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A business, which began with a kindly Mountshannon woman cook- ing up nourishing stews for weary travellers, is to feature in Georgina Campell’s Jameson Guide next year. The little house which has now be- come the Cupan Café restaurant was once the sitting room of a Mrs Flan- nery, who provided simple meals for travellers at a time when there was nothing else available in the area.

She was even know to extend her hospitality to giving them a bed for the night if they were stuck.

Dagmar Hilty took over the premis- es in 199] after ten years of running

the hotel in Mountshannon and start- ed by serving teas and coffees, but quickly discovered there was a de- mand for more substantial meals.

As she was bringing up two small children at the time, Dagmar found the premises ideal. “It had a very big sitting room, which I turned into a café and we lived in the rest of the house. It meant I could work from home.”

After the second year, she extend- ed, putting in a new fitted kitchen and equipment to offer full lunches and dinners.

“Till 1996, I cooked myself. After 1997 I employed, every season, a chef either from Switzerland or Aus-

tria,” said Dagmar.

By 2002, An Cupan Café was mak- ing it’s mark, having become a mem- ber of Bord Bia, and featured in the Georgina Campell’s Jameson Guide.

After four years of leasing the res- taurant – during which period, An Cupan added a listing in the Bridge- stone Guide to it’s accolades – Dag- mar is back in the kitchen.

In February of this year, she re- opened, with top Bavarian Chef, Thomas Turk, at the pass. Thomas has worked in Mitchelin starred res- taurants for the last five years. “The market has changed in the last four years and customers appreciate high quality food, want to know where it

comes from, and love to taste the dif- Ko None

After dropping the lunch menu, now the team “concentrate on high quality food, with a Mediterranean touch, using fresh organic herbs only, and sourcing the products locally and whenever possible organic.”

Now Dagmar has been told that the quality of her food has put her in line for the Georgina Cambell Guide next year and she is eagerly awaiting confirmation of the listing. She cur- rently employs two people full time. SW ile ucie-lene-UlM ARG UeURo Ub MOeioem OK a brief respite before opening with a spectacular Christmas menu, which will be served from December 1.

SOME of Clare’s most famous tourist landmarks could be used as locations for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples before the end of next year. Following a relaxation of the laws in relation to civil ceremonies, which came into effect yesterday, locations such as the Cliffs of Moher and even the Poulnabrone Dolmen are now free to host civil ares eOy Nee SUE COVuebeetoel have also commit- ted to putting in place legislation legalising — civil unions between same sex couples in 2008, follow- ing the defeat of a private members OJON MO) MEU elemnIUlo) (ore

put forward by Labour in the Dail ETM ioe)

“We are very pleased the Labour party brought a civil partnership bill back to the Dail last week and we welcome it as a major step forward that it is now part of the Government agenda to have legislation in place by March of next year,” said a spokes- person from the Gay Clare Group who asked to remain anonymous.

“We hope that this will be wide ranging legislation and not just to cover tax issues. It needs to tackle joint legal protection rights for gay parents and social welfare and will be enacted very quickly.”

The Labour Bill was defeated in the

Dail last week following fears that it would be deemed unconstitutional as a result of it’s reference to marriage rather than civil unions.

“Gay partnership would be fine as long as their rights are the same as married couple. The word marriage is achurch word more than anything else. We would just look to have the same legal status as married couples

and the word isn’t

important. We

would look to hav-

ing civil unions

or civil partner-

ships,’ continued

the spokesperson.

“At the moment

a lot of lesbians

have children so

it would be im-

portant for them

that this new bill

would give them

some sort of joint

legal protection.

So if, for exam-

ple, they are ina

partnership with children and some-

thing happens to one of the lesbians,

the other would be able to have cus- tody of the children.

‘That would be the initial step at the moment. The issue of gay adop- tion 1s something that could come farther down the line.”

There has been a huge growth in the number of civil marriages in Ireland over the past decade. In 1995, only one in every 10 couples married in a registry office while now the figure is more than one in five, with 22 per cent of all weddings now non-church events.

CONCERN over the pressure being exerted on the Ennis sewer network by development has emerged as one of the key issues affecting the future erowth of the town.

Speaking at last night’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, Town Engineer Tom Tiernan admitted the system was under strain and that innova- tive solutions would be needed until a permanent water treatment plant is in place in 2012.

He said, “The treatment plants are approaching capacity but that doesn’t mean that development can’t con-

tinue. There is a bridge to be gapped between now and 2012. There is a deficiency creeping into the system given the level of development that has taken place in the past 10 years. We will have to be more careful in our planning assessments…it will require a certain degree of thinking outside the box.”

