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THE Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has stated that any Govern- ment protection of Heathrow slots would be regarded by the European Commission as a special right, which would be challenged before the Eu- ropean Court of Justice.

The minister has also stated that the Aer Lingus withdrawal of its Shan- non-Heathrow service “does not re- quire that a fundamental review of our aviation policy be undertaken or that a Green Paper be published”.

He said, “The main objective is to ensure that the three State airports have sufficient capacity to respond to the growth opportunities of a com- petitive airline sector and to provide vital international access.

“In fulfilling this objective, it is pro- posed to establish Cork and Shannon as independent airports, once finan- cial and operational readiness has been demonstrated under the State Airports Act 2004. In addition, the six regional airports have a key role to play in promoting regional devel- opment.

“The further key components of our strategy are to ensure that our aviation safety and security policies comply with, or exceed, the highest international standards and that the policy framework for air navigation services ensures that the require- ments of airlines for efficient rout- ings and the avoidance of delays are met as far as possible without com- promising safety.

In response to a second question from Limerick East deputy, Kieran O’Donnell, Minister Dempsey was unable to give a date as to when Gov-

ernment funding will be put in place for the full implementation of the €53 million mid-west tourism and economic development plan.

On the decision by BMI not to proceed with a Heathrow link from Shannon, Minister Dempsey said, “The decision by British Midland that it would not commence a Shan- non-Heathrow service was made public on October 4 and reported in the media the following day. I was made aware two days previously, on October 2, that the decision was likely to be negative.

THE details of this year’s winter Cultural and Heritage Programme at Coole Park will be announced later today at a ceremony at the Coole Park Visitor Centre in Gort.

The Friends of Coole will host the official launch of the programme, which has been compiled in part- nership with the National Parks and Wildlife Services, Galway County Council, Galway Rural Develop- ment, Galway Education Centre and Failte Ireland West.

Each year the Coole Park Cultural Programme aims to provide a series of quality multi-disciplinary arts and

heritage events to as wide local au- dience as possible in a site that has national and international cultural Status.

This is the second cultural pro- gramme to take place in Coole this year following the highly success- ful spring programme earlier this year. Both the winter and spring programmes endeavour to showcase locally based artists and provide lec- tures on locally based topics.

The programme was initiated in 2005 on a pilot basis and it’s success to date is largely due to the strong partnership of agencies and active community involvement in its organ- isation, delivery and support.

This year’s winter programme will focus on integrating arts, culture and education with a series of events for adults, young people and families. Drama, heritage, music and poetry will feature in the new programme of events taking place between now Neem @isbuneettane

Coole Park is a nature reserve and former home of Lady Gregory. The park contains extensive woodlands and a series of turloughs with six kil- ometers of signposted nature trails plus a formal walled garden.

The walled garden contains an au- tograph tree that is engraved with initials of many of the leading fig- ures of the Irish Literary Revival

who were personal friends of Lady Gregory including William Butler Yeats, Edward Martyn, George Ber- nard Shaw, John Millington Synge and Sean O’Casey.

Coole Park is part of the Coole- Garryland Complex Special Area of Conservation and the whole of the park is designated a special protec- tion area for birds.

The winter Cultural and Heritage Programme 2007 will be launched today, Tuesday, October 23 at the Coole Park Visitor Centre in Gort at 3.30pm. Details of the winter pro- gramme brochure will be available at the ceremony later today. All are welcome to attend.

MAYOR of Clare, Patricia McCa- rthy left the podium at Saturday’s Save Our Slots Rally to thunderous applause, having told Aer Lingus they “can’t give the two fingers to the mid-west’.

Mayor McCarthy was among a list of speakers who castigated Aer Lin- gus and the Government for the deci-

sion to move the Heathrow slots from Shannon to Belfast.

“My message is simple,” she told the gathered crowds. “Mr Mannion and Aer Lingus, you have made a big mis- take. You have given the two fingers to the Government but you won’t give the two fingers to the mid-west.”

