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A WEST Clare GP outlined in clear terms the uphill battle facing the people of the county if it loses its 24- hour accident and emergency serv- ice. Dr Michael Harty, Chairman of the Clare branch of the Irish College of General Practitioners, was also clear on the current challenges faced by Ennis General Hospital and laid the blame squarely at the door of the HSE and the Government.

“This systematic starving of the hos- pital of resources has led to the lower- ing of morale among the staff work- ing in the hospital and has eroded the confidence of the general public

in the hospital. These are the facts of the situation but as professionals we are not supposed to mention them as we might further undermine the con- fidence in the hospital. The time for such niceties has long passed,’ he told the protesting crowd on Saturday.

‘The vision of the Government and the HSE for the future of the Irish health service does not include En- nis General Hospital as a provider of 24-hour acute medical care. The minister for health has indicated that the consultant-led accident and emer- gency services will be limited to day time services only and there will be no consultant service at night.”

Dr Harty outlined the knock-on ef-

fects of this policy. “There will be no intensive care services, there will be no coronary care services, there will be no medical or surgical staff on duty at night. There will be no radi- ology or laboratory services. Ambu- lances will be directed to Limerick with all emergencies.

‘There has been a concerted cam- paign by consecutive governments, the health board and now the HSE to undermine Ennis hospital,’ said Dr Harty.

“One of the fundamental problems in the Irish health service 1s the short- age of beds. Nationally we are short 3,000 beds. In the mid-west region, this 1s equivalent to 250 beds.

‘To put Ennis in context, there are times, when Ennis operates at 117 per cent capacity, that there are 15 extra beds in Ennis over and above the 88 they are allocated.

“General hospitals such as Ennis should operate efficiently at 85 per- cent capacity. Thus at times Ennis is operating at 32 per cent above opti- mum capacity.

‘The fact that Ennis operates at 117 per cent capacity proves that there is a demand for acute services in Ennis. When acute services close in Ennis where will the replacement services be? Limerick Regional Hospital is already operating at maximum ca- pacity as well,” he said.

A ROW over water pressure led to one councillor blowing a valve and storming out of last night’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Independent councillor Frankie CAV Cente CesM mm MelommeclercinbercamnemecDemrcDelca my mood, less than 15 minutes after it started, 1n protest at continuing prob- lems with water pressure in areas of Ennis.

Councillor Neylon said he had been raising the issue for the past 12 months and was fed up with the coun- cil’s failure to solve the problem.

The argument between Cllr Neylon and Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan

arose as members discussed the min- utes of the September meeting of En- nis Town Council.

As Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan listed the difficulties with ensuring adequate water pressure in elevated parts of Ennis, Cllr Neylon rose from his chair and declared, “I?ll have to leave this meeting. I’m sick and tired of the bulls**t coming across this table”.

Cllr Neylon said homes in Connolly Villas, St Flannans Terrace and the Tulla Road are regularly affected and he had fielded numerous complaints from people living in those areas.

According to Cllr Neylon, low water pressure in homes and fire hydrants

could result in a serious accident.

“Tam 12 months talking about wa- ter pressure in this town and I am sick and tired of having to bring it up. It is taking up to seven hours to fill tanks in Connolly Villas. There is an ac- cident waiting to happen if someone lights a fire in their home and there is no water in the tank.”

He continued “There was a fire on Station Road last week and luckily it was contained, but we have problems with the fire hydrants. It’s a potential disaster. And this isn’t just a Connol- ly Villas problem, this isn’t a Frankie Neylon problem — it affects Flan- nans Terrace, Tulla Road, Station Road, Mill Road. I’m constantly be-

ing contacted by people. They think I’m a fool. ’m getting embarrassed at this stage”.

Mr Tiernan conceded problems did exist in elevated parts of town. He said, “We are doing everything we can to resolve the problems. The mains in those areas are very old. An awful lot are laid in back gardens and that brings problems in time.”

He added, “Extra resources are be- ing put into finding leaks. The 1m- pression is that we are doing nothing and that is not the case.”

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn supported Cllr Neylon and said he awaited Mr Tiernan’s report on the matter.

BISHOP of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh has lent his support to a campaign to retain accident and emergency serv- ices at Ennis General Hospital.

The leader of the Catholic Church in the diocese told the rally that ‘as Christians we need to provide a health care system that is universal’.