Fine Gael councillor Johnny Flynn said the infrastructural deficiencies were the fault of the Government.

Yesterday, councillors accepted the report compiled by Town Manager Tom Coughlan and County Manager Alec Flemming, on pre-draft submis- sions for the review of the Ennis and

Environs Development Plan 2003. Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council have received 169 written submissions relating to the review of the development plan. Strictly dealing with land-use is- sues, the revised plan will seek to guide and facilitate the future growth of Ennis and its surrounding area. The development plan covers a Ssix- year period while the current plan is due to expire in December 2008. The other main issues that emerged during consideration of the submis- sions were the need to protect the Drumcliffe springs inner protection zone, inadequate road infrastructure,

the need for additional residential zoned land, isolated development in open countryside and flood risk ar- eas.

Cllr Donal O’Bearra (GP) said the council had not followed through on commitments made in the previous plan regarding the provision of cycle lanes. He said, “Both Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council have not been putting in facilities for cyclists. There are 70,000 people visiting Ireland on cycling holidays. Executive planner Bill Sansum ad- mitted there was concern over the lack of suitable cycling facilities in Sav evESe

THE MOUNTSHANNON commu- nity website came into the 21st cen- tury with a blast on Thursday when Deputy Timmy Dooley logged on and launched the revamped site.

Local FAS worker, Dave Mooney, took on the redesign as part of his community employment scheme and has spent several months putting to- gether pages for local sporting, vol- untary and community organisations as well as archiving the Mountshan- non Newsletter on the site.

As well as being a resource for lo-

cals, the site will now let prospective visitors to Clare see what amenities and activities are on offer in the east Clare and Lough Derg region as well as giving listings of accommodation, restaurants and services so they can EDOM seem Baty Im

“We wanted to have more active and archive sections and to give lo- cal clubs and associations their own space. There are 14 local organisa- tions who all have their own pages now, with profiles and room for notices and reports and we have a section for history, archaeology and folklore which we hope to keep up-

dating,” said Dave.

The new website has a section for East Clare Tourism and Heritage with a special guide to Lough Derg, the islands and Holy Island.

It’s even hoped that a business will come forward to sponsor a live web- cam link, allowing a camera to be placed in their premises so that peo- ple can log on and see what’s hap- pening in the village from anywhere in the world.

Tom Allen of Derg E-Solutions is the original creator of the site and is continuing as sponsor while Dave is currently webmaster.

The launch took place in the Mountshannon Hotel and a network was extended to the bar, where locals chatted on laptops.

The new site can be accessed by logging on to Mountshannon.com Registration is free and moderated.

CALLS for Ennis Town Council to re-establish a refuse collection serv- ice for low-income households have once again been knocked back.

The issue of refuse collection, which has been a bone of contention in the chamber since the council agreed to discontinue the service in 2005, was raised at yesterday’s meeting by Fine Gael councillor Johnny Flynn.

Cllr Flynn requested that the town manager provide a report on what would be the likely financial impact

on the Ennis Town Council 2008 an- nual budget, in the event of the intro- duction of a low-income household refuse collection subsidy.

He said, “There seems to be anec- dotal evidence, and certainly people have mentioned it to me, that people are having difficulty meeting the cost of having their rubbish collected. I have heard that with all the instances of fly tipping, that up to 25 per cent of houses in Clare are not getting their rubbish collected. A collection for old age pensioners should be provided.”

In his response, Town Clerk Eddie

Power said the council could encoun- ter legal difficulties if it decided to re-activate the service.

Mr Power said, “The present legal position has not changed since this issue was last discussed. The coun- cil’s legal advice is that the making of arrangements to subsidise low- income households in respect of the cost of refuse collection service not provided by the council would be 1- legal.”

This view was re-enforced by Town Manager Tom Coughlan who said, “You cannot subvent a charge you do

not levy. The decision was taken by the council in 2005 to discontinue the service. We are out of the system and that’s it.”

Mr Power said it would cost the council €300,000 to introduce the scheme for 1,000 houses which would mean a 6.9 per cent hike in commercial rates.

Mayor of Ennis Tommy Brennan said the council was “caught in a bind on the issue”.

Cllr Flynn called for the council to raise the issue with the Department of Family and Social Affairs.

THEY take their football seriously in Cooraclare so when the GAA club paid tribute to its honorary life presi- dents last week the chosen 12 were indeed honoured.

The highly acclaimed football club presented the dozen hard working members with a commemorative medal and certificate as they were ratified as honorary presidents of the local club.

A total of 10 men were bestowed this honour by the men’s club, three posthumously.

Family members represented the late Mitchell Lillis, Donal Kelly and Michael Garry.

