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MACRA na Feirme national presi- dent Catherine Buckley has called for all barriers to be removed to allow farmers to gain economies of scale by farming in partnership.

Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships, Ms Buckley said that New Entrant Parent Partnerships were a good example of providing a gateway into the industry for young people who can then get involved in the management of the farm, even if their parents are still a long way JUKOee Kc Nu eeleelm

The Macra leader pointed out that given the rapid pace of change in

Irish farming, interest was now in- creasing in partnerships and that as much as possible should be done to facilitate their establishment.

‘For example, under the recently announced Farm Improvement Scheme, which includes the Dairy Hygiene Scheme, there are still some anomalies affecting young farm- ers which need to be properly ad- dressed,” she said.

“While the new scheme abolished the ‘five-year rule’ for eligibility for the 10 per cent top-up grant for young farmers, it excluded top-ups for young farmers in New Entrant Parent Partnerships.”

Macra is calling for an amend-

ment to the new scheme to allow a young farmer in a New Entrant Par- ent Partnership, who qualifies for Installation Aid, to automatically qualify for the young farmer top-up of 10 per cent.

With reference to Milk Production Partnerships, Buckley pointed out that under the French GAECs system (French farm partnership model) members of a partnership are treat- ed as individuals for the purpose of qualifying for agricultural schemes.

“There are inconsistencies in the department’s treatment of Milk Production Partnerships, as all par- ties in this type of partnership are entitled to payment under the Rural

Environmental Protection Scheme, yet the same partnership is eligible for only one payment from the Farm Improvement Scheme,” she said.

“Availability of land is a major is- sue, and with the huge increases in land prices, purchasing land to enter farming or expand your business is no longer a realistic option for most farmers. Long-term leases can also be very difficult to secure in certain ea ueL bbs etsie-b seh

“The Department of Agriculture must ensure that, where practicable, schemes and rules will act to encour- age and promote farming in partner- ship in the interests of efficiency and competitiveness,” she added.

CONCERN has been expressed that the Family Resource Centre in Shan- non has not had a co-ordinator for the past nine months.

The centre offers a wide range of support for families and runs various initiatives including a parent and tod- dler group, traveller health initiative, personal development programmes and out-of-school pilot development schemes.

The absence of a co-ordinator was

raised by Fianna Fail councillor Ger- aldine Lambert, who said a number of representations have been made to her on the issue.

“The Family Resource Centre has effectively been without a co-ordina- tor for some time,” she said.

“It needs a co-ordinator to drive it. Without a co-ordinator, it is very dif- ficult for a voluntary committee to drive it.

“One person recently was look- ing for a room to do something and because there was no co-ordinator,

they had to wait for a committee. That is a very unfair burden,” said Cllr Lambert.

She urged Shannon Town Council to meeting with the board of man- agement, with a view to assisting them with the services it provides.

Councillor Tony McMahon (La- bour), who is on the board of the centre pointed out that the post had been filled, but the successful appli- cant turned it down.

‘The board decided the post would be advertised again,” he said.

“IT have been involved in the Re- source Centre for a long time. It had a lot of difficulties and there has been a lot of changes 1n personnel, because it is so dependent on voluntary con- tributions,” said Cllr McMahon.

He said it would be “ideal” for representatives of the board to meet with the town council.

Cllr Greg Duff (Labour) said he would support the motion. The coun- cillors agreed to invited the board of the Resource Centre to attend a meeting with them, later this year.

THE fallout from the loss of the Shannon/Heathrow route – a vital piece of transport infrastructure – will have a marked effect on the abil- ity of the mid-west region to com- pete, according to IBEC’s Mid West Region President, John Liddy.

He said that the need was now pressing to speed up the National Development Plan (NDP).

“With the withdrawal of British Midland from talks with Shannon Airport, it is now likely that there will not be a Shannon to London Heathrow service in January 2008.

“Companies in the mid-west have made substantial investments due to the availability of a Heathrow con- nection to Europe and beyond. The potential loss of connection will be a massive blow to industry in the re- gion.

“Tourism will also take a hit with warnings that over €100m in tour- ism investment and 10 per cent of the Shannon region’s US tourist market accessed through the Heathrow gate- way are in jeopardy.”

Mr Liddy called on the Govern- ment to “recognise its responsibility to the mid-west region.

“There is now a need to speed

up the National Development Plan (NDP). This is an opportune time to fast-track the construction of roads and other infrastructure priorities in the mid-west region. It is critical that NDP projects to the Limerick to Shannon gateway are delivered so that balanced regional development can become a reality and the mid- west region is given a fair chance to compete.”