She said that Aer Lingus was ped- dling a “myth and a lie that seat sales are going well in Belfast and the

Government ministers are peddling the same myths and lies.”

Her message for Dublin was, “We are not whingers in the mid-west. We have a problem and we’re getting up and doing something about it. Every- one recognises the injustice of what is happening except the elected Govern- ment. They have the solving of it. Ber- tie 1s the Great Fixer – let him come down here and fix our problem.”

Atlantic Connectivity Alliance’s Michael Vaughan lashed the Gov- ernment for having failed to prepare for the Aer Lingus decision. ““We in business believe there is an answer for those who fail to prepare – it’s a P45 and there are addresses in Dublin I would like to send those to today.”

He added that people should “re- member what has been achieved here. Remember the Flying Boats, remember the first Atlantic crossing. Remember Shannon Development and the Shannon Free Zone and give notice to those who have consigned us in the mid-west to the scrap heap – we will rise again!”

Deputy John Cregan, the only Fian- na Fail TD on the podium, was booed as he told the crowd of almost 10,000 people that he had “listened to your anger and | will be reporting back to the Taoiseach on the importance of this issue to the Shannon region.”

Also on the podium to speak in sup- port of the campaign were the Mayor of Limerick, Ger Fahy and the Ca- thaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr Kevin Sheahan.

They were joined by Fine Gael TD, Kieran O’Donnell; Labour TD, Jan O’Sullivan; Impact official, Andy Pike; SIPTU’s Michael Halpenny; Limerick business woman and model agency director, Celia Holman-Lee; and former Munster and Ireland rug- by hero, Peter Clohessey.

A ROAD fatality is unavoidable at a dangerous junction in Shannon, un- less steps are taken to address traffic eyuele) (othe

That was the stark warning uttered by local councillor Tony Mulcahy (FG), who spoke of his concern re- lating to the Aidan Park junction in SJerVeveeyee

He said last week that there had been four accidents at the junction

over the previous seven days.

“We are going to have to come up with a permanent solution. Someone is going to be killed there. There are peak times, morning, lunch and six o’clock in the evening. We have to come up with a freeflow system. It has to be resolved sooner rather than later,’ he said.

Senior Executive Engineer Donal Hogan responded by suggesting a short-term solution.

“In the short term, we can see what

improvements we can make with traf- fic lights. There are no opportunities to put in extra phases on the traffic lights that are there, but we can get a larger traffic controller, which would allow improvements,” he said.

“It is the right turn movements that is causing the problem,” he added.

Cllr Mulcahy replied, “The Station Road in Ennis is one of the busiest roads in the county, if not the busi- est. There are no lights there, but the traffic flows through. There is talk of

roundabouts. Basically it is a lump of tarmac in the middle of the road.”

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) said the question of improving existing traf- fic lights has been mentioned before.

“T’ve heard that before, about the frequency of lights, but that won’t change the amount of traffic com- ing through. Maybe you could get the road section to draw up some proposal for the Aidan Park area and then let us try and come up with the funding.”

KILMIHIL farmer and Clare IFA Farm Forestry Chairman, Martin Murphy, was last week awarded a Merit Award at the 20th annual RDS/Forest Service Irish Forestry Awards at Castletown House in Cel- bridge.

Murphy was presented with the award by Mary Wallace, Minister of State at the Department of Ag- riculture, Fisheries and Food, with responsibility for Forestry, at a cer- emony on Thursday evening.

The annual Irish Forestry Awards, which are sponsored by the Forest Service of the Department of Ag- riculture, Fisheries and Food, are organised by the RDS which has a long association with Irish forestry and agriculture.

Martin took the merit award in the Farm Forestry category with John McCartan from Kells taking first place.

The Bio-diverse Forest/Woodlands category was won by The Mission- ary Society of St Columbian in Meath with the merit award going to Joe Barry from Kildare.