Jimmy Chambers who now resides in the USA is known through out

the Big Apple as a refuge for Irish emigrants, a GAA enthusiast and a man who has lived in New York for SO years but who’s heart is firmly in west Clare.

Jimmy was first named as honorary president a number of years ago as was Marty Queally.

Marty not only won a champion- ship medal but has an unusual record as he played in a total of three coun- ties – Clare Dublin and Kildare.

He was also part of the Clare Mi- nor Football panel that played in the 1953 All Ireland. The club paid trib- ute to both men on the night.

Five new honorary presidents were also named and all ten were present- ed their prizes by Cooraclare’s most knowledgeable man when it comes to GAA – Padraig MacMathuna,

Oifigeach Gaelige CLG An Clar.

The captain of the 1956 champion- ship winning team Tommy Healy was one of the new five, as was team- mate Jimmy Corry. Both men also played for the county.

Tadhg Murphy was at the helm of Clare GAA for a decade as he held the position of chairman of the county board from 1981 to 1990. As a leading player he won three cham- pionships with the team.

Tireless club worker Michael John Kelly was also honoured.

In describing Michael John, Padraig said “when a job has to be done and a volunteer 1s looked for, Michael John in always first on the scene”.

The most senior member of the ex- clusive honorary presidents club is 89-year-old Tommy Breen. His suc-

cessful playing career saw him win his first medal in 1937, followed by a minor team medal in 1938, an in- termediate medal in 1941 and 1943 and a senior championship medal in 1944 and 1945.

‘He was a very versatile player. He played in practically every line on the team,” said Padraig.

The very successful women’s club was also part of the celebrations as it paid tribute to its two honorary ORSON ASE

Peggy Kelly and Na Synan were presented with their medals by the Aleem see Meee m OCA oo MBN EE Doel Sit-benlelouy

SHANNON-BASED | pharmaceuti- cal firm, Schwarz Pharma recorded a loss last year of €60 million, ac- cording to accounts lodged with the Companies Office.

The accounts show that the firm in- creased the size of its business from €35 million to €41 million.

However, the cost of sales increased from €38 million to €45 million and the company’s resulting operating loss for 2006 is €8.5 million.

It is the “amortization” of the com- pany’s pharmaceutical products that is the primary reason behind the loss; the company had to write off €34 million under this heading.

Other factors include a cost of €11 million under the heading of “‘inter- est payable”, while €14 million was spent on “non-operating expenses”.

The loss comes against the back- ground of the company investing over €150 million in its Shannon operation.

Construction has recently com- menced on a new premises on the Westpark Business Campus in Shan- te) 0F

They also show that the company has intangible assets valued at €424 POpUNBCOyER

The accounts show that the com- pany had a turnover of €41 million with €27 million of the sales in Eu- rope and €14 million in the US.

The company’s employees in- creased from 180 in 2005 to 201 in 2006. Staff costs increased from €10 million to €13 million.

According to a statement accom- panying the accounts, the company’s product profile continues to show promise. The Rotigotine patch for the treatment of Parkinsons disease (Neupro) was launched in 2006 in nine markets: Germany, UK, Aus- tria, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Greece. The outlook remains very positive for this product after a very success- ful launch.

The years 2006 – 2008 will be very much transition years for the com-

eas

Significant investments will take place to ensure the company has ad- equate capacity and upgraded infra- structure to manufacture and supply the new products in the future.

2006 continued an investment program in excess of €100m for various capacity and infrastructural investments. In addition significant development and launch costs were incurred during the year.

In relation to risks and uncertain- ties facing the company, “the com- pletion of all current projects and their commissioning will be a chal- lenge for the company”, while the accounts state that no dividend was paid in 2006.

THE first new families are expected in Miltown Malbay in the New Year as they begin a new life in Ireland’s first e-town.

The pilot project overseen by Shan- non Development will give a “turn key” working and living space for families and single people wishing to avoid the rat race and set up busi- ness in the west Clare town.

The 12-unit e-town is expected to attract micro business to the area and cluster them so that they in turn could grow from each other and pro- vide further employment.

So far more than half of the units are “committed” or provisionally

booked by interested people.

The houses are expected to be com- pleted next month and ready for oc- cupation early in 2008.

The population of the town of Mil- town Malbay is about 1,000 people with another 3,000 in the area.

In partnership with the local au- thorities, local communities and the Ibrickane network Shannon Devel- Opment is pioneering this new rural town renewal initiative, a €4 million investment by the development com- er aN VA

Among the many attractions likely to entice people to the west Clare town and its e-town are the nine pri- mary schools and secondary school in the area.