Meanwhile, more than 250 publi- cans in County Clare have warned of serious consequences for their busi- nesses with the ending of the route.

‘70 pubs have closed in the county in the past three years, with dozens

more now facing a similar fate’, the Clare Branch of the Vintners Federa- tion said in a statement yesterday.

Michael Howard, Tourism Spokes- person for Clare VFI said, “The chal- lenges presented to local publicans should the Shannon-Heathrow serv- ice be lost will further compound the downturn in business that has been experienced in recent years.

“The facts indicate that pubs are closing and jobs are being lost, which is why vintners are furious with the Government’s failure to use its in- fluence in reversing the Aer Lingus O(STerTS(Os MO) mole DWDENSar- MB AoaY Ar NPM BE IToM Ke service the route.”

ORGANISERS are hoping that a bumper programme will attract the crowds for the 14th annual Ennis Trad Festival.

This year’s event takes place from November 8 to 12 across numerous venues in the town. The festival fea- tures free day and night sessions with afternoon, evening and night con- certs, recitals, singing, workshops, presentations, CD launches and the ever-popular Trad Disco.

Legendary accordion player and composer Finbar Dwyer will open the festivities on November 8. Finbar, who recently returned to performing after a break of 17 years, will be ac- companied by Brian McGrath.

On Friday night Four Men & A Dog will unleash their highly ener- getic repertoire on the festival.

The band comprises Cathal Hayden (fiddle), Donal Murphy (accordion), Gino Lupari (bodhran, vocals), Ger- ry O’Connor (banjo) and Kevin Do- herty (guitar, vocals).

Workshops dominate Saturday’s events, with classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced level given by the some well-known names in music and dance. A new addition to last year’s festival was the trad-themed table quiz, which will test knowledge of trad musicians, records, CDs and trad triviality.

This year will see the presentation of the Ennis Trad Festival Gradam Ceol to concertina player Sonny

Murray. Sonny, from Knockalough, Kilmihil, is one of the many fine concertina players who have hailed from the area including Solus Lillis, Bernard Sullivan, Tom McCarthy and 2005 Gradam recipient Tom Ore

Sonny lives in Ennis and has had a major influence on the Ennis music scene over the years and this pres- entation is a fitting compliment to a man regarded as a master.

A new feature of this year’s festival is the Ard Gasce na mBuinte Senior Ceili Band competition, which will be adjudicated by a panel of four ad- judicators and audience.

Some of the best bands in Ireland and abroad, such as The Thatch, Tribes and Ceolteori na Mainstreach,

will compete. The night’s festivities will be recorded for Ceili House.

There will be many CD launch- es during the festival events this year including artists such as Kane O’ Rourke and Geraldine Bradley.

The guiding ethos for organisers since the festival’s inception has been to bring musicians of all generations and styles to Ennis to share their tunes, songs and steps in a relaxed session environment.

A spokesperson for the festival said, “The festival committee has orchestrated the sessions to allow Opportunities for artists to perform with others that they wouldn’t nor- mally get to meet. Accordingly a great social dimension is always Ooo) OI Mr B SDRC UAE:

THE Atlantic Connectivity Alliance (ACA) has expressed outrage over Transport Minister Noel Dempsey’s decision to tell Government’s repre- sentatives on the Board of Aer Lin- gus to block the transfer of Heathrow slots out of Cork and Dublin airports but not Shannon.

“The Atlantic Connectivity Alli- ance is outraged by a completely dis- criminatory decision by the minister.

We welcome that Dublin or Cork would not have to endure what this region is now faced with but the min- ister’s commitment to these airports’ future 1s hypocritical in the context of inaction on Shannon. It is an ad- mission of failure in relation to Gov- ernment’s handling of the Shannon issue at the same time,’ said ACA Vice Chairperson Ken Sullivan.

The Alliance say that the move is an acceptance on the part of the Gov- ernment that “it can intervene, that it

should intervene and is ready to in- tervene but on behalf of Dublin and Cork, which we welcome, but not Shannon. If the Minister can order Government representatives on the board of Aer Lingus to do this for Cork and Dublin, then he can and should do it for Shannon.”

The ACA says that they have high- lighted the “real threat that is now exposed to our sister regions. Es- sentially, what the Government is proposing to do is protect Cork and

Dublin and leave our region, which accounts for 20 per cent of the GDP, without any connectivity to the world’s most important airport hub and immediate onward access to key international markets.”