“Many of us here have health insur- ance but it is not right that any of us can get preferential treatment just be- cause we can afford to pay a private health insurance,” he said.

“It is a challenge to all of us to com-

mit ourselves to building a society that cares for our sick anything else is less than Christian.”

Mayor of Clare Cllr Patricia Mc- Carthy (Ind) told the crowd that the minister for health confirmed to the five mayors of the county that the development of the hospital would go ahead, that any retiring consult- ants would be replaced and that she wanted a higher level of activity at the hospital.

Among the other commitments given was that the accident and emer- gency department would be consult- ant-led but “going into the future it

would not be consultant-led for 24 hours. The model to be put in place during the non-consultant-led pe- riod has not been defined or agreed. Mammography services will not be part of the radiology service to be provided.”

“IT welcome the commitment of the minister for the improvements that she outlined for the delivery of health services in the county.

“However, in view of the isolated and dispersed nature of many of the communities in the county…it 1s 1m- portant that any changes do not take place within the existing services un-

til such time as promised improve- ments in the delivery of services… are in place and delivering a safe and best practice service,’ said the county mayor.

“While welcoming the roll out of BreastCheck and the commitment to centres of excellence and improved cancer treatment services, I am not convinced that going forward it is not possible to provide a mammography service at Ennis General Hospital.

“Modern technology in my opinion can and should be used to provide a safe and efficient mammography service at Ennis General Hospital.”

THE viability of new sewerage schemes in Doolin and Spanish Point, as well as upgrades to schemes in Ennistymon, Miltown, Liscannor, Ballyvaughan and Corofin, has been cast in serious doubt following rev- elations of a €23 million shortfall in funding for the projects.

Some €16 million in Government funding for the schemes was an- nounced by Minister for State, Tony Killeen (FF) last month, but it has subsequently emerged that this will cover less than half of the total ex- penditure required.

In the case of Doolin, €652,000 has

been earmarked for a new sewage system leaving a shortfall of almost €5.5 million which must be raised by the local people for the project to go ahead.

“For whatever reason, Munister Killeen decided to give the money allocated but did not mention the total cost of the projects or the huge shortfall that will have to be made up while announcing the story to the media,’ said Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind).

“It is quite obvious that the whole picture was not shown for whatever reason. It totally misrepresented the situation and caused great confusion for the people of Doolin.

“This prompted members of the Doolin Action Group to write to all the public representatives seeking some sort of clarification on the mat- ter.

“It 1s almost impossible to think how we will we able to make up this shortfall. I don’t think that the fund- ing will be lost, but there is no way that we will be able to make up a shortfall of €23 million for these projects. No way.”

Clare County Council has written to the Department of Environment, Heritage and local Government ask- ing for more funding to be made available for the sewerage systems.

Meanwhile, Cllr Lafferty has also

accused the Government of using county councils as scapegoats as part of a process to introduce water charges by stealth.

“Essentially, they are telling us down here in Clare that we have to bring in water metres.

‘These metres will cost €4.25 mil- lion to introduce and they have given Clare County Council no means of doing this,” he told

ALMOST 5,000 people gathered in the square in Ennis on Saturday af- ternoon to see a former patient of En- nis General Hospital tear up a once prized photo of herself and Taoiseach BTUs owaUNOUIe

Maureen Hall, originally from Newbridge in Kildare but living in Doonaha with her husband Richard since the 1990s, brought the early afternoon protest to a close with her personal demonstration.

Mrs Hall told the crowd how she was ill and rushed to Ennis General Hospital; a hospital that, due to its lo- cality, saved her life.

Among those protesting for a 24- hour consultant-led accident and emergency service in Ennis were Clare People with Disabilities, Ennis Active Retirement, SIPTU, Shannon Aer Lingus Workers, Kildysart Agri- cultural Show, District Daycare Cen- tre Clarecastle, Birth Choice Clare, Clare Sinn Féin, the INO, The Lions Club and members of Clare’s locals PAu ieee ele lone

Notable by their absence were Clare’s two Fianna Fail TDs, Minis- ter Tony Killeen and Timmy Dooley. Marian Harkin MEP and Fine Gael deputies Joe Carey and Pat Breen were among the most senior politi- cians lending their support.

