in health food shops

and chemists.

“Our biggest market is in the UK. We also distribute to Spain, Portu- gal, Holland, Belgium, Scandinavia, Hungary, Slovenia and Greece,” said Mr McNamara.

The award from Bord Bia was enti- tled “The Thinking Big’ award, dedi- cated to small businesses demon- strating exceptional entrepreneurial spirit, matched by strong sales and

marketing.

Among the other winners were Bul- mers Pear, Glanbia and Kerry Foods. “The real satisfying thing was that all the others were household names. It was nice to be on the same podium as those type of people,’ said Mr McNamara.

Although business has been slower in recent times, he is optimistic about the company’s future. “It 1s very, very

positive on the international front,” he said. He was involved in setting up the company, having felt there was a need in the market. He studied animal nutrition for many years and acquired a PhD in this area a number of years ago.

, at an event hosted by Clare County Council. The book is the twenty-second to be published in the National Invento- ry of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) series.

NIAH surveys record a sample of built heritage, ranging from struc- tures of grand design to simple con- struction, spanning the period 1700 to the present day. The surveys inform recommendations from the minister to planning authorities for inclusion of structures in their Record of Pro- Kore CoOL OME LCLAUD Khe

The minister referenced the diverse historic built stock of County Clare when noting that “the built heritage of County Clare is a major contribu- tor to its unique identity and sense of place’. He pointed to the signifi- cance of “the restored tollhouses at D’Esterre’s Bridge, the Spectacle Bridge at Lisdoonvarna and the great

hydro-electrical complex at Ard- nacrusha’’.

Minister Gormley congratulated Ennis Town Council, Clare County Council and their officials for their interest and enthusiasm in ensur- ing that the County Clare Record of Protected Structures is robust and comprehensive. This approach helps to support existing pride of place at community level — the most power- ful tool in ensuring conservation of Ireland’s national and local built her- itage.

Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tony Mulcahy (FG) urged the minister to restore full funding for conservation projects to help preserve the “rich ar-

chitectural heritage of Clare”.

Deputy Mayor of Ennis, Council- lor Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) thanked Minister Gormley, saying that gov- ernment funding was critical to the future development of Ennis.

The NIAH survey is accessible on www.buildingsofireland.ie and work on a further nine surveys is under- EN

The publication

Gormley: ‘Not much in the kitty’

THE talents of an extraordinary young dancer, whose life was tragi- cally cut short, will be remembered at a competition in her honour in SUED Om io.e

Kitty Leyden and friends are or- ganising the third annual dance competition to honour step and sean

nos dancer, Margaret Brohan who died aged just 19.

Dancers will compete for a cup – which is being put up by Margaret’s family – and afterwards there will be a céili for everyone who wants to take part.

“Tt will be a great night – there’ll be music, sandwiches – it will be a real party and any money we have over

will go to two special causes,” said Gia

Remembering Margaret’s fabulous talent, Kitty – herself a noted dancer – said that she was “so lovely and so very talented. She was a step-dancer and a self-taught sean nos dancer. She had a style all of her own, no-one could beat her. She was just lovely, a lovely dancer and a lovely person. She had a smile for everyone.”

The competition takes place in Murray’s in Tulla and Andrew Mac and friends will provide the music, while adjudicators are Mairéad Ca- sey and Susan Lee. Entry on the night is just €5 and any money made will be divided between the Clare’s School Club – which has competitors in the special Olympics, including one girl from Tulla – and the Debra WeOETiemestvelae

The entire community of east Clare and dancers all over the country were shocked and saddened to hear of the death in November 2003 of Margaret

in a car accident in Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania. Margaret was just 19 and her exceptional talent was becoming widely noticed. She spent the summer as a resident dancer in Glor in Ennis where she was spotted by

ROG CB KAMP CMC Cort Eee

DESPITE Whitegate’s agonising loss there was still one very happy Clareman in Cusack Park on Sun- day afternoon. It was Sean Hehir, the former Clare and O’Callaghan’s Mills legend who trains the South Liberties side.

