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A NEW group, whose aim it is to in- tegrate newcomers to Shannon, has become a huge hit in the town.

Le Chéile na Sionna International Club was set up earlier this year, to cater for the social needs of several people of different nationalities, who have moved to Shannon.

Its motto has been to “foster the 1n- tegration of all ethnic groups through enjoyable contact.’

The idea to set up the group came after a programme on Shannon Community Radio – called “The New Irish’ – encouraged the new residents in the town to get involved.

Everybody who was involved in the programme expressed an interest in developing the friendships they had experienced and the idea of setting up Le Chéile emanated from that.

Co-ordinator Trish Fallon-Barry said the response to the group has been hugely positive, over the past few months.

“A lot of people work in the call centres in Shannon. Some might be here for 18 months and do not know anybody in the town. A lot of people come to Shannon from Limerick and Ennis and go back every night. It is good to have something in the town for people. People who have moved to Shannon welcome a social outlet,”

she said.

“There are several nationalities in the group,” she added.

The group has just started to host socials, on the first Tuesday of every month, at Rineanna Hall. At the in- augural social earlier this month, there were representatives from France, German, The Netherlands, America and South America, along with locals from Shannon.

A drop-in meeting also takes place in the foodcourt, at SkyCourt, every second Saturday morning. This gives people who may not have the oppor- tunity to attend the socials, to mingle with others.

“Between

students and _ people

working in Shannon, hopefully we will get local people integrating. Success breeds success. AS soon as people hear about a gathering, they join in,’ said Ms Fallon-Barry.

There are currently over 50 mem- bers of the group and the organisers are keen to encourage others to join ne

‘The whole idea is an international social club. We learn about each oth- er’s cultures. For example in Decem- ber we will have a theme night, where people will bring dishes specific to their native regions,’ she added.

Anyone who wants to join the group can email Trish on trishfallon92 @hotmail.com.

TODAY is an early pay day for Clare farmers. Clare Fine Gael TD Pat Breen received confirmation from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisher- ies and Food Mary Coughlan, that half of the advance single farm pay- ment will be paid out to Clare Farm- ers today, October 16.

While welcoming the confirmation Deputy Breen urged the minister to ensure that adequate resources are put in place in the SPS unit of the de- partment to deal with any outstand- ing farmers administrative queries 1n

the days preceding this payout.

Deputy Breen said “I welcome this acknowledgement by the minister of the serious problems experienced by Clare Farmers due to the bad weather. The Department has set up a Lo-Call Telephone Number 1890 252 235 in the SPS Unit to assist Clare Farmers with any outstanding queries.

“It is important that the depart- ment allocates sufficient staff in the SPS unit to deal with these queries; the farming community in County Clare should not experience any un- necessary delays because of the de- partment’s failure to assign adequate

resources,” said Deputy Breen.

During parlimentary questions the Fine Gael deputy asked the minis- ter if she would make 80 per cent of the advance single farm payment in October 2007, due to the increased costs incurred by farmers as a result of the bad weather.

Minister Coughlin said she ap- proached Commissioner Fischer Boel earlier this year, seeking her agreement to have payments made with effect from October 16 rather than December I, as is provided for in the relevant EU regulations.

“While the Commissioner indi-

cated that she could not agree to this request at this time, she did make it clear in her written response that she agreed with the need to work for greater simplification, proposing that the matter be further pursued in the broader context of the CAP Health Check, scheduled to commence later this year. “The commitment by the Commissioner to pursue this matter is important to Ireland, as we will be seeking, as part of the Health Check negotiations, a change in the Regula- tions to provide for a Single Payment Scheme payment commencement date of October 16,” she said.

COUNCILLORS angry at what they describe as planning inconsistencies demanded to know last night “how long is a piece of ribbon?”’.

Cllr John Crowe (FG) had asked that a “detailed criteria for ribbon de- velopment in all areas be put before the council for its consideration”.

He said that there “appears to be no consistency in what defines ribbon development and people are being refused permission because of it.

