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has also learned that US Secretary of the Depart- ment of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, was given a tour of the air- port earlier this month.

“The customs and border protec- tion investment is significant for the continuation of transatlantic serv- ices,’ said Mr Shanahan. “Shannon could be the first airport in Europe to have full US customs and immigra- tion in the airport itself. This means that any airline can fly directly from Shannon to any airport in America, which could make it very attractive for airlines wishing to use low-cost American airports.

‘We are ready to push the button on the pre-clearance situation but there are one or two minor issues to clar- ify. But once they are clarified, then we are ready to begin construction work on this.”

Mr Shanahan also confirmed that a major replacement route will not be in place when the Aer Lingus Shan-

non-Heathrow route finishes next year.

“There will not be a Heathrow serv- ice after January 14. We do and will continue to have flights into London. We are also in talks with a provider about the creation of a route to Lon-

don City Airport.

“Right now, Heathrow is beyond us. But if we can announce connectivity with another major European hub when the Aer Lingus routes pull out, then we will be okay. We have ad- vanced talks with Charles de Gaulle and are talking about other possible hubs also,” continued Mr Shanahan.

“We have been working hard with Aer Lingus to ensure that they main- tain their transatlantic link. We are also looking at introducing a winter season discount scheme to encour- age airlines to maintain their year- round service between Shannon and the US.”

The chairman of the Shannon Air- port Authority also commented that Shannon’s “tatty” image would be tackled once independence from the Dublin Airport Authority had been achieved and a debt-free start-up had been achieved for Shannon.

“There is an infrastructure deficit in Shannon Airport. Once an initial investment has been received, we feel that the airport will be able to self-fund its capital expenditure from then on out,’ he said.

‘We have assumed a debt-free air- port in our business plan which has been given a broad agreement from the Dublin Airport Authority. The time is right for segregation. The time has come for Shannon to be able to make decisions for itself.

‘Under the Shannon Authority, the airport has grown and is now a profit- able airport. It will remain a 100 per cent Government-owned company so terms and conditions for employ- ment will remain.”

The council members supported a motion to support moves from the Shannon Airport Authority to gain full independence from the Dublin Airport Authority.

STAFF and students at St Joseph’s Training Centre have been reflect- ing on another year of academic achievement.

Thirty students graduated from University College Cork with a di- ploma in youth & community studies. They completed the two-year course, which was facilitated by the National Association of Traveller Centres. The eraduation group was made up of members of the settled and Traveller community, among them two former students of St Joseph’s, Bernie Mc- Donagh and John Sweeney Jnr.

A spokesman for the centre said staff were delighted with the achieve-

ments of all those who graduated. “We are very proud of two of our ex-students who sailed through the course with flying colours. Bernie McDonagh and John Sweeney Jnr were down in Cork to receive their Diploma certificates.”

He added, *“The centre was delight- ed to be able to assist Bernie and John in their studies by providing some support hours for assignments and coursework projects.”

St Joseph’s Training Centre offered The Leaving Certificate Applied for the second time in September 2006.

Located in the Gort Road Industrial Estate, St Joseph’s training centre has developed over the years into a high- ly active and diverse learning envi-

ronment. While most of those who attend St Joseph’s are members of the Traveller community, this year’s crop of graduates included members of the settled community.

Fifteen members of the Traveller community are half-way through the second year of the two-year pro- gramme. The class group comprises of adult men and women and some teenage boys and girls.

The subjects covered include graphics and construction studies, craft and design, visual art, engineer- ing, social studies, hair and beauty, information and communication technology, Irish, mathematics and TSUN KoMCIRELO BL ote

Other programmes on offer include

a comprehensive array of FETAC courses, with one group of students aiming towards a full cert in FETAC Level 4. The coppercraft program at the centre is currently involved with the Cork City Museum making cop- per wall hangings that reflect the Traveller way of life and culture.

The centre enjoys close links with the Cork City Museum. Earlier this year a group from St Joseph’s gave a demonstration at the museum as part of the Cork Lifelong Learning Roeaye)

The spokesperson added, “We at St Joseph’s Training centre are proud of our links with the wider community and enjoy getting involved in local and national initiatives.”

