Category: Uncategorized

PVE been spoiled for choice in re- cent weeks having had the pleasure of testing two very classy Audi mo- tors.

After a week in the Audi A4, I then got to drive the truly massive A6 all- road 2.7 TDI Tiptronic quattro. The black A4 was a classy looking mo- tor, but the silver A6 was just sheer luxury.

“You wouldn’t mind being stuck in Dublin traffic in a car like that.”’ That was the reaction I got from a salesman in a South Dublin garage, a garage that does not specialise in Audi cars.

For me that was some praise com- ing from a competitor, but that was his honest reaction after sitting in and experiencing the comforts of the AO.

When you do sit in it definitely is comfortable. I have often said before that the first thing you do in an au- tomatic is forget about your left leg. Otherwise you will find your fore- head rapidly come in contact with the windscreen as you press what you think is the clutch.

So you just sit back, wait for those lights to turn green and just glide away. If you want speed then the 2.7 engine will ensure that you ‘jump away’ from the lights. And all that power is brilliant when overtaking.

Audi say that the A6 allroad is aimed at people who like horse rid- ing, field sports enthusiasts and those

whose lifestyles have a distinctly off- road dimension.

OW eK rwa Ul eu mcmoree) (CM UbKOr:(OMRVol NE cle. In this model the number plate has been repositioned higher up on the grille to prevent it being ripped away by sharp inclines. Other design features include: beefier bumpers,

bigger door mirrors, flared wheel arches and stainless steel under-body protection.

Externally it doesn’t look like an off-road motor and the only clues are the two roof-bars. It’s a beautiful station-wagon type of car, but I don’t think I would like to risk any damage

to this expensive car by taking it off- road. If I really had to go off-road I think I would probably prefer a 4×4 OS MSO)ONLSLVODNOTMM UIA OMEN OUESA Ooo mmOlU RANTS position.

In the cabin you feel like an air- plane pilot as you select the radio controls which are ideally located in

a console between the driver and the front seat passenger. So if your front seat passenger wants to choose the ra- dio station/cd that she/he wants then the controls are very user friendly for them also.

Naturally the boot is absolutely huge and is capable of carrying any extra items you could think of. It’s a very long motor, but parking sen- sors are provided and they are very useful. When you do park the lights stay on for approximately a minute to allow you get in your front door or if in town, maybe find that parking aloe

Prices for the 2.7 start at E69,440. The optional extras which included leather seats, bluetooth phone, cruise control, heated front seats, sunroof and parking sensors, brought the price of the test car up to E80,934. That’s a lot of money and in an ideal world it would be nice to get your employer to buy one for you. Howev- er, if you keep an eye on the second hand market you could well pick up a bargain. The chances are that the car has been well looked after.

Audi sponsor several sporting events in Ireland each year including the Audi Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on Derby weekend where they showed off their latest models to an appreciate audience.

THE students of Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna last week presented the Stella Maris day care centre with a cheque for €5,500 – the proceeds of a very unu- sual charity marathon.

Earlier this year, the students of the school took part in a day long Sports Marathon, organised by the school’s fifth-year students.

“It was part of out LCVP exams in fifth year. We spoke to Mr Sims and Mr Harrison about what previ- ous years had done and we decided it would be good to run a Sports Marathon,’ said Ciana Garrihy from

Doolin.

“We handed out a questionnaire to all the students to see which sports were the most popular.

“We then printed up cards for all the students to raise money for the Stella Maris.

“We decided on the Stella Maris because it is something that effects everyone in the area. It’s local and they wanted to raise money for a Sec- ond bus to bring more people to the Conlsione

The school was divided into teams, each representing a local area. In the end, the bragging rights went to the Kilfenora team, who won the most points during the marathon.

“We decided that we would play volleyball and soccer. Each game was half an hour long, half the school played football in the morning at the pitch while the rest played volleyball in the school,” said Sean Cormican from Lisdoonvarna.

“Halft-way through we got a free bus from Peter Mooney and swapped around. Everyone really got into it and the teachers played a big part. They reffed the matches for us and helped out a lot.”

Along with scoring points for their performance in the marathon, each team was also awarded a point for every €5 raised for the Stella Maris. Third year student, Michael Griffey,

was the top earning student, raising more than €300 from his sponsor- ship card.