‘For instance, when there 1s an 1n-

fill site that hasn’t been developed, a genuine local rural person should be able to build.

“The bottom line, is that local ru- ral people should be entitled to build homes.”

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said that, “In some places, people are told five houses is ribbon development. In other cases, they are told that it’s four. And in some cases, house number seven might be going in and ribbon CLAYeA Le) oy eatornlmp ye mon (oO ONSNLBLOITeOr

“Tt’s totally unfair. What I want to know is how long is a piece of rib-

bon?”

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) seconded Cllr Kelly’s motion.

He said that a “guideline is not a rule and it is definitely not a policy. J am aware of two people who are homeless in my area because of rib- bon development guidelines.

“They were refused permission to build and now they are on the coun- cil’s housing list.”

Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) said that it needs to be made clear that the “council is not responsible for the legislation on this – it’s our TDs up in

the Dail who are responsible.”

Members of the council asked to know, apart from numbers of hous- es, what other guidelines affect the eranting or denying of planning permissions to avoid ribbon develop- ment.

Council officials told the meeting that ribbon development is not to be encouraged as it is not in the interests of best planning.

Issues such as an excess of septic tanks and public health had to be considered. If a ribbon development oexexey ae (onc er-MVONT- DUMB Reco MUMBO oM NNN T(EN lc

of nowhere, then pressure comes on to provide public lighting and serv- ices where it is not economical to do so, councillors were told.

Cllr John Crowe said that his con- cern is for the inconsistencies with which the definition was being ap- plied, as this was affecting people’s ability to build homes and live in their own areas.

“If we are going to have a definition then it should be interpreted with consistency – the bottom line is that a genuine local rural person should be able to build.”

THE Senior Citizens Club in Shan- non are doing their own bit for Tel- ethon, on Friday week.

People In Need will be the benefi- ciary of a coffee morning and bring- and-buy sale, organised by the club.

The event is scheduled to take place at the clubhouse at 9 Purcell Park, on national Telethon day, Friday, Octo- ber 26, and the people of Shannon are being asked to turn up and sup- port the fundraising.

“We were looking for people to subscribe to the coffee morning. Come along and have a cup of coffee and a chat,” said Tess Barry, of the Senior Citizens Club.

“It is by no means an old peoples’ club. We need the support of the community,’ she added.

The club was set up in 1979 and over the years has done much to help the ageing population in Shannon.

Mr Barry and Tom Moore were the founding members of the organisa- none

“Years ago, People in Need gave us funding of €200. It was our first funding ever and we were delighted with it,’ said Ms Barry.

The club welcomes every penny in funding it is offered. It costs €40,000 to run the club every year. Most of the budget is spent on meals- on-wheels, while the club’s members enjoy various activities, including aqua aerobics, bingo and art every week.

“The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been very good to us, as

have the industrialists and the town council,” she added.

Members of the club have had a busy few weeks. Last week, they were enlightened on issues in rela- tion to the abuse of elders.

The talk was given by Donal Hur- ley of the HSE and members of the eroup were delighted with the event.

Anyone who may have queries on the issue of abuse of elders should phone 065 6863689.

For further information on the club contact 061 364144.

that

there were two wards closed in the

unit as a result of the budget and re- cruitment freeze.

Patients who have been ready for

discharge are also confined to the

specialised rehabilitation hospital as the personnel for their follow up care or rehabilitation at homes are also af- fected by the controversial move by the HSE to tackle the projected €245 budget overspend.

As aresult the bed he left on a tem- porary basis just months ago is not available.

Ms Mc Tiernan said that her flancé is in a private bed in the neurosurg!- cal ward in Cork University Hospital that should be freed for another pa- tient “probably waiting in pain on a trolley”.

The young woman, who travels from Shannon to Cork every evening to see Gerard is in no doubt who is to blame:

“Mary Harney (the Minister for

Health) is saying that it is not affect- ing front line staff and patients but it is. Gerard paid his taxes for long enough and this is how he 1s repaid.”