Greenbelt Ltd from County Cavan was awarded the judges prize for their outstanding work while the special award, in recognition of an outstanding contribution to Irish Forestry, was made to John McCa- rthy of None So Hardy nurseries.

Meanwhile, 1n his role as Clare IFA Farm Forestry Chairman, Martin last week called on Clare REPS farmers to examine the benefits of the new Forest Environmental Protection Scheme (FEPS) which is available to farmers establishing new forests on REPS farms.

The scheme, in which forests will oLoMMeNI Elo) NL elec MmmyalNe Mm oOh ab KO)IDOsTo ILE-DI objectives which will go beyond those of the regular afforestation scheme, will pay farmers up to €200 per hectare over and above the ordi- nary forestry premium for a five year ererulOXee

The payment will compensate farm- ers for the REPS payments that they would normally forgo when transfer- ring REPS land into forestry.

“T hope that this scheme will en- courage REPS farmers to consider

planting some land – the FEPS pay- ment along with the 15 per cent in- crease in premium which IFA fre- cently secured through partnership, should make forestry more attractive to farmers who wouldn’t have con- sidered it as an option in the past,” he said.

The chairman warned farmers to carefully compare the merits of both FEPS and the regular afforestation scheme, “the afforestation scheme

may be more appropriate and ben- eficial over the longer term on many je vuseee

Against this background the IFA hosted a farm forestry meeting in the Auburn Lodge Hotel last night.

“Farmers who are considering planting should come to receive in- formation on increases in planting grants and premiums and the new FEPS Scheme,” he said.

‘Farmers who have already planted

should also come to get details on other forestry schemes and an update on the Clare Wood Energy Project, which will create a market for thin- nings in the county.”

FOUR people who brought thou- sands of cigarettes home from their holidays have been fined in court.

Jean and Anthony Keogh, of Clounanna, Patrickswell, Limerick, appeared before Shannon District Court last week, arising out of an in- cident last December.

A Customs and Excise officer at Shannon airport told the court that Jean Keogh had more than 13,000 cigarettes, with Anthony Keogh had more than 12,000 cigarettes, on De- cember 13, 2006.

They had arrived in Shannon, from Malaga.

Jean Keogh told the court she was pleading guilty and said the ciga- rettes were for family.

The officer said he believed the

cigarettes were for resale as she told him it was her tenth trip to Spain that year and she is a non-smoker.

The customs officer said Anthony Keogh’s cigarettes “were not sourced in an official outlet in Spain’. He said that 800 cigarettes are allowed, per passenger.

Both were fined €500.

In a separate case, John and Mar- tina Reape, of Caladashan, Knock- more, Ballina, Mayo, were stopped after they arrived from Gran Canaria with more than 11,000 cigarettes, in October 2005.

Their solicitor said most of the cigarettes were a Spanish brand and that they had stocked up on cheap cigarettes. He said both accused were “very heavy smokers” and the cigarettes were not destined for sale. Both were fined €200.

TUAMGRANEY residents have mounted a campaign to stop eircom removing the last standing phone box in their village.

A small notice was recently posted in the box, which has stood at the centre of the village for years, in- forming locals that the box is soon tO go.

“Not everyone has a mobile phone. There are elderly people here who have never used a mobile and never

will,” said Tuamgraney Develop- ment Association Chairman, Dami- en Heaney.

“It’s also used by tourists in sum- mer and by some children. It’s good to have it there,’ he added.

Campaigners to keep the phone in the village point out that if someone runs out of credit, a phone call costs just a few cents while the minimum payment for credit is €10.

Tourists who regularly use the box in summer are happy to have the op- tion of paying directly for the call

rather than face huge roaming charg- es, said Damien.

“We have quite a few foreign stu- dents and it’s a very useful facility for them,” the Community Develop- ment Chairman added.

The development association has written to eircom asking why the phone needs to be removed and are awaiting response.