THE number of house completions in County Clare for the first 10 months of this year are down almost 20 per cent on the corresponding period last year.

Figures from the Department of the Environment show that to the end of October, the number of house com- pletions in Clare totalled 1,825 down on the 2218 for the first ten months last year.

The drop of 393 in the number of house completions represents a 17 per cent drop on house completions last year.

The figures show that for the first three quarters of this year, house completions were down 20 per cent on last year.

The figures has shown that house building has slowed down through- out the year. In the first quarter, the number of house completions was 556, in the second quarter the number dropped to 539 and from July to Sep-

tember, the numbers dropped to 475.

Last year, house building in Clare reached a peak of 2,/27 completions and the annual total was steadily in- creasing since 2001.

The figures show that 1,487 homes were complete in 2001, in 2002, this rose to 1,466; in 2003, this rose to 1,679 and in 2004, this rose to 1,831 before reaching 2174 in 2005.

According to local auctioneer, Cor- mac O’Sullivan of DNG O’Sullivan Hurley said, “Much of the reason for the downturn in completions is increase in interest rates and uncer- tainty in the market.”

Mr O’Sullivan forecast that there may be a shortage of new homes around the Ennis area next year due to the drop in housing completions.

He added, “Some of the major sites being built by Keco Construction Ltd and Danny Devine Construc- tion have not seen any major hit in sales because they are producing an excellent product. Houses area being produced to a very high standard to a

very high specification.

“Developers that produced finished houses to a shabby standard two or three years ago are not getting away A 1H0 mlm DON ee sOKoe

Mr O’Sullivan described the move in last week’s Budget to reduce stamp duty as a good move. He said, “Any move that will save the purchaser money is a good change and this will have a positive impact on the hous- ing market. At the moment, there is excellent value in the second hand market.”

THE €1.4 million lands at the centre of a bitter family dispute in the Tulla area have failed to sell at public auc- nO)

However, leading auctioneer John de Courcy, who is handling the sale, said yesterday that he is confident that the land will be sold in the near future, stating, “There is plenty of in- terest and it will sell in due course.”

Mr de Courcy said that the lands didn’t sell at auction “due to the cur- rent climate and time of year”.

The lands at Larraroe and Ran- nagh, Tulla are being sold in five lots and include two ruins and an old resi- dence, with the lands having substan- tial road frontage.

The proposed sale was allowed to proceed after Judge Harvey Kenny ordered that Marie O’Halloran va- cate the 66 acres of farmland near

Tulla in response to an action from her sister-in law, Josephine Barry (72).

Mrs O’Halloran told Ennis Circuit Court that her late husband, Stanley O’ Halloran, reached a deal in the late 1970s with the owner of the farm, his late brother, Michael to purchase the lands for £65,000.

Mrs O’Halloran also told the court that Stanley paid different sums of cash over the years to Michael, who was a bachelor farmer. However,

counsel for Mrs O’ Halloran, Leonard Parker BL, admitted that no record of the agreement exists, nor has Mrs O’Halloran been able to recover any record of cheques paid by Stanley due to the time that has elapsed. Counsel for Mrs Barry, Gerry Kie- ly BL, said that Michael O’ Halloran died aged 64 in May 2004 intestate. Without a will being made, his farm was divided three ways, between his two sisters, Mrs Barry and Ida Ro-

han, and Stanley O’ Halloran.

Stanley died four months later aged 68 and his share passed onto his wife, Marie O’Halloran.

In his judgement, Judge Kenny granted possession of the lands to Mrs Barry, an injunction against Mrs O’Halloran from re-entering the lands, damages of €30,000 with a permanent stay if there is compliance with the order and that Mrs Barry be granted her costs.

WHEN Santa landed with his sleigh in Killaloe at the weekend he was on a mission to bring a smile to the faces of east Clare children and help a good cause to boot.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Con- vent Hill Shopping Centre’s Christ- mas grotto opened its doors so that youngsters could give Santa their wish lists and Santa could raise cash for the Clarecare Molua centre.

