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THE IFA is once again pilling the pressure on Agriculture Mi£nister, Mary Coughlan, seeking an all out ban on Brazilian beef imports. Following the publication last week of FVO report on the standard of beef production in Brazil and a fresh outbreak of foot and mouth disease confirmed in Cyprus, IFA President says that Coughlan and EU Health and Consumer Protection Commis- sioner, Markos Kyprianou, must act to safeguard the Irish beef sector “The EU Commission has lowered Europe’s defensive barriers against Foot and Mouth disease to unac- ceptably low levels and continues to

expose the European livestock sector and Member States to unnecessary risks,” he said.

“Continuing to expose the Europe- an livestock sector and EU citizens to an unacceptable risk on foot and mouth disease is reckless and imme- diate action must be taken by Com- missioner Kyprianou to tighten up his flawed policy on FMD.”

The FMD virus in Cyprus has been confirmed as Serotype O, which is the common strain found in Brazil and other parts of South America.

Walshe also called for an all out ban on Brazilian beef following the publication of the FVO which found a number of shortcomings and defi- ciencies in the Brazilian beef sector.

The IFA President said Minister Coughlan now has evidence that Brazil still fails to meet EU require- ments.

‘The Minister must insist that EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou delivers on his commitment to 1m- pose a ban on Brazilian beef in view of the fact serious deficiencies previ- ously identified by the FVO have not been corrected,’ he said.

“The FVO report had again high- lighted a litany of serious problems with the standards in Brazil. It con- cluded that as aspects of the iden- tification system were incorrectly implemented, this called into ques- tion the reliability of the 40-day and

90-day residency policy, which the Commission relies on to implement regionalisation. The FVO_ found more animals registered in the SIS- BOV database than were actually present on some farms. “

The report also found shortcomings in the vaccination procedures stating that ‘no routine controls were being carried out by the competent author- ity on holdings to ensure proper vac- cination in some states’.

The vaccination programme as rec- ommended was not been followed and thus the level of herd immunity might not be sufficient to protect against FMD. The FVO observed that the FMD virus 1s still circulat- ing in parts of Mato Gross do Sul.

THE POPULATION of Ennis is ex- pected to shoot up to 35,000 by the year 2020, members of Clare County Council were told yesterday.

The members were being given a briefing on the progress of plans for Ennis as designated to be a hub town under the National Spatial Strategy.

Town Clerk, Eddie Power brought the members up to date with the is- sues involved at their adjourned monthly meeting yesterday, which was held in Scariff Community College to mark the opening of the nearby new Scariff Area Offices of the council.

Power told the elected members that it is “critical to ensure that En- nis benefits to the maximum extent” from the designation.

The purpose of hub towns, he told the meeting, is to have a supporting role for designated gateways — in this case, Limerick and Shannon.

Among the projects that have gone ahead and which are relevant to the town’s status as a hub are the im- minent start on the town’s new wa- ter treatment plant, the flood relief scheme, which is at tender stage, the

construction of the Ennis bypass and the planned new Northern Relief Road and the next section of the Inner Relief Road which will run from the Station Road to the Limerick Road.

Under the heading of hub towns of- fering a better lifestyle to residents, an extension to the Lees Road sports facility is planned in the form of a synthetic running track, while an extention to Glor is also in the off- ing and a new library is now at the design stage.

Park-and-ride facilities are also planned for Clarecastle and an ap-

plication for a bus service for Ennis has been lodged with Bus Eireann, Power said.

Cllr Michael Kelly said there had been a number of meetings concern- ing a commuter stop for Crusheen on the new Ennis to Athery road.

“This is a fast expanding town and it in extremely important we get this stop,’ he said.

Cllr Martin Lafferty described the designation of hubs as “the death- knell of development in rural areas. How is the population going to ex- pand? We are pushing people into built up areas.”

Cllr PJ Kelly said that he did not believe that a special advantage, such as hub status, can be given to one area “without leaving some other area at a disadvantage”. He referred to a book,

THERE were celebrations in Lis- doonvarna recently as 43 hard- working students received their cer- tificates for the completion of their a) AA Oa Ny s-tKehy

Clare TD Tony Killeen was on hand to present the awards at Mary Immaculate Secondary School. The school offers courses in business studies, childcare and community and health services, with a total of 15 modules on the go within these courses at any one time.

Night classes began in Mary Immaculate Secondary School back in 1995. The interest in these classes

proved so strong that 20 students had enrolled in full post-Leaving Cert courses in the school by September wR

“This is the first year that we will be giving out the full Community and Health Care certs so it’s particularly exciting. The course only started two years ago So this is the first group to pick up full certificates,” said Treasa Conneely of Mary Immaculate.