The ACA’s attack on the minis- ter’s decision came after it was an- nounced that British carrier BMI had walked away from negotiations with the Shannon Airport management to fly between Shannon and Heathrow.

Shannon management said _ that “British Midlands has stated it is not in a position over the coming months to commit resources to take up the very generous incentives on the Shannon-Heathrow route offered by management at Shannon Airport.”

“Shannon Airport accepts it is now highly unlikely that an alternative Shannon-Heathrow service will be secured by next January”.

The statement stressed that airport management was keeping lines of communication open with British Midlands in anticipation that it may revisit this decision in 2008.

ENNIS Chamber is hosting an Inter- active Leadership Seminar entitled, ‘Hidden Giants: How to Lead Your Business Successfully’? on Wednes- day, October 10 from 6pm to 8.30pm at the Old Ground Hotel, O’Connell Street, Ennis.

Admission is open to all members of the business community and ac- cess to the seminar is free of charge.

The seminar, held in conjunction with LEAP, a Galway-based_ busi- ness advisory company, is designed to provide business owners and sen- ior management with practical tools for immediate improved business performance.

The correlation between effective leadership and marketing will be ex- amined by the speakers while also focusing on the particular challenges faced by business leaders in today’s dynamic economic environment.

LEAP are Business Advisors for the Leaders of Irish businesses who are dissatisfied with the lack of meas- urable impact and understanding of their challenges that traditional con- sultants provide.

The company continually measure the impact of development work- shops by providing ongoing support through a team of professional busi- ness advisors, who are experts in their specialised areas

The seminar will be delivered by

Mike Gaffney of LEAP. Mr Gaff- ney’s theories on leadership and management have galvanised a large number of managing directors to take full responsibility for the leader- ship of their businesses, resulting in significant, positive impact on their organisations’ performances.

Mike will discuss the specific leadership challenges facing Irish businesses and examine how these challenges can be overcome by Un- derstanding Your Personality Type and Playing to Your Strengths.

The second speaker is Dr. Aidan Daly, Head of Marketing NUI Gal- way. Dr Daly’s area of speciality is that of services marketing and re- lated issues. He is a consultant to a

number of organisations and com- panies in Europe, Africa and the Far East. An accomplished writer on marketing related topics, he will present “Effective Marketing on a Limited Budget”.

Dr Daly will provide practical tips and techniques on how to promote you business successfully without breaking the budget.

The invitation to this event is open to all business owners, leaders and senior managers in the Clare region. Places are limited so book now to avoid disappointment.

For further information contact on LEAP or any aspect of the seminar Paula Crowley, LEAP on 091 755 736

THE grassroots of the Fianna Fail party are planning to revolt if the Shannon-Heathrow crisis is not re- solved.

Cllr Pat McMahon said that he had no problem leaving the party but was waiting until every avenue had been exhausted before making that deci- sion. “If on January 14 there is no flight to Heathrow out of Shannon, preferably Aer Lingus, I’m out.”

Kilrush Cllr Tom Prenderville pre- dicts a tough time ahead for the party in the up coming local elections.

“If there is not an improvement in the Shannon situation, there would be a sizeable number of Fianna Fail representatives re-looking at wear- ing the Fianna Fail badge at the next

local election, and it will be hard to find people to go forward for them. It could dismantle the whole Fianna Fail party in Clare,” he said.

He referred also to the “futile ina- bility of the Fianna Fail organisation to attract young men and women as it has lost its local mandate.”

Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley said he understood the frustration of the political members and party support- ae

“We are elected to fight on behalf of the people of Clare, not to resign,” he said. “That is our responsibility and one I take seriously.”

Junior Minister Tony Killeen said he too could understand why public representatives and supporters are disturbed.“People are exerting as much pressure as they can. Fianna

Fail public representatives are genu- inely interested in a positive outcome and are doing whatever they can in their own role.”

“IT still believe that the approach has to be entirely dependent on fighting the battle on commercial grounds and I don’t accept Aer Lingus has a strong commercial argument for Bel- fast, nor do | think they have suffi- cient steps to improve their situation in Shannon,” he said.

He added that the four factors that made Shannon less profitable could be addressed.

Deputy Dooley admitted that the decision by the Minister for Trans- port to appoint two new directors to the board of Aer Lingus was too late for Shannon.

“It is disappointing that these direc-

tors weren’t there sooner. Whether or not they would have been able to make any difference is not clear as many made decision without board approval.