Gerard suffered serious brain inju- ries as a result of a hit and run ac- cident that saw him propelled 10 feet into the air while on a golfing trip to Sy oy ube bey Eh are elon

The 44-year-old spent four months in a Malaga hospital following life Saving surgery that saw part of his skull removed.

The self-employed man then re- turned home and spent six months in the Mid Western Regional Hospi- tal Limerick, all the time awaiting a place in Dun Laoghaire.

After intensive campaigning and fighting by his fiancée he got a place

in the rehabilitation unit in late May of this year, a year after the life alter- ing accident.

Two weeks into his rehabilitation treatment he was sent to Cork Uni- versity Hospital to have a titanium plate inserted in his skull, an opera- tion that was to aid his recovery and have him away from the rehabilita- tion unit for just a week.

Further complications meant that the Shannon father of one had to stay in Cork for three months of intensive treatment including painful spinal taps.

As he was confined to bed a lot of the rehabilitation work was undone, but two months ago the doctors gave him the all clear to return for reha- eyebie-nele)eF

The recruitment freeze has meant that the Shannon man must stay put, however, losing vital time away from the unit.

‘The first 18 months are crucial for major brain surgery patients like Ger because that is when they re-learn to speak and walk again,” said Yvonne.

Gerard has just a three-month win- dow left to return to the rehabilita- tion unit for maximum impact and the young couple are aware that time is very quickly running out.

‘We can’t move on with the rest of our lives,’ said a frustrated Yvonne.

She said that while Gerard was in Cork he had access to intensive phys- iotherapy and a speech therapist – treatment not available in Limerick.

He must therefore remain miles away from his eight-year-old son Adam and his fiancée.

Gerard is very aware of what is hap- pening to him and has regained some of his walk and a little speech.

SM elemolerravsleemeeteliB MoM mRMeieE-lKere| with his situation.

‘Mary Harney – what she is doing is affecting him and us for the rest of our lives. She is stopping him getting better,” said Yvonne.

“Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Fighting the system is unbelievable,” she said.

“It is hard enough to deal with the changes without these obstacles in OTe Ne

“It is not just Ger. The whole coun- try is being affected by it,’ said a tired and frustrated Ms McTiernan.

A CLARE councillor has asked the local authority to get legal advice on whether structures that don’t normal- ly need planning permission could be up for demolition if they are built on an indicative road line.

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) said that those with land crossed by a line that effectively sterilises that land for future road development are left in limbo when it comes to planning.

‘The northern distributor road in- dicative line runs through my area and there have been a number of applications refused on the basis of dake

Cllr Crowe said that there are farm- ers in areas like Clonlara who cannot expand or build structures such as slatted sheds, which would normally be exempt from planning permis- sion, because they don’t know what will happen later on.

He added that the council “needs to follow up and keep people informed when we have a public consultation on a road line. A line can be moved and I know a number of people who have gone to the trouble and expense of applying for permissions only to be refused because there 1s an indica- tive line through their land.”

Senior Executive Planner, Liam Conneally told the meeting that there is legislation which covers future in- frastructure development.

“If people need to know whether or not planning permission 1s required,

they can apply to the local authority and the process 1s speedy,” he said.

He added that there is good news in the offing in that the first phase of the Northern Distributor Road will begin shortly, with Limerick County Council taking the lead.

Cllr Crowe said he would like as- surances that the council will fol- low through thoroughly after public consultation meetings and that legal

advice would be taken on whether exempt structures can be demolished if they are on such sterilised land.

But Mayor of Clare, Cllr Patricia McCarthy, said she was sounding a warning bell about the legal advice.

She said it was not up to the coun- cil to pay to get legal advice for in- Cn aTAeLUE Tice

A GROUP of landowners have ap- pealed a decision by Clare County Council to give permission for a €10 million retail park on the northern side of Ennis.

In the plan, Keco Development has secured planning permission on a site 3km north east of Ennis that will involved the development of 25 retail units.