On hand to add to the fun were Silly Sally and Crazy Daisy, who entertained the youngsters with face

painting and balloon sculpting.

Adding a touch more festive spirit to the proceedings were the Clare- care Molua carol singers performing Christmas favourites.

Clarecare volunteers packed bags for hard-pressed shoppers and they also helped by bag-packing in Queal- ly’s SuperValu on both days.

Centre manager, John Cannon said that this is the second year they have built the outside Alpine grotto.

“We had it inside the first year but this was much better. There was a great atmosphere about the whole thing. Everyone loved it.”

The little wooden hut which be- comes Santa’s temporary home is donated each year by Galway man, Tim Clune.

“It’s perfect for Santa and it looks lovely when it’s all done up,’ said John.

Last year, the grotto was open through the week, but 80 per cent of Santa’s little visitors came at the weekend, so it was decided to make this year’s visit a three-day event.

The takings from the weekend have yet to be totted up but even the bad weather didn’t dampen the enthusi- asm of Santa’s little visitors.

“Last year, we totted up €1,500 for Clarecare and I would hope it would be at least that much again,” said John.

And whatever was bagged for the charity, Santa went away with a bag full of requests and left behind a bundle of promises for good boys Nee Mean U he

THE Clare County Handball Board appointed a new manager, Matthew McMahon, to the post after their board AGM at the weekend.

At a lively meeting at the Clooney club, the game received a full as- sessment of its development in the county and it was agreed that despite competitive success and high num- bers playing handball, it would take more effort, particularly in terms of finance, to ensure handball had a safe standing in Clare.

Outgoing Chairman John Cawley delivered a detailed address, high- lighting the enormous success of the year just gone and informed the meeting that he was stepping down from the Chair after five years at the to bone

He received great thanks and praise from everyone at all levels of hand- ball in Clare and following his res- ignation, nominations were taken for the vacant position and the only name put forward was that of Matthew Mc-

Mahon from the O’Callaghan’s Mills club.

McMahon was then proposed and seconded as the new Chairman and brings plenty of experience to the position, having been involved in the sport in many areas and successfully helping to secure sponsorship for county players.

The position of secretary was next for discussion and after initailly de- claring his wish to step aside, Tom- my Hegarty of Clarecastle agreed to hold the position for a fourth year.

Willie Roche of Newmarket was then returned unopposed as Treas- urer and also as Munster and Central Council representative. Newmarket’s Mike Kelly stepped down as PRO and Shane Walsh from Tuamgraney was ratified as his successor.

The financial state of the board was one of the major talking points, with concerns raised that handball in Clare is being run on a ‘shoestring budget’ and delegates spoke of the need for serious fundraising in the oy nebeNTSaA orb

A number of delegates also ques- tioned the role of the Clare County GAA Board in this and insisted that the GAA board should take a more active role in providing financial as- sistance.

It was agreed that the handball board would again try to sit down with the new GAA Chairman and full-time secretary when those posi- tions are filled to discuss the matter.

Michael Slattery later addressed the meeting and spoke about the Clare- castle sports complex, informing the meeting that the two alleys in Clare- castle will be closed to handball un- less there is a serious cash injection.

County Juvenile Board was also put in place as a sub-committee of the County Board. Tom Loughnane was elected Chairman of the Juvenile Committee with Fergal Coughlan of Sele a ENO Koel as

Meanwhile, the County Juvenile Leagues are also underway, with huge entry numbers highlighting the current strength of underage hand- ball locally.

A SHANNON town councillor has hit out at the behaviour of pedestri- ans, amid statistics showing that 20 per cent of road death victims are pedestrians.

More than 70 pedestrians have been killed on the nation’s roads so far this year.

Five of the 12 road deaths in Clare this year have involved walkers, while one cyclist was also killed in June.

Shannon town councillor Tony Mc- Mahon (Labour) has said that pedes- trians’ behaviour is “ridiculous”.

“Really, the behaviour of pedes- trians is ridiculous. There seems to be so much attached to the driver but no responsibility attached to the pedestrian. It should be compulsory that the onus would be on the pedes- trian,” he said.