“While it would appear too late to prevent the termination of the Shan- non to Heathrow line, it may be pos- sible for the directors to establish new priorities for the management and I would be hopeful that this could in- clude a reappraisal of the Shannon to Heathrow slots.”

Meanwhile, Mayor of Clare Patri- cia McCarthy (Ind) has said that the Government has just days to salvage the Shannon to Heathrow service.

Cllr McCarthy said that a deadline of October 11 has been set for receipt of submissions regarding slots at Heathrow in 2008.

A MONTPELIER publican, who is causing controversy locally by em- ploying a topless barmaid, has said his next move is to employ a male model to work behind the taps wear- ing “the bare minimum”.

A defiant John Joe Fitzpatrick of Browne’s pub has had a topless bar- maid working on his premises every Thursday night since the beginning of September.

But he has been getting a mixed re-

action locally to the promotion with some residents branding the move as “tasteless and degrading”.

People living in the village and neighbouring O’Briensbridge were reluctant to be named when making comments about John Joe, who lives locally as well as being the publican.

“It’s degrading. There are plenty of publicans around the country strug- gling and they don’t resort to this kind of thing. That might be alright in Soho but not in a pub in a small country village,’ one local man said.

Another local resident said that the move “shows no respect for this community. It’s a cheap stunt and he’ll drive away more people than he’ll bring in.”

The resident said that many local people are “completely disgusted by this. It’s degrading for the woman who works there and it’s not what we want our area to be known for. It’s just low.”

An irate woman living in Montpel- lier said it is “disgraceful that this is happening right across the road from

the Church and the community cen- akon

But the publican last night defended the move. “All over the country pubs are losing business. People need something to prompt them to get up and get out again.”

John Joe said that he does not agree with his detractors . “There’s no vul- garity involved. The lady in question has several items on at any given time – she just has less on on top. She doesn’t have a problem with it and the customers are very happy with it.

A lot of people said that it’s a wonder no one thought of doing this before and some of the married ladies say it’s put a bit of sparkle back in their love lives.”

The Montpelier businessman said that he currently has a male model in training who will be taking up his station behind the taps some time in November on Tuesday nights.

‘We have to ensure we have equal- ity and I think the lady customers will be delighted with him” said John Joe.

in March of this year.

Set in an animated version of Doo- lin, the story revolves around Ellen and Keats who venture into a realm of the dead called the Netherworld to uncover the mysteries surrounding their small village.

Sony Europe, who will officially

launch the game this Friday, have decided to capitalise on local interest in the game by hosting the ‘Create a Folk’ competition.

The winning character will be fea- tured in the game as downloadable content via the PlayStation Store.

To enter the contest, gamers must create an original illustration of a Folk character, name it, provide a brief description and then give the character a unique attack that can be absorbed during actual gameplay.

Submissions will have to be posted on the Sony Europe forum before noon on Monday, October 22.

‘Folklore’ was conceived by Yoshiki Okamoto, executive pro- ducer of such titles as “Resident Evil’ and ‘Devil May Cry’.

TENDERS have been appointed for the construction of a playground in Mountshannon.

‘Go Play’ from Galway has been chosen from the nine applicants to build the facility.

This is the latest development in a project, which is expected to come to fruition next year. As the prepara- tions for the construction get under- way, the fundraising drive is continu- ing in the locality.

Earlier this year, Clare County Council allocated €41,500, under

the Community Playground Grant Yel torneo

This was after the committee had put in considerable groundwork, in terms of fundraising, and had se- cured a site for the facility.

At the time, Administrative Of- ficer with the council’s community and enterprise section, Catherine O’Hara, said Mountshannon had “a need of these facilities and they have already done a lot of fundraising and planning before their application came in”.

“The residents committee still has to fundraise, take charge of the area

when it is finished and come up with money every year for insurance and maintenance and while we can’t guarantee top up funding, they are free to come back an put another ap- plication in the future,” she added.

While the council’s money was welcomed by the committee mem- bers, they are aware that several thousands of euro will have to be raised locally.

Co-ordinator Jane Murray is urging locals to get behind the project.

“The project will cost €120,000 in total. We will submit more applica- tions for funding, while collection

boxes are still located in shops and pubs,” she said.

Further applicants will be made to Pobail and Sugradh, in the hope that a significant amount of the initial costs will be covered.

“We are hoping to start construc- tion early in 2008,” said Ms Murray.

The committee was very happy with the level of interest shown in the applicants from potential tenders and are pleased with the company that was selected. Anyone interested in donating towards the playground fund should contact Jane Murray in Mountshannon.