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TONY Ryan will be remembered principally for being an entrepre- neurial titan at a time when Ireland had very few of them. He was the principal founder of the aircraft leas- ing company, GPA, in 1975. He har- nessed his immense qualities of vi- sion, determination and rigour in the pursuit of excellence to build GPA into a company that was, for a time, the most successful business in Ire- land and the world leader in its field, probably the first truly global busi- ness to develop from Ireland.

Although GPA ultimately stalled, its seedlings continue to thrive. Ire- land is recognised across the world as a centre of excellence and Shan- non remains a focal point for all things to do with aircraft leasing and financing. A number of aircraft-re- lated technology companies in the region, principally Shannon Aero- space, also owe their establishment to Tony’s farsighted vision.

It is a rare individual who is the principal driving force behind not one major business success but two. Ryanair began to blossom not long after GPA faded. Ryanair’s emer- gence as Shannon’s leading airline customer 1s an important part of his footprint.

Tony’s legacy to Irish business extends beyond the companies he developed himself. His example spurred a following generation of en- trepreneurs. Some, such as Michael O’Leary and Denis O’Brien, learnt directly at his knee. Within the past few years, he advocated and funded a new institute in Dublin dedicated to developing Ireland’s entrepreneur- MeN Cone

But Tony’s contribution to Irish life extended far beyond the world of business. He was a strong supporter of UCG and of his native county of Tipperary. He had an acute love for the arts, of which he was a gener- ous patron and advocate, and for the land, transitioning over time from breeding prize cattle to thorough- bred horses. In his final decade, he dedicated himself to the meticulous restoration and renewal of the Lyons

Demesne which was his final home in Ireland.

He could be a tough and exacting taskmaster, but a fair one. He was himself and enjoyed nothing more than good company.

He continued to pursue his projects, business and personal, with relent- less intensity in the face of severely debilitating illness until close to the ae

In a sentence, he loved life, particu- larly enjoying the finer things it has to offer and he took its vicissitudes in his stride.

It is normal to say on these oc- casions, “Ni bheidh a leitheid aris ann.’ Tony’s greatest contribution to Ireland and possibly his greatest de- light would be that his example has resulted in there being many more like him in the country today than there were before his time.

GORT is getting revved-up for the last big blow-out of the year as the clock ticks down to this year’s Cooley-Col- lins Traditional Music Festival.

The festival, which was officially launched in Kilroy’s last night, will this year celebrate its 23rd year by incorporating a number of new features. These new elements include a Comhra Gaeilge, street entertain- ment and a public wood-turning session.

“Our festival is the last big tradition- al music festival of the year. There are a lot of festivals on that weekend So we always need to be sure that we are keeping up our standards. For a lot of local people and musicians as

well, it’s the last really big blow-out of the year,” said festival organiser Mary Coen.

“The Comhra is very important to me because I have a great love of Irish. We have Martin Davy doing a Comhra in conjunction with the children in the new Gael scoil. The school has just opened in September SO we are keen to give it as much sup- port as we can.

“It will be simple enough Irish. They will pick a topic and have a dis- cussion about it. The whole lot will be through Irish but it will be noth- ing too difficult, it’s not anything to be afraid of.

“I saw the wood-turning being done at the launch of the Dr Douglas de Hide Festival and I thought it was

something different and interesting that we could do. It will be out in the Open air, weather permitting, but if not, we will just find an indoor venue for it.”

The festival, which commemorates famed musicians Joe Cooley and K1- eran Collins, will open on Friday, October 26, with a mass in Peter- swell followed by ceili at The Cooley Lodge with the Four Courts.

There are three other ceilis over the weekend featuring Kilbeacanty- Tulla, Kilfenora and the Copperplate Ceili Bands.

Registration for music workshops takes place at 10am on Saturday with classes available in button accordion, tin whistle, concertina, flute, fiddle and banjo.

“We really do need to acknowl- edge Guinness, they have been with us since day one. Also Udaras Na Gaeilteachta, Foras Na _ Gaeilge, the Arts Council, the Galway Arts Office, local businesses, Supermac’s and John Sullivan,” continued Mary.

“The local businesses are very good to us. It is a big boost, we have to go out to Kinvara, Clarinbridge and Barefield for beds. We are lucky, a lot of local people who wouldn’t normally do a B&B service oblige us and take people.”

THE possibility of passing a by-law, with a view to putting an end to ball playing and ‘loud’ behaviour in cer- tain parts of Shannon was the sub- ject of a discussion at a meeting of the town council last week.

Fianna Fail councillor Sean Hillery, who raised the issue, said Some areas of the town were “conducive to ball playing”.

