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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.

NEIGHBOURS of Brian Fitzgerald have told the trial how they woke up of the night of his death to hear gun- shots.

One woman, Monica McElvanney, said she was awakened at 3.37 am to hear someone shouting out “Oh God ona

Almost immediately she heard two or three shots. There was a gap of around 30 seconds before another two or three shots sounded. She said

she stayed in bed terrified.

Another witness, Mary Mannix, said she woke up just after 3.30am hearing four or six shots. She heard a man crying or shouting out “help me, I’m being shot at.”

Patrick Healy said he had been leav- ing a friend’s house on the street. At around lam, he saw a “filthy dirty” red Ford Mondeo driving slowly down the road.

He could see the driver who he described as a “stocky, bald man”. He became suspicious when the car

made an awkward three-point turn, but when he went towards the car to get a better look it sped away.

Another neighbour, Paul O’ Byrne, said he was awakened by the sound of shots, at around 3.45am. He got up to phone the gardai and saw a man walking past the window wearing a white motorcycle helmet with the visor down over his face. He heard someone shouting “hurry up” but wasn’t sure if it was the man he had ore tb

Elaine Murphy was also awak-

ened by the sound of gun shots. She looked out of the window and saw a man wearing a light coloured helmet and dark clothes walking away from the Fitzgerald’s house.

A few minutes later she saw some- one sprinting out of the estate “out of the corner of my eye” and a second man walking out of the estate. She noted again he was wearing a light coloured helmet and dark clothes. She said she thought at first this man was injured but now wasn’t sure. He was holding a gun.

The trial heard that gardai recov- ered a 9mm semi-automatic pistol from the bed of the Mulcair River in Anacotty.

Detective Garda John Higgins said the weapon was a Czech made weapon which had been reactivated for normal use.

He told the court he had examined the victim’s jeep, finding a canister of CS gas, a steel baton and a throw- ing knife in a leather sheath. He said he had found no sign of a handgun in the jeep.

CLARE farmer and chairperson of ICMSA’s Beef and Cattle Com- mittee Martin McMahon has called for streamlining of the Suckler Cow SYo tesa elon

Speaking following a meeting with senior officials of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food on the new Suckler Cow Welfare Scheme, he said he welcomes the introduc- tion of the scheme but pointed out that a number of small amendments to the detailed rules would make the scheme more attractive to farmers.

“ICMSA believes that some of the recording deadlines set down by the department are excessive and unnec- essary and should be amended. For example, each calf born will neces- sitate a farmer having to notify the

department on five separate occa- sions regarding certain events based on strict deadlines. It is possible and sensible to greatly streamline that level of recording and still meet the department’s objectives,” he said.

‘For example, instead of writing to the department on the date the ani- mal was disbudded, that information should be included in the calf regis- tration form, thus eliminating at least one set of unnecessary paperwork. Excessive form-filling has become the bane of many a farmer’s exist- ence and we need a conscious effort to avoid pointless replication.”

In addition, the ICMSA is propos- ing that calves born after September 1, 2007 should be eligible for this scheme while the department has confirmed that the scheme is open to all farmers irrespective of whether

they were in suckler farming in the past or not.

“The scheme is a welcome develop- ment for the suckler herd but we will require more initiatives if we are to maintain a sustainable suckler cow herd in Ireland,” said McMahon.

Meanwhile, the ICMSA has also said compensation for animals killed by diseases is out of line with current market realities.

Given the recent rise in livestock value, the levels of compensation available under the Live Valuation Scheme and associated TB/Brucel- losis Schemes are now out of line with actual losses.

“As every farmer will know, the val- ue of dairy stock has increased con- siderably this year and ICMSA be- lieves that the guideline figures used by the Department of Agriculture,

Fisheries & Food for TB/Brucellosis valuations have not kept pace,” said Dominic Cronin, chairperson of [C- MSA’s Dairy Committee.

‘For example, the guideline figures for first and second lactation cows have not increased at all for certain categories since last April, while the most a category has increased is by €200.

“That does not at all reflect the re- ality on the ground, where the prices paid by farmers have increased by substantially more and ICMSA is now calling on the department to im- mediately revise their guideline pric- es upwards to reflect the true value of dairy stock at this time.”

GARDENING the way our grand- parents might have done it is making a comeback.

A community garden in east Clare is providing inspiration for many local people who had never turned their hand to growing their own fruit and vegetables before.