“T think we had most of the run of play today. We could have had a bigger score too if we had converted all our chances. Of course I’m not taking away from Whitegate’s per- formance, but I feel we probably just edged it. They are a good team and a good club and I thank them for a great match,’ said Hehir after his team’s victory.

“We barely got through today and we barely got through our county fi- nal but in the end we do our best and so far that has been good enough. Next day we’ll be up against a very classy Douglas side and it will be a very different story. Who knows hopefully our luck will continue.”

His team will certainly have to 1m- prove significantly if they wish to capture this Munster Intermediate ti- tle based on today’s match, but when the improvement and the voyage they have conquered so far is taken into consideration, this again could be yet

another challenge that they can over- come in 2009.

Hehir spoke about all these great hurdles his team have faced and how they have leaped over them with great success. “When I got in- volved with this club first there was so much history I did not understand and know about. They had been in a number of county finals but had lost every time.

“There was a great frustration amongst everyone involved and that did not disappear until we finally became county champions this year. The sense of relief that can now be felt is unbelievable and I think it may act as a catalyst for future success. Hopefully starting with a Munster Kens eae

South Liberties left Ennis on Sun- day with smiles all around. They, like Whitegate, have had a fantas- tic year. Unlike Whitegate they still have a chance to mould it into an even greater year.

Who knows, maybe the extra Clare influence they have stolen this year might just push them into the path of victory once more.

GENERAL practitioners in Clare had a bonanza last year with total payments to the county’s doctors exceeding €11 million for the first mb eaten

According to figures exclusively re- vealed to The Clare People under the Freedom of Information Act, total payments to the 41 doctors partici- pating in the scheme increased by 8 per cent on the 2007figures.

Dr Michael Kelleher’s practice in Lahinch was the top Clare earner with €379,094 in fees and €85,137

in practice support.

Three practices received over €350,000 – Dr Martin Fitzgerald who received a total of €384,077; Dr Jocelyn Ellis who received a total of €366,215 and Dr William O’Connell who received €351,602.

The figures — supplied by the HSE’s Primary Care Reimbursement Board — show that a further seven doctors received between €300,000 and €350,000. They are Dr Eugene Casey who received €346,843; Dr Patrick Bugler received €344,024; Dr Colm Hackett received €341,740; Dr Fer- gus Glynn received €321,/67, Dr

Anthony Cox received €320,968; Dr Blathneid Regan received €318,145 and Dr John O’Donnell received Sel OlsMeb ee

Eight doctors received total fees between €300,000 and €250,000 – Dr Conor Hanrahan who received €296,396; Dr Mary E O’ Sullivan re- ceived €294,311; Dr Michael Harty who received €289,177, Dr Manus Maguire who received €280,800; Dr Conor Fanning who received €272,650; Dr Raymond O’Connor who received €270,202; Dr Eoin Curtin received €269,274 and Dr Eric Carr who received €252,830.

A further 13 doctors received payments between €200,000 and €250,000, while a further 10 doctors received payments of €100,000 and €200,000 with six doctors receiving less than €100,000.

The fees set out in the HSE report are global figures and practice ex- penses have to be deducted from the amounts concerned. They reflect the cost of the provision of comprehen- SUAIoM od ISHN Um ov u-KeL NI M(ONS) MENTO MIA Leo MO LELI do not represent income for individ- ual doctors.

The practice support grants made available to doctors contribute to

the cost of the provision of practice nurses and secretaries.

They do not cover the provision of premises or other bills such as heat, light or insurance.

However, the figures do not include any payments made to GPs in respect of treating private patients.

Just over one quarter of citizens are covered by the medical card, about half are covered by private medical insurance and one quarter have no Oo

The cost of each new medical card issued by the HSE in 2008 was €1,650.

THE county final against St Senan’s Kilkee was only a few seconds over and Micheal McDermott was al- ready casting an eye into his crystal ball – rather than dwell on the signifi- cance of back-to-back championship triumphs he preferred to talk more about Munster.

That meant Dromcollogher-Broad- ford – the team that brought the cur- tain crashing down on Kilmurry’s unbeaten year that December 7 day in The Gaelic Grounds.