“Old people are annoyed. If it is possible, could we pass a by-law that certain activities would be prohib- ited at certain times,” he said.

Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn said he has received com- plaints about anti-social behaviour

and ball playing.

‘There 1S an onus on us, as a coun- cil, to provide adequate playing ar- eas,” he said.

He pointed out that, across the country, thousands of houses are be- ing built, but there are no facilities available for children.

CiUlr Tony McMahon (Labour) said some of the activity constitutes anti- social behaviour.

“It needs a community garda to liaise with the residents. That is the way we need to solve it. It has to be a change in attitude. Either direct the people to some place else or ask 1s there a need for other activities,” said Cllr McMahon.

He added that it was very unfair to

local residents, to have to “suffer that ongoing annoyance”.

His Labour colleague, Cllr Greg Duff made the point that while a by- law could be brought in, young peo- ple need some sort of pastime.

“There are always going to be young people playing ball. We can bring in a by-law, but we also need to have some sort of alternative,’ he SrHLO

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said young people could be doing a lot worse than playing ball.

‘I do agree you can’t have the older teenagers causing a nuisance. I’d rather see them playing ball than hanging around an off-licence,’ she

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Cllr Mike McKee (Ind) agreed with Cllr McCarthy’s comment and asked where would the line be drawn, if a by-law was introduced.

“If you pass a by-law, will the guards come scooting down five- year-olds playing?” he asked.

“If you make a law, you make it for everyone, but in this case, it’s a very dodgy one,” said Cllr McKee.

Cllr Hillery closed the debate by pointing out, “No way would I ever intend to correct the smaller children. We do have some areas we have ne- elected.” He said some youths were travelling quiet a distance to play ball in other housing estates and this was causing annoyance to old people.

A DUBLIN man is renovating his maternal home in the hope of mak- ing his Clare mother’s dream come true.

Thomas Murray from Cabra on Dublin’s north side is hopping to make his mother Kathleen Murray nee Devitt dream of dancing the Clare set in her childhood parlour a reality when he redevelops and reno- vates the house in Ennistymon.

The family cottage dates back to the 1780’s and 10 to 11 generations of the Devitt family have been born AW OLO MEAD orem NS KCR

Thomas intends building additional

accommodation which he will rent to people who come to fish on nearby Licheen Lake, as well as carefully renovating the family homestead to its former state, using as much sal- vage material as possible.

He is as passionate about the project as he is about the subject of architec- tural salvage.

Thomas travelled between Dublin and Clare each week marking the progress builder John Byrne made.

It is a massive job as the house needed complete renovation from top to bottom. With a new roof and old sheds to renovate, the project looked set to take longer than the six months projected by the builder.

Thomas always intended to keep certain aspects of the house to main- tain its authenticity although some pieces had to be replaced. The old sheds he earmarked for rental accom- modation were originally cowsheds. Getting the balance between the old and new and finishing on time was a huge task. The budget required was huge, time was short and there were many hurdles to cross in the remote location.

Thomas’s venture will make up part of the RTE series Home Salvage.

The television programme docu- menting the highs and lows of the project, will show whether Kathleen, who is 85 and who now lives with

Thomas in Dublin, may just be able to recreate her memories of dancing in the house where she was born.

It will be transited on RTE 1 on Fri- day at 8.30pm.

Presented by Mark Daly – auction- eer, property expert, senator and one time winner of reality TV show Treasure Island the eight part series combs the salvage yards of Ireland in search of a unique interior.

The series brings together Ire- land’s twin obsessions – property and makeover. But discerning homeown- ers with a bit of time and money now want far more than your run of the mill flat pack kitchen. Salvage yards can offer some great alternatives.

A DEMAND for fancy dress out- fits has prompted a Shannon man to grow his business and double the number of staff employed.

Shannon businessman James Sex- ton has just expanded his business and has moved into a new unit in Smithstown.

He had previously been based at Drumgeely and has now moved to a two-storey unit, Entertainment House, in Smithstown. He had em- ployed two staff, but has now added three staff to the books.

The first floor of the new office

consists of a costume shop and fancy dress outlet, while the kids entertain- ment section and the James Sexton Corporate Entertainment offices are located upstairs.

The corporate entertainment busi- ness is centered around different theme nights and is based across the country. This part of the business has been operational for the past six years and sees Mr Sexton and his staff travelling the length and breadth of the country.

“T was doing well with the business and decided to get more involved in the costume side of things. I had the costumes so I decided to buy the unit

and put them all in. I have a wide range of kiddies’ costumes,” he said.

He decided to open the new busi- ness in response to demand from the public.

‘There is a need for this. To make the whole business work, you have to travel nationally,” he said.