Brendan Sanders is part of the esroup which set up the community garden two years ago and now that it has been so successful, he hopes to see a project on a larger scale get off the ground with a community allot- ment of a few acres.

The garden became possible thanks to the generosity of a local woman, Mary Henchy, who owned one eight of an acre of land behind Brian and Joe’s Café in Scarif.

She wanted to see some use made

of it rather than simply keeping the grass and weeds under control and she offered it to the intrepid garden- ing group.

‘Four people got together initially to set up the garden project,’ said Brendan. “It’s a place where people can come and work in the garden or learn about growing plants and veg- etables or just come and sit.”

Local people drop in from time to time to get advice on growing or to see what is being done in the garden and some come to help.

It is also used by clients of the Brother’s of Charity.

The gardeners also cultivate me- dicinal and culinary herbs and trees, making it a woodland garden.

One day a week, it’s the setting for a sculpture workshop.

“We had two local girls in their twenties drop in last week. They

were very interested in learning how to grow their own food and they’ve agreed to come and work with us. We also get older people coming in and they tell us how there was always a bit of land on their parent’s farms where vegetables and fruit were grown for the house,” said Brendan.

Parents often call at weekends with their children to show them around and school groups come in from time to time.

The Alpha Project, an alternative second-level education project, has a module on gardening on it’s curricu- lum and the youngsters involved do the module in the garden.

“It’s a way of bringing different sections of the community together, doing something which 1s sustain- able and productive,” said Brendan.

Recently, a community composting facility has been started in the gar-

den with funding from Agenda 21 for a compost bin and two wormer- ies. Nearby households were given plastic composting buckets and they bring their compostable waste which will be put to use as garden fertiliser once it has been broken down.

“We’re hoping in the future that this idea will expand and that we will be able to get a larger piece of land for people to work as a community allot- ment, where crops could be grown on a small scale and more people would get involved,’ said Brendan.

THE Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Cough- lan, has urged all Clare farmers who want to join REPS for the first time in 2008 to have their plans properly prepared before the 2008 closing date for the Single Payment Scheme application.

This is because a change in EU rules means that, from next year, applications for agri-environment payments like REPS must be made before the Single Payment applica- tion deadline.

Farmers starting REPS 4 contracts

this year are not affected by the new requirement. “In practice, the new rules from 2008 mean that if you are a first-time REPS applicant, you must submit a REPS 4 plan before the Sin- gle Payment application deadline if you are to receive your REPS pay- ment in the calendar year,’ Minister Coughlan said.

“If your REPS 4 plan is received after the 2008 Single Payment ap- plication deadline, we can start your REPS contract the following month but we can’t pay you until you have made a payment application in the following year.

“It will only affect you in your first

year in REPS. The first payment will be backdated to the start of your contract and your other payments will go out linked to your REPS an- niversary as they have always done in the past.”

The minister stressed that the great majority of farmers who are already in REPS will be unaffected by the change. The old system can continue to operate for farmers who remain in REPS 3.

Farmers in REPS 3 who intend to switch over to REPS 4 will need to put in a payment application for REPS before the 2008 Single Pay- ment application deadline, but their

first REPS 4 payment will issue in the normal timeframe linked to the commencement date of their new oe) ele relolm

“My officials argued at length against the commission’s proposal to change the rules as they did not best suit Ireland’s all-year REPS ap- plication open period,’ added the PODUNUR Kom

“However, I am determined to Operate the new system in as sim- ple and straightforward a way as possible, and my officials will be meeting the farming organisations shortly to discuss the practicalities for 2008.”

ANNE Marie Bourke (nee Collins), Limerick and formerly of Kevin Pa- rade, Killaloe held a most interest- ing and colourful exhibition at the Abbey Court Hotel during the bank holiday weekend.

Anne Marie, who comes from a most artistic and musical Killaloe family, is daughter of Danny and Maureen (nee Ryan) and a niece of the late Killaloe tenor, Sean Ryan.

As a young child, Anne Marie was always seen with her drawing pad

and pencils and frequently sat on the Canal Bank wall sketching the many interesting sights, buildings, hills etc around her. It is not surprising that the inspiration for many of her paint- ings comes from her native Killa- loe. She vividly recalls her very first painting, – a little boy seated under a tree cuddling his dog, which was completed at the tender age of twelve years.