Meanwhile, locals have started a petition to keep the facility, which 1s available for signing in The Graney.

“The problem is that if you have a

facility like this, once it’s taken away you never get it back,’ said Damien.

“Tf it’s not broken, don’t fix it and if it’s working perfectly don’t take it away, he added.

has learnt that Air India is selling slots into Heath- row. A proposal has been put to the minister that at least one of these slots is purchased and the slot leased to Continental be returned to Aer Lingus when the lease is up in 2008.

Those proposing such a move ar- gue that as these slots are already in place there will be no drawn out set up process.

Meanwhile ACA, the action group comprising of key industry, tour- ism and community leaders in the Shannon and western region and set up in response to the announcement that Aer Lingus’s Shannon Heath- row slots were to move to Belfast, has lodged an application for slots at Heathrow.

The application has been made on behalf of the action group by Astrae- us Airlines, an established provider of chartered and scheduled services

throughout Europe, Africa, North America and Central Asia.

The authority responsible for slot allocation and schedule facilitation at all major airports in the UK – Air- port Co-Ordination Ltd has received the application, which seeks landing and take off slots at London Heath- row in line with the existing schedule of air services between the interna- tional hub and Shannon.

Mayor of Clare and Alliance mem- ber, Cllr Patricia McCarthy said the Alliance had taken it upon itself, its members and the people of the region to engage with Astraeus Airlines in seeking to ensure that the slots are

retained for Shannon into the future.

According to John Brassil, Chair- man of the Atlantic Connectivity Al- liance said the Alliance had formed a special limited company – Shan- non Air Link Ltd. – to enable man- agement contracts to be entered into with Astraeus should we be success- ful in securing the slots at Heathrow.

Capt John Mahon, Director of Flight Operations with Astraeus said, “We are an experienced airline with an expanding base and would be very happy to provide services on the Shannon-Heathrow route on be- half of the Atlantic Connectivity Al- liance. Our board has considered the issue and will work with the Atlantic Connectivity Alliance on progress- ing the proposal.

Based in Crawley in England, Astraeus operates scheduled and chartered flights for around 50 tour Operators specialising in serving destinations in Africa, Europe, and Canada. It also specialises in pro- viding operational capacity to com- panies, and has worked with Iceland Express, Air Asia, FlyBe and Ster- ling to commence or enhance their ol MIA

Its main bases are Manchester Air- port and London Gatwick Airport. Astraeus Ltd flies over 4,700 seats worldwide per week.

FIVE people – including two moth- ers – have appeared in court, charged in connection with a long-running ‘volatile’ traveller feud in Ennis.

Four of the five were arrested after a row broke out as parents brought children to school in Cloughleigh, last Friday morning. The fifth was arrested at Ennis courthouse later Were ee hVA

As allegations that members of one family awaited the other family out- side Ennis courthouse last Friday, security was tight as several gardai were deployed to the scene.

Before the court were Anne (43), Christopher (22) and Jim (18) Mon- gans, of Shalee Drive, Ennis, and Margaret (44) and Mary (20) Molloy, of Gordon Drive, all charged with engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, at Cloughleigh Road, Ennis, last Friday morning.

Christopher Mongans is also ac-

cused of damaging Mary Molloy’s car.

The court heard from gardai that the charges arose from a ‘tense’ and ‘volatile’ feud between the two Dee e Sloe

“This is part of a feuding incident between the Molloys and the Mon- gans. It is ongoing, sporadic, over the past couple of years. Over the past 24 hours, it has escalated into violence occurring between both sides,” said Inspector Tom Kennedy, RON eUlan ites

He said it “boiled over” when par- ents were bringing their children to school that morning and resulted in one woman, Anne Mongans being taken to hospital with a head injury.

He appealed to Judge Joseph Man- gan to remand the accused in custo- dy, “to diffuse what is going on and to curtail them from fighting”.