“We had a points system in place. The school was split into six different teams and awarded points depending on how they got on in the matches,” said Laura Sims.

‘But as well as that, each student got a point for his or her team for every €5 raised for the Stella Maris.”

School principal, John O’Loughlin congratulated all the students who took part.

“Projects like this are wonderful. They show a community spirit which is wonderful thing for a mercy school to have,” he said.

THE Samaritans would be better off coming to Lisdoonvarna in October or November rather than during the month of September when there is no loneliness in the Spa town.

That’s the view of matchmaker, Willie Daly who was responding to the Samaritans’ initiative of hav- ing 20 Samaritan volunteers at Lis- doonvarna over the weekend to offer emotional support to those who are ‘unlucky in love’.

Billed as the largest singles event in Europe, the month-long Matchmak- ing Festival is in full swing, with dancing starting every day at llam and continuing deep into the night.

Samaritan volunteers kept a round- the-clock presence in the Square in the north Clare Spa town from Fri- day until 3am Sunday morning.

Explaining the initiative, Samaritan Festival Group Co-ordinator, Teresa Bell explained that some people who attend the festival may have high expectations of finding their match,

only to be left disappointed.

“Coming to the festival in the hope of finding a ‘match’ can often end in disappointment.

“Expectations can be high and if there are other emotional issues in a person’s life prior to coming to Lis- doon, then they can quickly resurface and change the mood very quickly.”

However, matchmaker Willie Daly said that “the Samaritans would be better off coming when the festival is over, as people will then be missing the unique September atmosphere,

rather than when there is no loneli- ness in the town. Hats off to them. I think it is a marvellous idea that the Samaritans are coming to Lisdoon- varna, but here, no one goes home disappointed during the month of September. There is an absence of loneliness here during the month.” Asked if he had made any match- es this year, he said, “I matched up a couple there on the first weekend and the woman got back to me to say that they are already talking about marriage, so that makes my job

easy to do. I believe that the eligible Irish man is an endangered species, because you have all these women coming from overseas, including the European countries, seeking them out and there is not enough of them. As the song goes, ‘Nobody Loves Like An Irish Man’.”

Willie revealed that a number of very wealthy US women are due in Lisdoonvarna “looking for an ordi- nary Irish man, because they hear that Irish men are good lovers and very good characters”.

AN exhibition featuring more than 300 images of different members of the famous Kilrush-based Vandeleur family, their relatives and friends will be launched this evening in OTK Ti Koleteee-laey eee

The exhibition, which in entitled The Vandeleur Photographic Collec- tion, will be launched my the Mayor of Clare and Kilrush native, Patricia McCarthy, and comes to Ennis after a successful two week run at the Van- deleur Walled Gardens in Kilrush.

The photographs date from 1857 to 1871, the post famine years when West Clare was struggling to recover from the devastation of crop failure,

evictions and starvation.

“This photographic collection is an import window into a period of our history. History is what forms us and makes us what we are. The Vandeleur family and their period in this county is a typical example of what is good and bad,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“Kilrush benefited from the influ- ence of the Vandeleur family and its development could well be an exam- ple today of good planning resulting as it has in a well planned Town, with wide streets, some striking buildings and a Market Hall forming a central focal point for the town.

“They also saw the potential of the Shannon Estuary and established a thriving port, which brought employ-

ment to the Town and surrounding area. The family had a long military tradition and this involved them in the recruitment of locals to fight in numerous wars including the Great A ETe

“All the Vandeleur landlords were not as progressive however. Unfortu- nately Kilrush like many other areas throughout Ireland suffered under an absentee landlord, a period, which saw many evictions, take place.”

According to Rene Franklin, Clare County Archivist, the Vandeleur Photographic Collection reveals much about both the public and pri- vate lives of one of County Clare’s most influential families in the years after the famine.

“The collection provides a rare and fascinating glimpse into the daily lives of the Vandeleurs; their homes; leisure activities; families and friends; travels; and fashions of the day, at a time when the rest of the county was struggling to survive,” she said.

“The photographs themselves are all black and white although a small number have been tinted with col- our. Further colour is added to the album through the use of beauti- fully sketched borders and the use of stamps (both personal and official) on some pages. Each page of the photo- graphic album contains annotations, and the volume is indexed with the name and date of many images.”