Mr Sexton and his staff provide a significant proportion of their enter- tainment in Clare, Galway and Lim- ele.e

Earlier this year, James set up his own franchise, www.kidspartyclub. ie. He has sold four franchises across the country and intends to continue to sell the franchises.

Under the franchise, he provides equipment and pre-recorded shows to set up kids party clubs, all over the country.

He is looking forward to the future, in business.

“It is going from strength to strength,” he said.

WITH Bluetongue and Foot and Mouth still a very real risk for Irish farmers, the focus this week turned to the tillage sector, with the discov- ery of Brown Rot in potatoes grown HOMO UKMOCOLUNNIB MYA

Brown Rot is caused by the bacte- rium Ralstonia Solanacearum and results in yield losses in host plants and the rotting of tubers.

The disease poses no risk to human or animal health and was initially detected in water samples taken as part of the Department of Agricul- ture’s routine control programme at a potato packing premises and traced back to a farmer supplier.

All potato stocks on the farm were sampled and, to date, there is one confirmed positive. In addition, re- lated potato samples from two other potato packing plants have been con- firmed positive.

Holding notices have been issued to the grower and the packers involved to prevent movement of potentially infected stocks. All stocks have been isolated under department supervi- sion pending the taking of the appro- priate disposal action.

The normal source of infection for Brown Rot is infected seed or through infected water.

As part of the further investiga- tion, extensive sampling and testing by the department of possible linked

sources of infection is on-going. Meanwhile, the IFA has called for a firmer focus to be put on Bluetongue and Foot and Mouth by the Depart- ment of Agriculture.

“The source of this outbreak of Bluetongue in northern Europe last August remains unknown. However, one possibility being examined by the EU Commission is the transportation of infected midges in cargos which arrived in or around the Maastricht area before the first reported case,’ said Irish Farmers’ Association Pres- ident, Padraig Walshe.

“As Ireland’s island location 1s fur- ther north and west in the Atlantic, it provides a potential barrier that the Department of Agriculture must

actively harness in a determined strategy to keep this country Blue- tongue free. Keeping Ireland Blue- tongue free is a huge prize for the livestock industry that the minister must strive for.”

As the prevailing winds from an easterly and south-easterly direction account for less than 25 per cent of the winds recorded, this significantly reduces the risk of wind borne spread of the disease to Ireland.

Mr Walshe called for the reinforce- ment of FMD precautions and said the list of banned products should be extended to cover products carrying higher risks, including livestock feed such as hay and straw from Britain as well as used farm machinery.

A HURLING referee based in Quin has a unique way of unwinding af- ter games – drawing cartoons of im- ages which catch his attention, on the jCoAKen

Bernard Dowd is a keen GAA en- thusiast and is a very talented car- toon artist. He combines his love of sport with his expertise with the pen, to draw comical images of interest- ing personnel involved in GAA in the county.

Some of his GAA artwork 1s cur- rently on display at the Michael Cu- sack GAA centre in Carron. He ex- plains the background to his work.

‘Referees are under pressure. GAA is very serious. For some people, gaelic sports are no longer just a hob- by or a leisure activity. For many it 1s the competitive element that matters. It is all about unwinding,” said Mr Dowd, who hails from the hurling stronghold of Thurles.

‘There is always pressure on the ref- eree. He gets it from both sides. The referee 1s always wrong,” laughed Mr Dowd, who has been refereeing for the past seven years.

“At a lot of matches, you wouldn’t bring your Own umpires and you pick umpires from both sides. One waves it wide, while the other raises the flag, only too aware it was wide,” he said.

“You get a lot of that as you go along. People start fighting each oth- er. Every body goes berserk. There is no solution to the problem as you can’t bring umpires with you all dur- ing the year,” he added.

“Refereeing a game can be very exhilarating and exciting, but at the

same time if things go badly it can be psychologically draining. Often a referee can be exhausted by the de- mands placed on him from a difficult game. After the game referees like to unwind and relax,” he said.

Bernard has found his very own solution, one that helps him relax, after a stressful match and one that focuses on the humorous side of gaelic games.

“The trouble with doing the refe-

reeing is that you have to stick to the rules and any decision you make has to be the right decision. It leaves you with very little room to manoeuvre. But with drawing and sketching you can invent things that don’t exist or change situations or re-play events with different endings.

“Drawing solutions to problems is like a therapy. I have always been in- terested in art,” he said.

While he designs images for

Christmas cards for various busi- nesses in Clare, his first love is his GAA artwork.

‘“T have some pictures of managers or photographers standing on side- lines. I have a lot of images from GAA matches,” he said.

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.”