“The whole behaviour of pedes- trians needs to change. People just walk out on the road and motorists expect them to do just that,” said Cllr

McMahon, at a meeting in Shannon last week.

However, the head of the Garda Divisional Traffic Corps in Clare, In- spector John Galvin, said there is an onus on walkers.

‘There is an onus on pedestrians to be safe and to be seen and obey the rules of the road,’ said Inspector Galvin, who has just taken up his role, having moved to Clare from Galway Garda Station in recent weeks.

“We would encourage them to be seen and wear reflective gear. At all

times, we would encourage pedes- trians to cross the roads at appro- priate places, particularly in winter time and to walk against the flow of traffic. There is a huge onus on pe- destrians to exercise caution and not presume they can be seen,” said In- spector Galvin.

According to Muintir na Tire Com- munity Alert, pedestrians and cy- clists have become increasingly vul- nerable on the nation’s roads.

Last week, the group warned that wearing a simple high visibility vest

will reduce the risk of being involved in a fatal or serious injury collision.

“The best advice that we can give, is to remind all road users of their vulnerability, plead with them, to take personal responsibility for their actions on the road and to make sure, that they and those in their house- hold, wear a high visibility vest, when walking or cycling, day or night. It could be the difference, between be- ing seriously injured, killed or stay- ing alive. Quite simply, wearing the vest could save your life,”

A MILESTONE in the Kilkee Marine Rescue Service was marked last week as its 25th anniversary was celebrated at a function in the Kilkee SE Wa elke

Since the voluntary service was established by Manuel di Lucia in 1982, it has been responsible for saving no fewer than 300 lives, while its members rescued up to 30 people from the sea.

‘The service has been serving the people for the past 25 years, not alone the local fishing community, but also tourists,” said Mr di Lucia.

As he 1s a diver 1n the local area, Mr

di Lucia was frequently called upon when someone would go missing over the years. Given the frequency of the calls, he felt there was a need for the service to be established.

aU INAS b0tl MEANS Komm c- Kom: IED e-hSCol@ AYA | would get a call. My boat would be laid up for the winter so I would have to get somebody who had a function- ing boat,” he said.

In an effort to provide training for the service’s members, Mr di Lu- cia set up Kilkee sub-aqua club in October 1982. Hundreds of people were trained through the club over the years and this training has been crucial in many lives being saved at sea. “Moneypoint was a great

source of members. A lot of young people came to Moneypoint in the early years and got involved in the Service,’ he said.

Mr di Lucia has himself been in- volved in dozens of rescues since the 1960s and his work was honoured with a presentation at the function last week. He was the first chief coxswain with the service. The first crew members, Joe Haugh and Ea- mon Murnane, were also honoured with presentations, as was the cur- rent chairman, John Nolan.

Four former members who have passed away — Ian Benson, JJ Har- rington, Seamus Byrne and Michael O’Gorman — were also remembered

by the 150 people who attended the aubeTeinCOyee

Presently, there are 50 members of the service and Mr di Lucia, who is the current PRO, said it can be difficult to recruit new people.

“The rescue service can sometimes be taken for granted. There is more recognition for sports stars than for the rescue services. While we have members as young as 16, there is a little bit of a struggle at the moment, trying to get new members into the Service,’ he said.

While the service is mainly volun- tary, some funding has been made available from the Department of the Marine over the years.

LAST Sunday saw the Ennis Kick- boxing send its biggest ever contin- gent of fighters to the Irish Kickbox- ing Federation (IKF) tournament in Oranmore in Galway.

This is the most prestigious Junior tournament on the IKF calender and saw over 150 entrants under the age of 16 competing in four different cat- egories decided on the basis of Gen- der Age Height and Weight.

The Ennis Kickboxing Club under Chief Instructor Tony O’Donnell and junior Instructor Sarah Jane Ryan had 10 fighters competing across the 4 categories. These 10 fighters pro- duced an outstanding result of seven overall winners one joint winner and three runners up.