It also has a vibrant community, surfing, golf, drama, Irish music classes, créche facilities, 15 bars, and a dozen restaurants within a couple of miles, and the sea.

It is just 30 minutes from Ennis and less than an hour from Shannon In- Kou IteLelOit-) aU bu ole am

The primary aim of the pioneering approach of the e-town is to enable people to achieve a life/work balance in tailor-made accommodation, cre- ate clusters of businesses and bring new economic activity back into lo- cal communities.

Miltown Malbay has a hard work- ing community and a history of in- dustry, which made it attractable for this project.

The success of the project is now pointing the way to other towns around the country.

Shannon Development, last week lodged a planning application for full planning permission for the de- velopment of eight live/work houses on a 1.3 acre site on the Ferry Road in Tarbert, County Kerry.

The application for planning per- mission, which if successful, will allow construction work on the €2m project to commence early next year.

In addition to the Miltown Malbay and ‘Tarbert e-towns, Shannon De- velopment is working on rolling the e-towns concept out in other rural lo- cation around the Shannon region.

THERE is an old Chinese proverb which says, “Faith is the bird that sings to the dawn while it is still dark.” While the people of Clare are suffering from the winter chill, there are some small changes happening here in Pemba that would warm your hearts.

One of the most outstanding adven- tures that we have been involved in over the past few months has been the setting up of a mushroom grow- ing project at the Catholic Mission.

Gathering together all the recent donations we had received from home, we entrusted the money into the capable hands of Fr Filbert, our young, enthusiastic Tanzanian parish priest. Without this money nothing could have started.

He gathered together a motley crew of 20 people including the elderly, young school dropouts, people living

with HIV/AIDS, Muslims, Angli- cans and Catholics. They all have the shared experience of being poor and unemployed.

After a weekend of training ,they all worked together to set up sim- ple seed germinating rooms, dark rooms and growing sheds. Now, just a month later, the seeds are bearing fruit and visitors are coming from far and wide to marvel at the miracle of oyster mushrooms growing out of plastic bags.

People are getting their first-ever taste of this new food and the tourist hotels on the island are queuing up to buy the product.

But that’s not the whole story. There is a spin-off from this little bit of suc- cess. Our local government minister came to visit and brought a gift of three sewing machines so that the women can now learn new skills.

The managers of two of the hotels have come, asking to employ some

of our unemployed youth. Fr Filbert and Nunuu, a young Islamic woman, have been invited to co-present a lunchtime talk to the Rotary Club in Dar es Salaam and there is a general air of excitement around the place. The refreshing wind of change is blowing in the life of the commu- nity and people have a few shillings

jingling in their pockets. Success breeds success. This week there is the launch of a small organic garden at the mission and there are plans afoot to start a bee-keeping project.

So like the mushrooms, the people of Wete are stirring and developing. Confidence is growing and the dark- ness of depression is beginning to lift. Thank you to the generous peo- ple of Ireland for making this possi- ble and may you continue to “sing to the dawn”.

MANY Clare farmers will be forced out of the beef sector unless they receive a sustainable margin for their produce, according to Clare farmer and Chairperson of ICMSA’s Beef and Cattle Committee, Martin McMahon.

The O’Callaghan’s Mills man claimed last week that this will lead to many markets being closed off to Irish beef in the future.

He has called for an immediate rise in the beef prices as the only solution to the current problem.

At current prices, farmers fattening cattle are cross-subsidising that prac- tice with their Single Farm Payment

“This was the economics of the madhouse and farmers will simply cease to make that cross-subsidy and exit beef altogether,” he said.

“Beef production must be made viable in its own right and that demanded an immediate rise in cat- tle prices from the meat factories. Fattening cattle is currently a loss- making business and the whole fu- ture of this sector was now in ‘red alert’ territory.

“The facts of the situation are that

beef prices are now 16.8c/kg below what they were in October 2006 — that 1s equivalent to €60 per head. “We would also point out that an Irish steer is currently making €130 per head less than the same animal in the UK, while at the same time feed and other costs have also risen substantially during this period. “Given the gap in Irish and UK prices, it is quite clear that factories can pay more for cattle and if that means that meat processors must go to the retailers for increased returns, then that 1s what must happen if we are to truly reflect the economics

of beef production,’ Mr McMahon added.

“Our beef processors and retail- ers have a decision to make now on the future of our beef sector — raise prices and maintain their supply of cattle or do absolutely nothing and eliminate their 12 months’ supply of cattle.

“It’s “make-your-mind-up’ time on the future of the Irish beef sector. There is scope for increased prices at the present time and factories must immediately raise prices in order to secure the future of the Irish beef sector.”