“This year we had 78 _ students enrolled, which is a fabulous number. It’s been a great 10 years, it would have been very unique back in 1997 to have adults coming into the school.

“The students are drawn from all walks of life, from the ages of 20

years and upwards. They come from all over the Burren area, from New Quay down as far as Corofin, and we even have a few people who travel up from Ennis.”

The school carried out a survey in 2004 on the challenges faced by adult females wishing to return to the education system.

“The survey showed that 85 per cent said that a lack of confidence hindered them from returning to education,’ added Ms Conneely.

“More than 95 per cent said lack of child minding facilities and 76 per cent said that they had lost all contact with the labour market because the technology had changed so much.

“This helped us to choose different modules that would suit the needs of these people.”

More than half of all those who complete courses in Lisdoonvarna go on to further education, with many going to receive university degrees.

“We have one person who went on to become a lecturer in Limerick and another who has just qualified as a teacher and is now working as a teacher in Athenry. So it’s going well,” said Ms Conneely.

“We get a lot of our students from word of mouth so people are giving us a good reference.”

For more information, contact the school at 065-7074266.

IT APPEARS that the decision to grant commercial independence to Shannon Airport is being rushed through without any proper evalua- tion of the airport’s ability to stand on its own, according to a Clare TD.

Pat Breen (FG) told the Dail that the airport may need €250 million to sustain its future needs.

“Shannon Airport faces an uncer- tain future with 320,000 passengers wiped off the Heathrow route, no guarantees on transatlantic passen- gers, Significant capital cost projec- tions, a dependency on military traf-

fic and an over-reliance on low-cost operations,’ he said.

In recent days, the Shannon Air- port Authority (SAA) lodged the air- port’s business plan with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) in order to achieve independence and the Minis- ter for Transport, Noel Dempsey also received a copy.

However, Deputy Breen expressed concern that the independence of the airport was being rushed through in order “to deflect attention from the Government’s inaction on Shannon”.

Deputy Breen pointed out that “the extension of car parks, resurfacing the main runway and taxi-ways and

replacing air bridges cost money. When one lands at Shannon one no- tices many temporary buildings in a dilapidated state, all of which require refurbishment.”

On the effect of the “Open Skies” aviation deal on transatlantic routes, Deputy Breen said: “The reality is that direct seats sold from the US into Shannon are falling year by year, down from 577,000 in 2006 to 442,000 for 2007, with projections of 355,000 direct seat sales for 2008.

“The previous Minister told us in Shannon that we should embrace the opportunity, that aircraft were sitting in 22 new US airports ready to take

off and that we would share in that Le LURSIB ELSE

“They have not landed in Shan- non, the story there is very differ- ent. American Airlines has ceased its Shannon operation. US Airways did not operate for the winter and the Aer Lingus chief executive, Dermot Mannion, has only given a guarantee of direct trans-Atlantic flights from Shannon up to October 2008.

‘Therefore it is important that be- fore any decision on the break up is finalised, the airport’s ability to fund its future capital investments should be addressed,” Deputy Breen con- cluded.

A 25-year-old man who served time in jail in connection with a fatal road crash which claimed the life of a Lis- doonvarna man over Six years ago has had his driver’s licence restored.

Barry Richards, of Garrybeg, Loughrask, Ballyvaughan, was con- victed of dangerous driving causing the death of John Donnellan (18), from Slieve Elva, Lisdoonvarna. Mr Donnellan lost his life in an accident on the Kilrush Road in Ennis, on May 18, 2001.

He was killed when the car in

Which he was travelling collided with a parked lorry.

In July 2002, Richards was jailed for two years and banned from driv- ing for 10 years.

Richards’ barrister Lorcan Connol- ly told Ennis Circuit Court last week that his client has served time in jail and on his release, spent some time in the UK. He has since returned to tga t-biree

He said his client is particularly tal- ented in the area of woodwork and depends on others to get “from A to B” and hopes to get a licence to drive Zio) UtSe

‘He lives in a rural area without transport. At the time of the accident he was just 19 and had a full licence,” said Mr Connolly.

“A considerable period of time has elapsed. The incident attracted some notoriety at the time. He hasn’t driv- en since,’ he said.

He said his client had been a “mod- el prisoner” and “utilised his time well” in jail.

Judge Carroll Moran said Richards “has served his penalty. He has been off the road for six-and-a-half years. The State does not object to this ap- plication. He has paid his debt”.

THE Government is set to miss its own deadline in opening the first phase of the Western Rail Corridor between Ennis and Galway.