Overall winners for the Ennis club were Nikiata Doherty (7) who fought

in two different categories on the day winning both, Bonny Doherty, To- mas Mulpeter, Dan Sherlock, Darly Sherlock and Dean Cauley.

14 year old Robert Clair from Kil- rush was declared a joint winner and was unlucky not to get the decision of overall winner.

Jennifer Coote, Sean Ryan and Ju- lie Sherlock finished runners up in their respective categories..

This was a fantastic result for the Ennis club and it bodes well for the future of the club with Tony O’Donnell hoping to turn these tal- ented juniors into Senior all Ireland champions as they progress in their martial arts training.

Ennis Kickboxing Club will reopen after Christmas on Monday the 7th of January all are welcome please contact Tony O Donnell with any queries on 087 2796401.

SINCE its foundation in 1957, En- nistymon Vocational School, the town and the country have experi- enced much change but, for all of that, the school has continued to provide a much-needed and valuable education to many of the people of

the locality. That was the overview of Clare Vocational Education Commit-

tee’s chief executive officer, George O’Callaghan, as he took part in a 50th anniversary function in the Falls Hotel last week.

Former and present staff and pupils, with a host of others involved with the school, filled the banqueting room of the hotel for a night of celebration, nostalgia and a fresh look into educa- tion in Ireland as it stands today.

A multi-sectional exhibition of pho- tographs and other memorabilia of the school’s 50 years drew great at- tention in the function room through- out the evening.

Idols of the occasion were the two Surviving members of the original teaching staff, Norma Christie (nee Boland), now living in Edinburgh in her native Scotland, first teacher of home economics in Ennistymon, and Mamie Egan (nee Smyth), teacher of commerce subjects, now living in Ferbane, County Offaly.

O’Callaghan began by congratu- lating all present pupils, past pupils, parents, principal Enda Byrt and all teachers present and past, and a host of others associated with the school down through the years, embracing caretakers, secretaries and other sup- port staff.

He reminded the guests that in its mission statement, the school

firstly recognises the individual- ity of each student and through the comprehensive nature of its curricu- lum combined with the professional competence, initiative and caring of its staff, seeks to maximise each individual’s academic, practical and social talents in a safe and support- ive environment, to prepare them to cope with life after school, where they may better contribute to family, community and society in a positive per-peb Alea

Change was with them all the time and challenged them to rise to the

occasion when needed. The school continued to face the challenge of the future with vision and courage. The proposed new community school, of which the vocational school will be an integral part, offered the opportu- nity of new directions. The quality of teaching and learning that is so much part of the vocational school would be a significant building block in the community school.

Cllr Flan Garvey, as chairman of the school’s board of management, formally welcomed the guests to celebrate the wonderful past of the

school which had been achieved by outstanding principals, teaching and support staffs. It was a great pleasure for him to chair the board of man- agement of such an academy, he said, more so even than being chairman of the governing body of Tralee Insti- tute of Technology or vice-president of the Irish Vocational Education Association, the administrative body for county and city vocational educa- tion committees.

He continued by saying that the worth of vocational education was still not fully appreciated in Ireland,

nor what it had brought about for the country. For instance, the Celtic Ti- ger would not have emerged were it not for the business and profession- al men and women who had come through the vocational system armed with a practical and business back- eround that enabled them to succeed magnificently and provide example for others.

Enda Byrt had a special welcome for Norma Christie and Mamie Egan and informed the guests that another first teacher, Joe McCaw, who was called from this life earlier in the year, had been insisting, once the an- niversary began to be planned, that he had to be at the main celebratory function.

Announcing the publication next spring of a school history, he invited as many past students and staff as possible to contribute. They could do so in a variety of small but 1m- portant ways, such as how they trav- elled to school, life in the school, what they did at lunchtime, involve- ment in sport or any other activities, fond memories of favourite teachers, school trips, what they did for recrea- tion in those times, what things cost at the time and so on.

Kevin Duggan, Corofin, of the class of 1969, rolled back the years as he recalled memories of his time in the school and spoke with great emotion of the wonderful teachers it was his privilege to have and how their ex- ample and advice stood him in such good stead throughout later life.