According to the promoters of the venture, the development offers a high quality, purpose designed and built retail park to this important gateway; the zoning of the site allows for the uses proposed; this site is well

placed with regards to its proximity to the northern end of the bypass as a link to the rest of Ennis and beyond They claim that the proposal will not have an adverse impact on the town centre of Ennis or any other centre as established in the retail 1m- pact statement and the development will improve the competitiveness of Ennis and the county as a whole in line with the county retail strategy The statement points out, “There is a clear need for this type of develop- ment within the Ennis Environs and this site is available in the short term to meet those needs in conjunction with other retail proposals in the area and will be instrumental in reducing

the flow of bulky goods in the Lim- erick Metropolitan area.”

The owners of the land are John Dillane of Banner Motors, Oliver Walsh of Oliver Walsh Motors, Liam Cleary of Cleary Motors and Enda O’Connor of O’Connor Engineering.

The statement says that Oliver Walsh and Liam Cleary Motors are to relocate from existing out of cen- tre site as the sites no longer meet the requirements of their business.

However, in an appeal lodged by Messrs Byrne, O’Dea, Curran, Mul- lins, Tuohy and Heaslip, they claim that the proposal “clearly presents a serious potential flooding situation to our property, which is of serious con-

cern to us and will result in reduction in property values and affect the ease and enjoyment of these properties”.

They state, “A hydrological impact assessment attached to the applica- tion confirms that the development would encroach on the floodable area of the site, which 1s caused by the Lough, by an amount of eight hectare or approximately 37 per cent of the floodable area.

“The applicant intends to maxim- ise the commercial potential of this site without having due regard to the effect which this will have on our chent’s adjoining properties from a point of view of flooding potential and other considerations as noted

STRIKE action at Ennis General hospital had been averted as man- agement and unions enter a second round of talks this week.

On Wednesday last an interim agreement was entered into after talks at the Labour Relations Com- mission, as both parties agreed to consider all proposal.

The talks convened after 90 per cent of the staff at the hospital voted for industrial action, claiming low staff- ing levels, brought to a head during the current HSE recruitment freeze, were endangering patients’ lives.

Meanwhile, the HSE released fig- ure yesterday showing that €2 billion was paid to 5,811 doctors, pharma- cies, dentists and optometrists/oph- thalmologists in 2006 through the Primary Care Reimbursement Serv- ice (PCRS), with €681 mullion of this in fees alone for services (in- cluding dispensing) delivered.

In county Clare an Ennis optome- trists was the third highest paid opti- cian under the scheme.

Dr Jarlath Gallagher from _ the Eyecare centre received a total of €164,770 under the scheme.

Ennistymon dentist Dr John Shee- han from the medical centre on Main

Street was listed as the highest paid in his profession in Clare under the scheme at €192,846.

Seven pharmacists in Clare were among the 500 pharmacists nation- ally that earned over €240,000.

Duffy’s Pharmacy in Ennis topped the Clare list receiving a total of €435,761. 191,560 was for medical card fees, €184,858 was under the Drugs Payment Scheme fees mark ups and €59,344 was for Long Term IlIness Scheme fee or mark up.

Over 600 GPs earned over €240,000 in fees in 2006, with 18 earning over €500,000 and one doc- tor receiving over €7/00,000.

The highest paid GP in Clare un- der the scheme was Dr Michael Kel- leher in Ennistymon who received €423,457 in total – €347,026 for fees and another €76,431 for practice Support.

The figures released showed the fees received under the public health schemes and did not include the earnings received by GPs and phar- macists through their private/retail eeu

Publishing the 2006 PCRS Over- view, the HSE confirmed that a to- tal of €2.07 billion had been paid in 2006, representing an increase of €194m in 2006.

PHARMACIES in Clare will close as a result of the decision of the HSE to alter the basis on which it pays phar- macies for dispensing medicines.

That is according to the President of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (I[PU), Michael Guckian, who said the Government expected pharma- cists to dispense medicines to medi- cal cardholders for amounts nine per cent lower than they bought it.

“The HSE announcement means that many pharmacists will have to stop supporting the State medicine schemes because they want us to sell medicines ata loss. Others will close

and the loser will be patients up and down the country.”