That is the view of Fine Gael’s Pat Breen who told the Dail that the link is unlikely to be opened before 2009 and not 2008 as originally envis- aged.

Deputy Breen said that when the new rail link is open, “There will be a railway network linking Limerick, Ennis and Galway, three major ur- ban areas and two large cities. This will facilitate many people, not only

morning commuters but third-level students in both cities.”

The Fine Gael deputy, however, was critical of the Government’s pro- vision of transport infrastructure in jabber) BB uote he

He said, “Unfortunately, this Gov- SIM ONDOLS)OLMN OT-omrsloyeDOLO CO) elerOmncseelO)IT-D INO lor velopment. Very little of the money set aside for Transport 21 will go towards rural Ireland, somewhere around one per cent or two per cent of its budget or €30 million.”

Deputy Breen said, “I commute weekly between Clare and Dublin and one would expect to find a dual carriageway at least from Limerick to

Dublin by now. The National Roads Authority, NRA, is widening the road at the Nenagh bypass to make it a dual carriageway. If this had been a few years ago when the Nenagh by- pass was opened taxpayers’ money would have been saved.

“Poor roads will not encourage people to live in rural areas, they will instead move to urban areas. That is part of the problem we face in County Clare. There is a dual car- riageway from Barefield to Limerick but the Ennis bypass which should have opened in 2004 is not yet com- pletely open.

“T welcome that it is partly open and

has eased gridlock in the town. The dual carriageway was opened last January yet two critical link roads, have not been opened at Clareabbey in Clarecastle and on the Tulla road. A link road should have been built on the Tulla road but it isn’t part of the

Eten

“We should have a broad vision when building roads and look to the future. The transport sector is the fastest growing contributor to our national rate of greenhouse gas emis- sions.

“A few years ago there was only one car per house, now most house- holds have two or three cars. Our

infrastructure has unfortunately not kept pace with that development. We all know how slow travel is now be- tween towns. A few years ago I could travel in ten minutes from my house to Ennis, now it takes 15 to 20 min- utes because of the gridlock.

“If we are to take cars off the road it is important to improve public trans- port. According to the 2002 census 62 per cent of people use the car to get to work compared with 45 per cent in 1986.

“The number of people driving their cars to work has increased by 50 per cent in that period. This is a worrying trend.”

THE promoters of a bottling plant for spring water discovered by Cllr PJ Kelly’s “water divining” powers will have to wait a while longer to reap the benefits.

This follows Clare County Coun- cil expressing of “serious concerns” about Clare Spring Water Ltd’s bore well to source the spring water sup- as

In seeking further information on the proposal, the council state that the location of the well may prejudice the future development of lands out- side the control of the developer and

that activity of the adjacent landhold- ing may impact on the water quality of the borehole.

The council states: “Please address these concerns and this should in- clude a revised site layout to indicate the location of the borehole relative to the landholding boundary.

“This should also include, if nec- essary, proposals to ensure that no inappropriate development is con- ducted on lands inside the 60metre radius, to include letter of consent from other landowners affected, if necessary.”

The water source was discovered by Cllr Kelly and a twisted metal coat

hanger and is it expected to produce a €4 million windfall for the village of Lissycasey, it emerged yesterday. The water diviner councillor dis- covered “three major top quality wa- ter springs” in the High Street area 6km from Lissycasey Clare Spring Water Ltd has since lodged plans with Clare County Council for a €4 million bottling plant to bottle the spring water. Along with the €4 million capital outlay, the plant will generate be- tween €1.2 million to €1.5 million per annum in the local economy. Cllr Kelly explains that his ‘water divining’ is carried out through hold-

ing a twisted metal coat hangar in his hands.

He said: “People laugh at it, but 1s 100% successful at finding subter- ranean activity. It gives you a lot of satisfaction when finding new water springs.

Cllr Kelly said that he discovered his talent accidentally 40 years ago when he took a pair of tongs in his hands and he jumped with the shock. Cllr Kelly said: “When searching for water springs, I get positive and negative signals.”

Cllr Kelly’s talent extends to be- ing able to locate injuries in animals such as horses and dogs.

THE achievements of — two Newmarket-on-Fergus people in ploughing circles has been recognised by their official organisation.

Sinead Corbett from Stonehall and Louis Quinn from Lemenagh were both recognised at the Clare Plough- ing Association function that was held at Carrygerry House on Friday aphca ale

Sinead gained national headlines

when she won an All-Ireland title in the National Ploughing Champion- ships in Tullamore earlier this year.