“Tt will take very little motivation to get our lads ready for a game against Drom-Broadford,” he said.

How right he was, something that was hammered home in decisive fashion over this hour of football.

“Yes they’re worthy Munster cham- pions but we felt that we left it behind us in The Gaelic Grounds last year,” said McDermott seconds after this 0- 11 to O-5 victory.

“We wanted another crack at them and knew all week that there would be no better motivating factor for us than to have them a here in Pairc

Naomh Mhuire.”

Cue Kilmurry’s most impressive championship display since last year’s demolition job on St Senan’s Kilkee in the county semi-final.

“People say that we didn’t play well in the county semi-final, that we didn’t play well in the county final. People can say what they like, but the Monday week after the county final we went out and destroyed a top- quality University of Limerick side.

“That night I said to Gerard (Mc- Carthy) and to Martin (Cahill) that ‘we’re getting right for this game against Drom-Broadford on Sunday week. We knew that this perform- ance was in us — it was a tremendous performance by everyone out there. They all produced.

“It was the best 60 minutes of the year — what better day to do it than a Munster championship game in our home ground against the Munster champions.

“It was a very strong wind and the one thing I told them was not to be thinking that they had to hit score after score quickly. It was a case of concentrating and then whenever the

scoring opportunities came it was a matter of taking them.

‘They took enough of those chanc- es in the first-half to give us a good lead. When we played in the Munster final we didn’t take our chances and that was the difference between the two sides.

“The most important was not to concede a goal in the second-half — we achieved that and the most sat- isfying thing was once we sucked them into a battle we knew we’d be able to turnover ball and get our own chances.”

It means that Kilmurry now go on the road to Stradbally in two weeks time – in what will be a repeat of the 2004 Munster final that went to a re- play in Tipperary Town before Kil- murry won the day.

‘Tough assignment,’ was McDer- mott’s initial reaction. “Waterford club football is very strong. We’re under no illusions as to the task fac- ing us down in Waterford. We’re up there to be knocked after beating the Munster champions. We have two weeks to prepare and try to get to a Munster final.”

TEACHERS, students and _ local businesses have all contributed to the total revamp of the Ennistymon Vocational School playground which was officially reopened last week. Students from the nearby Mol an Oige National School were invited by the vocational school to join in the opening of the facility. The de- velopment was made possible, not only through Department of Educa- tion funding but also the efforts of local people.

Indeed, much of the work for the playground took place over the sum- mer months – with staff and students pitching in to lend a hand.

One of the centre points for the new facility is a large handball alley, com- pletely re-plastered by Barry Chap- man with the assistance of teachers and students. The alley was then dec- orated with a mural completed by art teachers Bairbre Geraghty and Edel Hogan with the help of a number of students.

A number of local businesses helped out in the fundraising effort with Daly’s Pub raising €700 on Arthur Guinness’ Day, a golf classic – sup- ported by numerous local businesses – at the Lahinch Castle Course, while the students also raised much needed finances with a sponsored walks, a run and a church gate collection.

Meanwhile, the students also used

the day to mark their participation in SEV ONE ESM oro.e

Maddie Paine from the Samaritans spoke about the Christmas shoe box appeal, while Glen Guilfoyle from Clare Youth Service spoke to the students on developing the mental health initiative and policy in the school.

Indeed the school has been making strides in this area in recent times with a welfare care team hosting weekly meetings and different coun- selling services being made available for students.

In recent weeks, a young men’s eroup has been established which allows students to talk and get help from their peers.

“We take Mental Health Week very seriously. It 1s an opportunity to fo- cus On us aS acommunity of not just teachers and students but as a group of people coming together as a unit of care and understanding,” said a school spokesperson.

“As one student remarked during last year’s Mental Health Week in the school: we are like one big fam- raed

The school also used the day to present a cheque for €200 to Patrick Bogue of Clare Crusaders. The mon- ey will go to the Clare Crusaders’ Barefield-based clinic where spe- Cialists treatment is provided to more than 120 children.