STEP aside Chris Tarrant, the real Who Want to Be a Thousandaire is coming to Ballyvaughan’s brand new Burren Coast Hotel this October.

The charity evening, which is be- ing organised to help fund exten- sion work at Ballyvaughan National School, will take place on October 13 and will offer locals the real chance to grab some cold hard cash.

The game will follow the formula of the popular television programme, and will even include a video up- link to the competitor’s ‘Phone a Friends’.

“In terms of numbers, the school is fairly solid with 65 or so students. The problem is the size of the class- rooms. It is quite small at present.

The department has guidelines which say that if you are building a new school, each class should be 72 Square metres, our classes are only 36 square metres,’ said school prin- cipal, Michael Canavan.

“We decided that the best thing would be to put in three proper sized class rooms. A principles office, staff room and two smaller room for our two learning support teachers. The Government will provide a certain amount of the money, but we do need to raise in the region of €60,000 or €70,000 to complete the project.”

Once the extension has been com- pleted, the school plans to convert an upstairs area in the extention to a new computer room and library for the students.

“It’s a real community thing. We

have three main sponsors – the Bur- ren Coast Hotel, the Ailwee Caves and M&M Construction. They are all local which is great,’ continued Mr Canavan.

‘“Ailwee cave have children in the school, M&M will soon have chil- dren in the school and the Burren Coast have just opened up down the road from us and have been very generous.

“We have about 40 or 50 smaller advertisers, who are mostly all lo- cal people who have also been very generous. A lot of people who have holiday homes in the area have also given money.

“School is becoming a very fo- cal point in the community. A lot of times, school is the only place where parents would meet these days.”

Tickets for the big ‘Who wants to be a Thousandaire’ are available lo- cally from all members of the fund- raising committee or at the door on the night. The evenings competitors will be drawn from the tickets sold.

THIS Wednesday, the Mol an Oige primary school in Ennistymon take their fight for Department of Edu- cation recognition to Dublin where they will engage in a protest as the Dail reconvenes.

Parents and pupils will make the trip to Dublin in a bid to keep the 1s- sue at the front of the mind of Minis- ter for Education, Mary Hanafin.

“We’re simply trying to highlight the plight in terms of our application to open a new multi-denominational primary school in Ennistymon,” ex- plained Mol an Oige spokeswoman, Mary Fahy.

“We intend to give a letter to our Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to remind him of the public commitment he made to our school during his elec- tion campaign when visiting Kilrush earlier this year.

“With all the recent media attention on two new multi-denominational schools in the Dublin area, we as a parent group are asking that the Min- ister for Education grant children in rural areas the same right to choice in education.”

Two years ago, the group began an application process to open a multi- denominational school implementing the National School Curriculum us- ing the Steiner model of education.

But because of a lack of commit- ment from the Department of Educa- tion to recognise the school, parents of those attending the school have had to organise educational matters.

“Despite having met all the crite- ria and complied with the process laid out by the Department of Edu- cation and despite having received two positive recommendations from the New Schools Advisory Commit- tee, we still await an answer from the minister.”

Minister for State Tony Killeen says he has been in regular contact with the Minister for Education about the issue.

“T’ve tried to establish exactly what is required of Mol an Ojge for the school to be officially recognised by her department,” he told

PLANS to develop seven acres of land in the heart of Feakle for hous- ing have raised concerns among councillors representing the area.

At a meeting of the Scariff area committee of the council, Cllr Pat Hayes said he is concerned about the eden

“The last place we expected the council to buy land was in Feakle. A development of this size could totally change the character of the village. There are less than 100 houses in the whole of Feakle and this is a propos- al to develop a site as large as Feakle

itself is.”

In reply to Cllr Hayes queries on plans for the site, a council housing official said in a written reply that the land has been bought “‘to supplement the existing land bank owned by the council and is earmarked to meet the erowing housing need in the Scariff electoral area.”

The reply stated that while there are no plans as yet for the develop- ment of the site, the first phase of the development will cater for affordable housing and voluntary housing for the elderly. The reply also assured councillors that there would be con- sultation with the community.

Councillor Joe Cooney said that having waited so long for a proper sewerage scheme in Feakle, “it would seem only fair to me that businesses and residents should be able to have the benefit of the new scheme first. I’m concerned that with a site that size earmarked for development, that will put the people already living and doing business in Feakle at a dissad- vantage’.