At midday, a crowd estimated by gardai at almost 4,000 left Cusack Park in Ennis and marched through

the town demanding that the HSE re- tain 24-hour accident and emergency at Ennis General Hospital and reo- pen the mammography unit.

People joined the march to the sound of the Tulla Ceili Band while those gathering in the square listened to the Ennis General Hospital Com- mittee’s fundraising CD.

The protest march was led by a cof- fin carried shoulder-high with the

slogan “20 deaths each year”’.

Once in the square, the crowd were addressed by a dozen speakers in- cluding the Chairman of the Ennis General Hospital Development Com- mittee, Peadar McNamara, for more than an hour and a half.

Each speaker outlined his or her fears for the local health services un- der current Government policy, most notably the so-called Hanly Report.

‘We are here in the square which has been a historic rallying point in Clare from O’Connell’s time right down to de Valera. Numerous politicians of all shapes have spoken here seeking our rights. We are in the same position. We pay taxes,” said Mr McNamara.

GARDAI have expressed concern that “more and more” people are found in possession of implements – after a man claimed he found a knife and picked it up as he thought it would “come in handy” in his toolbox.

Dublin native Ben Sheehy (20), of Clancy Park, Ennis, was convicted of possession of a knife at Dalcassian Park, Ennis, at 2.30am on August 22 last.

Garda Dominic Regan told En- nis district court on Friday that the accused was seen stumbling from side to side on the street anda knife – used for cutting paper – was found on him.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client – an apprentice aircraft mechanic – found the knife.

“He thought it would come in handy. He was going to put it in his toolbox,” she said.

The knife was produced in court and Judge Joseph Mangan said, “You would need more than that if you were confronting the German army.’ Inspector Tom Kennedy re- plied, “This was 2.30 in the morning. We’re finding people more and more in possession of such articles.

“It’s a very different situation when you are here on a Friday afternoon in a different atmosphere, but finding people with these things at 2.30 in the morning is a very different mat- ome

Judge Mangan jailed Sheehy for a month and suspended it on condition that he keep the peace for one year.

He was also convicted of a public order offence and fined €500.

THE long awaited traffic-calming scheme for Wilson’s Road to Stew- ard Street is a “high priority work” and is to be completed as soon as possible according to Kilrush Town Council.

Executive Engineer Derek ‘Troy said the poles for signage indicating ramps have already been installed.

All single ramp signage are due to be installed later in the week.

Following the completion of ramps, the extruded kerbing required to Whoa eL Kos MmmLUUSCCLN CO) OTM ANU MmE As (o10 mm oLommn DOG stalled, dependent on contractor ac- cessibility.

Completion of all remaining up- grades of speed limit singage, pede- setrian crossings and road markings will follow in due course.

“Due to the phased nature of the work and the attempts to keep traffic disruption to a minimum, it 1s diffi- cult to put an exact finishing date on the works,” Mr Troy told this months meeting of Kilrush town council- Keyuse

He was responding to a question from Councillor Collie Sweeney (Ind) who has requesting a progress report on the traffic calming meas- ures and the proposed eastern by- pass of Kilrush.

The need for traffic calming meas-

ures and a bypass has long been an issue for the local people

After more than a year campaign- ing and lobbying by the local HGV action group the go ahead was given for the bypass to the east of the town and traffic calming measures.

The area to be considered for the road capable of sustaining all heavy goods vehicles travelling to the Mon- eypoint Station and Roadstone is east of the west Clare capital stretching from Knockerra Cross to Dunogrog- ue Cross to west of the Killimer car ferry and on to Ballynote Cross.

As a shorter term solution Clare County Council drew up plans which include up to six pedestrian cross-

ings estimated to cost €6,000 each and eight islands costing between €2,000 and €3,000 each.

“T understand that only a handful of submissions were made to the traffic calming measures and that is a clear indication from the people that I rep- resent that they are long overdue,” Oe ieaacr nee

“Iam at pains to point out that these measures are temporary and our long-term goal is to have a by- pass of the eastern side of Kilrush town. My people have suffered for almost 30 years from HGVs rolling through our residential area since the construction of Moneypoint in 1979,” he added.

yes- terday, a member of The Clare Shell

to Sea organisation expressed his fears that big business, rather than the people of Ireland, will benefit from the find.

“In terms of European Union laws of sustainability, there are three main needs that must be addressed before any development can be con- sidered ‘sustainable’ — these are social, environmental and econom- ic,’ said Niall Harnett of Clare Shell to Sea.