Her achievement was _particu- larly significant, given that she won a traditionally male-dominated oyeal oles ielOyee

The expertise in ploughing in the Corbett family goes back several decades. Sinead’s grandfather John Corbett won a similar competition in 1960, while her father Frank also scooped honours in 1997 and 2003.

“The Clare Ploughing Association is delighted with her success. It is a great achievement for a girl from a county like Clare, where tillage wouldn’t be a major farming activ- ity,’ said PRO of the association, PJ Raven

Louis Quinn, who is the cur- rent president of the Ploughing Association in the county, was also delighted to be honoured at the event.

He has been a member of the group

for more than 50 years and has put in Trojan work during that time to ensure the group has stayed together and been progressive in the local community.

Over the five decades of his involve- ment he has won numerous prizes in various competitions.

‘He is a very dedicated man. He spent a number of years in the UK, but has never lost his ties with the Clare Ploughing Association,” said Mr Ryan.

OVERALL crime in Clare has fallen by four per cent so far this year, while there has been a massive increase of 28 per cent in public order offences.

Figures relayed to members of Clare County Council by the head of the Clare Garda Division yesterday also revealed that drug detection had risen by 4.3 per cent.

The number of drink driving de- tections have also risen by 14.5 per cent, to 481, while 14 anti-social be- haviour orders (ASBQOs) have been served by gardai in Clare since the measure came into effect at the be-

ginning of the year.

So far this year, there have been 1,265 detections for public order which is up 28 per cent on the figure for the same period last year. Crime detection rates in Clare are 44 per Cone

Chief Supt Gerry Mahon said that criminals who travel from place to place are being targeted, in particular. ‘They come from Limerick, they come from Dublin, they come from Galway, they come from Eastern Europe. That’s the trend this year,” he said.

He said the spread of drugs is a live issue in Clare and is being closely as- sessed. ““That’s an issue we are look-

ing at closely. Crime and drugs are hand in hand. One causes the other,” he said.

He confirmed that CCTV will be installed on the streets of Ennis in April, while the initiative in Kilrush came into effect last year.

He also told councillors that addi- tional funding has been provided to fight organised crime under Opera- tion Anvil.

Additional resources have been pumped in to deal with road traffic accidents and the traffic corps has in- creased in personnel from 12 to 28.

A number of councillors expressed concern about the levels of Garda re-

sources, while others felt community policing was lacking in rural areas.

The drugs scourge was also men- tioned and Chief Supt Mahon reas- sured councillors that the newly ap- pointed detective inspector would address this issue as one of his first briefs.

Kevin Moynihan is the first garda ever to hold the rank of detective in- spector in Clare.

Responding to concerns raised by Clir Tony O’Brien (FF) about sparse Garda resources in Killaloe, the Garda chief said that an additional detective and five gardai had been appointed in that area.

TWELVE months after it was closed for €2 million of refurbishments, the Texaco filling station in Shannon has been re-opened for business.

Manager Darragh O’Connor closed the garage and convenience store in October 2006 with a view to over- Jer LUObeercap ie

Although a planning issue resulted in the work being put on hold for a number of months, it has been com- pleted and is now open for business.

The premises is part of the Sky- Court complex and Texaco have leased the site from the town centre management company.

The delay came about after Sky-

Court refused consent for the devel- opment. However, it later changed its position, meaning that the work could proceed.

The existing building was knocked to the ground and a totally new building put in its place. A Spar con- venience store has been built which is four times the size of the previ- ous shop. Upstairs there are offices, a canteen, staff toilets and a storage area. The new express shop sells a wide variety of foods, drinks and newspapers.

It incorporates a deli, smoothie bar, hot food counter and wine area, along with a sizeable general grocery section. There is also a car wash and car valeting business on the premis-

es, while coal and briquettes are also available.

The manager is delighted that the expansion has been completed.

“We are trying to create a one- stop shop in Shannon. We will be launching a range of takeaway evening meals and lunchtime menus. Our food goes from 7am to 7.30pm, which isn’t the usual run-of-the-mill deli,” he said.

The opening hours will be from 7am to llpm, seven days a week.

The O’Connor family have been in business in Shannon for 30 years. Darragh took over the running of the filling station from his parents 10 years ago.

“I felt that petrol stations were

closing down everywhere because the margins on petrol have disappeared. You have to make your money in the shop itself. It is all geared around convenience,” said O’Connor.

He is indebted to the people of Shannon, who have been loyal to his business and showed patience during the closure.

“Business has been absolutely fantastic. The goodwill from the lo- cals in Shannon has been wonderful so I say thanks to the people of the town for standing by me during the renovations,’ he said.

The re-opening of the business has seen staff numbers increase from 12 to 20 and Mr O’Connor said he was delighted with this.