Anne Marie is a Self-taught artist who works in watercolour, oil and pastel and indeed she sometimes combines other media to create

mixed media works.

“T always let the subject I am paint- ing dictate the medium I use and the result never fails to be visually stim- ulating,’ she explains.

Flowers are among her favourite subjects but she also paints splendid landscapes, lakeside scenes, sea- scapes, nostalgic buildings/scenes and still life.

In the summer, Anne Marie trav- elled to Venice and Provence where she tutored students from all over Eu- rope. She also painted for the Les-tr- ois-puits Gallery in Provence where

her work is currently on display.

In spite of her extremely busy schedule, she finds time to pass her knowledge and expertise on to other aspiring artists through the work- shops she conducts around Munster. Through these events she passes on liberating techniques to help stu- dents become free in their work and develop their own individual style.

Anne Marie is a director of Gallery 75, a professional associate of SAA London and a member of Limerick Art Society where she was chairper- son from 1999 to 2001.

, Dr John McCavitt highlights the role of Clare nobleman Donagh O’Brien, who risked his life travelling on the boat from the continent which picked the earls up from Rathmullan and

conveyed them to safety abroad.

Having previously fled from Ireland himself following his escape from Athlone gaol, O’Brien, a trusted fol- lower of the Earl of Tyrconnell and a cousin of the Earl of Thomond, per- sonally delivered the message to the earl that his life was in danger should he remain in Ireland.

The publication features a wide range of contemporary images, pho- tographs of the surviving built herit- age and modern art.

The book contextualises the exodus

of the earls in terms of the northern peace process and reveals new in- sights into the reasons for the Flight of the Earls, not least the link with ‘Ireland’s Helen’, Mabel Bagenal, the Protestant beauty. Her elope- ment with the dashing Earl of Tyrone precipitated a family feud with the Bagenals over her unpaid dowry that unleashed a tidal wave of events that not only led to the Nine-Years War but arguably swept the earls of Ty- rone and Tyrconnell to the continent in 1607.

The book emphasises the impact of the imprisonment of Dublin aldermen following the Gunpowder Plot in Eng- land in 1605 on the way events un- folded at Rathmullan two years later.

While many who departed from the shores of Lough Swilly were Ulster- men, evidence shows that all four provinces were represented on the vessel that left Rathmullan.

Considerable attention in this 400th anniversary year has focused on who comprised the so-called ‘Noble 99’, those who departed from Rathmullan

in September 1607. A chapter tackles some of the myths that have arisen over the centuries in this regard.

The ‘fate and fortunes’ of those who took part in the exodus is also charted, with poignant details of what happened to the earls themselves and the leading nobles as well as exam- ining the adventures and misadven- tures of the women and children who took part.

Perhaps most revealingly of all, the book chronicles the fate of those who managed to make it back to Ireland.

YOUNG music fans from east Clare last week had a day they will never forget, courtesy of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Glor and Scar- iff Community School.

On Wednesday, 500 youngsters from surrounding national schools were treated to three, hour-long ses- sions on classical music by the or- chestra.

Now that Scariff is offering mu- sic aS a subject right up to Leaving Certificate stage, their own music students were able to benefit enor- mously from the visit.

“It was definitely one of the best thing ever to happen at the school,” said Principal, Sean Daly.

‘The conductor, James Kavanagh, had a great rapport with the young- sters and he really got the best out of them. They loved it and the staff were just blown away by it.”

Roughly half the orchestra turned up for the three sessions in the school hall.

The sessions were part of a larger visit organised by Clare County Council Arts Office and Glor.

The National Symphony Orchestra took up residence in County Clare last week and their programme en-

compassed workshops for primary school students, concerts for second- ary school students and public con- certs in Kilkee and Ennis with mas- ter piper Liam O’F lynn.

An estimated six thousand people heard the musicians of the orchestra perform in the course of the week.

To prepare the ground conductor James Cavanagh ran a training ses- sion for teachers in Glor in Septem- oe

Members of the orchestra also con- tributed their own informal voluntary element to the residency week with outreach activities including per- formances in local nursing homes.

Principal Daly said that staff and students at the Scariff school were “delighted that they choose to come here. It was great for the area and great for the school as well”.

PM CUESS deem pede mete) eco s colonel oy the RTE NSO, with enthusiastic re- sponses in past years from schools and public audiences alike in Kerry, Donegal, Cork, Mayo, Galway and Laois.