“While attempts are being made by the department, under legal obliga- tion, to consider environmental mat- ters related to any such exploration, it should be a real source of concern to the people of Ireland, including all the communities along the At- lantic coast, that no public meetings are taking place and no consultation is being offered to them on the one matter that threatens the social and economic stability of this country, in terms of oil and gas — that our oil

and gas has been given away by Gov- ernment and remains the property of licensed industrialists to exploit, where no stake exists for the people of Ireland.

“Normally, when a country invites the oil and gas companies to process their reserves for them, it’s a 50/50 deal. In Ireland, it’s a 100/0 split. Bil- lions for them and none for us. If we want any of it, we must buy it back at market rate. When were we ever Loy eTTUN kere Mreloreletmns etl mam

Meanwhile, this Wednesday, Sep- tember 26, Rossport native John Monaghan will be in Glor to present a short documentary on the Shell to Sea campaign in County Mayo.

This will be followed by a second documentary, this one concerning the Hill of Tara and the campaign to reroute the M3. Experts believe they may have discovered bones belong- ing to members of Fionn Mac Cum- haill’s Fianna. Both events are free.

A MAN whois accused of raping and threatening to kill a woman in west Clare earlier this month is to apply for bail in the High Court next week.

The 42-year-old accused is facing eight charges arising out of an inci- dent at a house in west Clare, on Sep- tember 9 last.

He is accused of three counts of rape, possession of a shotgun, false imprisonment and threat to kill, as- sault causing harm and burglary.

When he initially appeared in court earlier this month, bail was refused and he has been in custody since then. On that occasion, the court was told the DPP has directed that the case be dealt with on indictment.

At Lisdoonvarna district court last Wednesday, his solicitor Eugene O’Kelly said he intends to apply for bail in the High Court.

“We have not been in a position to agree conditions to allow him get bail. We will apply to the High

Court,” said Mr Kelly. Superintendent Gabriel O’Gara sought to remand the accused in cus- tody until later this month. The case was adjourned until a later date, when the accused will re- appear in court.

THREE and a half years planning will come to fruition with the start of the Leon XIII Festival in Quilty on Friday next.

As this is the centenary of the Leon XIII “Final Voyage” and the dra- matic rescue of its crew, music and heritage will feature strongly in the schedule of weekend long events.

Starting with the opening cer- emony at 6pm in Quilty village on Friday evening, a new commemora- tive plaque and lectern featuring the Leon XIII story will be unveiled by relatives of the Quilty fishermen of 1907, Mayor of Kilmurry Ibrickane Connie Power and the Science and Technology attaché at the embassy of France in Ireland, Christophe

LeRouge.

Later on that night, a traditional concert featuring many of the coun- ty’s top musicians, singers and set- dancers will keep the village alive to the sound of music! This con- cert will feature the launch of “The Leon” double CD, especially pro- duced at Malbay recording studios for the festival, by Joe Searson and Jack Healy.

Saturday morning, kicks off at 11 pm with the launch of the newly de- veloped “Leon Walking Trail”. Led by Cora O’Grady, this walk will take in an 8km route around Quilty and covers much of the history associ- ated with the area over the last 100 years. Mary Clancy will host an Irish Dancing Workshop in Quilty Tavern for children starting at 11.30pm. The

action then moves to the Kilmurry Ibrikane GAA field where the Leon Open Sports commences at 1.30pm. The full programme of events in- cludes a tea-towel-pegging contest and welly throwing competition for the less serious athletes! The Satur- day schedule continues with the U- 12 football blitz at 4.30pm and the Homecoming Social in Quilty Tav- ern later that night, with music pro- vided by PJ Murrihy and his band.

Sunday sees Quilty’s first Regatta in several decades take place in the afternoon, after visitors and locals have had the opportunity to take part in the commemorative Mass at noon and open-air set dancing in the vil- lage.

During the weekend, the first phase of development in Quilty’s new com-

munity centre aptly named “The Leon Centre” will be on show and will host the festival shop. All events over the weekend are free of charge unless advertised otherwise.

Festival Organisers, The Leon Committee, would like to sincerely thank everyone who has _ helped to make the first Leon XIII Festi- val a reality. For further details of the events taking place during the weekend please contact Agnes 087- 1355738 or Caroline 087-2194541.