Three weeks ago, the HSE an- nounced that it was altering the sys- tem of paying pharmacists from De- cember lI.

“The HSE decision was taken with- out regard for how it will impact on patients and on viability of local pharmacies in Clare,” said Mr Guck- Te nOe

Clare Pharmacist Feidhlim Hillery of Sean Hillery Pharmacists, Shan- non Airport, said “The HSE’s deci- sion, if implemented, will make the medical card scheme unviable for pharmacists to deliver from Decem- roan

“There are 34,552 medical card pa- tients in Clare. This is very worrying for local pharmacists. It will have a negative impact on patient care.

‘I have reviewed the impact of this decision on my business and I simply would not be in a position to provide medicines to patients at a loss from December,” he said.

Pharmacists are asking the HSE to reverse this decision and to get into meaningful talks on a new pharmacy contract with their trade union, the Irish Pharmaceutical Union.

“The HSE decision may lead to closures of pharmacies in many ru- ral and marginalised communities, which tend to have a higher propor-

tion of medical card patients. It will mean job losses in these communi- ties and longer distances for patients to travel to get their medicines if their local pharmacy closes down.

“For the pharmacies that do sur- vive, patients may also have to en- dure reduced opening hours and longer waiting times, as pharmacies may have to let staff go.

“Many medicines, such as insu- lin for diabetics, may no longer be as widely available as pharmacists would have to have to provide such medicines at a loss from December 1,” according to the IPU.

Many pharmacies have a huge dependence on the Medical Card

Scheme [GMS] or the Drug Pay- ments Scheme [DPS]. Government dictates whether the pharmacist can apply any margin to medicines sold under these schemes. In the case of the GMS, which accounts for about 76 per cent of medicines sold under the State schemes, the Government allows the pharmacist to earn no margin. Instead the Government pays the pharmacist a fee of €3.26 for each medicine dispensed.

In the case of drugs dispensed un- der the DPS, the Government pays a eross margin of 33 per cent on the cost of the drug – but this accounts for only about 25 per cent of the med- icines dispensed by pharmacists.

THE Department of the Environment has stated that a planned €20 million business park near the 12th century Clareabbey should not proceed.

Earlier this year, David Costelloe lodged plans to develop 74 light in- dustrial units with a total floor area of 25,876 sq metres in the townland of Clonroadmore.

In the planner’s report lodged with the scheme, it states that the proposed development will be in excess of 103 metres from the abbey structure and that “the buffer will afford adequate protection to the abbey and protect its historical setting”.

The report states, “The proposed development has been carefully de-

signed from the project concept tak- ing account of all relevant factors including market demand, planning policy and site constraints and op- portunities.

However, a submission from the Department claims that the proposal “would significantly detract from the character, setting and amenity of a major national monument and rec- ommends that planning permission should not be granted”’.

The Department states that from reviewing the documents, they are “are extremely concerned at the po- tential negative visual impact of the proposed development on the char- acter, integrity and setting of Clare falas

The Department point out that

Clareabbey is a National Monument is in the ownership of the Minister. It states, “Any development within the vicinity of this National Monu- ment will also require Ministerial Soon

The Department states, ““The pro- posed development site lies within 100m of the National Monument. The Abbey is one of the most impor- tant Augustinian Foundations in the country and is set at a strategic loca- tion along the River Fergus, close to Clarecastle, an area that has been of pivotal importance during the medi- eval period.”

“The proposed development is for an industrial estate, which would in- clude 74 warehousing units arranged in 12 buildings at an average height

of up to 8.0 metres per unit.

“This large-scale development is inappropriate so close to a site as 1m- portant as Clare Abbey which is sub- ject to the highest level of statutory protection available under the Na- tional Monuments Acts 1930-2004.

“The boundary of the development proposed would be only 100metres from Clare Abbey.

“In our opinion the proposed mitigation measures, including an earthen embankment and planting to ‘screen’ the new development from view of the National Monu- ment, would further detract from the setting and amenity of the National AY Ceyelt baste lime

A decision is due on the application later this year.