“Outside the court, some of these parties are waiting for others. I have to be fearful. What happened this

morning could be a lot more seri- Ole

“It is escalating from damaging property to physical assaults. Insult- ing and degrading language is now escalating into physical contact and fighting,’ he added.

“I don’t think it’s in the capacity of any of the parties to hold their feel- ings in accordance with conditions set down,’ said Inspector Kennedy.

Solicitor for the Mongans, Tara Godfrey said, “There is a generali- sation made that if some members of each family are put 1n prison, this won’t continue. It will.”

The Molloys’ solicitor William Cahir said his clients were “not the ageressors” of the incident.

The case was adjourned for a number of hours. At 6pm, the judge asked had anything changed.

Mr Cahir said he had had a full consultation with his clients.

“Margaret Molloy is a mother of 11 and has never come to the atten-

tion of the court before. Her daugh- ter Mary never came to the attention of the court before. They are willing to abide by a curfew and any un- dertaking the court would impose,’ said Mr Cahir.

Ms Godfrey said she would concur with Mr Cahir.

She said, in the past, mediators were involved and she suggested that these people be contacted, in an effort to see if this option was open.

However Sergeant Paul Slattery then brought it to the court’s atten- tion that efforts had been made to get both parties together, during the day.

“I brought representatives of both parties together outside to try to come to some agreement. After that, I heard Anne Mongans engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour with a member of the op- posing family,” said Set Slattery.

“I was forced to intervene, to pre-

vent it escalating. There doesn’t seem to be any gra by either side to bury the hatchet,” he said.

Ms Godfrey said her client made an allegation about something that had been said, but that complaint had not been dealt with.

“It was a very serious threat, an immediate threat. The person that issued the threat is not before the court at the moment,” she said.

She said there was “resentment” if things said to her client were being ignored by the State.

“My client was provoked. There was a reason for her reaction,” she said.

Judge Joseph Mangan said it was “unusual” that the State would ask to remand people on public order charges in custody.

He remanded all five in custody, with consent to bail, to appear in court again later this week. They were ordered to keep away from each other and abide by curfews.

THE LACK of facilities for teenagers and older children in the Westbury and Shannon Banks area of Clare is getting youngsters into trouble, a lo- oF: ere) Une Ces US lOvum ery eT seee

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald is to table a motion for the county council that land be set aside for the building of community centres, sports fields and other facilities which would get young people off the streets.

He is also going to press the local authority to take a unit in the new Westbury centre to open library fa- cilities.

“Parents and teenagers themselves

have come to me saying there’s nothing for them to do. There are no community centres where they could start a youth club, no library facilities where they can access free Internet or borrow books and not enough playing fields or sports facili- ties. They end up hanging around the streets, getting involved in anti-so- cial behaviour,’ Cllr Fitzgerald said.

While progress has been made towards getting playgrounds in the Parteen and Meelick areas and Cor- bally United and the various GAA clubs cater for those interested in GAA and soccer, there are no other sports facilities.

‘There’s nowhere for teenagers to

go to play a game of pool or have a place to meet off the streets. The council is giving permission after permission to build housing estates but they are not putting aside land for community centres or playing fields. This is what is needed and what I will be pushing for.”

Cllr Fitzgerald said he also wants more funding and easier access to grants for community centres and leisure activities.

Cllr Fitzgerald said that he will also be asking the council to look at taking the last remaining empty unit in Westbury for a library. “There is no proper access to library facilities here,’ he said.

While he wants to see younger teenagers off the streets and out of trouble, the Labour councillor also wants to stop older teenagers from drinking in public.

“Tl be talking to the gardai and the county council about enforcing the by-laws on drinking in public places.

These people are over 18 and legal- ly allowed to buy drink but they’re drinking in public and causing trou- ble. They should be warned the first time they’re caught doing it and fined the second time. It’s intimidating for a lot of people to see groups of youths drunk. At best it’s a nuisance, causing noise and litter.”