Cllr Colm Wiley said that he felt it would be a good idea to have the council’s Director of Housing come to a meeting and outline his plans.

Noi Corum bata KOM LOmsOBUOBLO)Im Or-vIBE-Bhior| by the council, for which they will be

reimbursed by the Government as development takes place, Cllr Wiley pointed out that the local authority “has all this money to spend now and we have no land bank”’.

Council Engineer, Michael Mc- Donogh, told the meeting that there would be no mass development on the site.

“There will be consultation along the way and this 1s a staged proposal. Nothing will be done all at once.

Councillors and officials agreed that they would convene a special meeting of elected representatives for the area as soo as any proposals for the site come on line.

CLARE IFA Farm Forestry Rep- resentative, Martin Murphy, has warned farmers that they might require a licence from the Forest Service before they undertake scrub clearance.

This comes at a time when many farmers are carrying out develop- ment work for the Farm Waste Man- agement Scheme.

“Felling of trees is controlled un- der the 1946 Forestry Act. In gen- eral terms, if you want to cut down any tree or uproot any tree over 10 years you must lodge a felling notice with the Garda Sergeant at your local

Garda Station,’ he said.

“The Forest Service will then in- spect the trees that you intend to fell and issue you with a felling licence. The licence may or may not have conditions, such as a replanting con- dition, attached.

“Some farmers make the mistake of thinking that the scrub that they are clearing wouldn’t be considered trees but generally if you can see a single straight stem you will need a licence. It is better to check with the Forest Service first than end up in court later.”

The provisions of the act apply re- gardless of whether the trees were planted or grew from natural regen-

eration. Approval for grant aid or planning permission does not exempt you from requiring a licence.

‘Farmers should contact the local Forest Service Inspector or the fell- ing section of the Forest Service in Johnstown Castle before they start development work to be on the safe side,’ advised Mr Murphy.

Meanwhile, Mary Wallace, Minis- ter of State at the Department of Ag- riculture and Food with responsibility for forestry, last week announced the approval by the EU Commission of Ireland’s Afforestation Programme 2007-2013.

“I am pleased to announce the authorisation by the EU Commis-

sion for our new Afforestation Pro- eramme, which follows long and detailed negotiation between my de- partment and the commission,” she said.

“This provides welcome stability at a crucial time for Irish forestry and allows us to focus our efforts on new planting. As noted by the EU Com- mission, forest cover in Ireland 1s the second lowest in the European Un- eye

“It is my hope that this aid package, worth more than EUR900m over the period 2007 – 2013, will re-energise the forestry programme and that we will see a steady increase in our for- est-cover over the next seven years.”

A FORMER hotel employee who Stole almost €8,000 from his boss was doing well paying back the money, until he broke out and started drinking.

Last January, Brian McNamara, of Main Street, Whitegate, pleaded culty to stealing €7,/775 from The

Central Hotel, Main Street, Miltown Malbay, between September 5 and September 8, 2005.

He took the money to feed his gam- bling and alcohol addictions and no longer works at the hotel.

The case was adjourned, to allow for compensation to be paid. Lis- doonvarna district court heard last week €3,140 was paid back, but

€4,630 was still outstanding.

Defending solicitor Eugene O’ Kelly said that the accused has been on bail for a year and a half.

During the first 12 months, he had not been drinking.

“Unfortunately six months ago, he went back drinking. He was not using the money he was earning on anything other than drink,” said the

solicitor.

‘For 12 months he was good, but for the last six months he was bad. He was back drinking and no money was paid in compensation,” said Mr O’ Kelly.

He said he was asking for “one final chance on very strict conditions.”

“He knows he will never get that chance again,” he added.

Judge Joseph Mangan said he would grant bail to the accused, on Ley aTe NL aCey shy

He is to sign on daily at a garda sta- tion and reside at a stated address in Galway.

He was remanded in custody with consent to bail, to reappear in court this week.

LIMERICK’S city manager is to be asked to come to a meeting of elected representatives for the Killaloe area to fill them in on whether the city is buying homes in south east Clare.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the Killaloe area committee of the county council, when council- lors voiced their concerns over re- ports that homes are being bought up in their area to rehouse people being moved in the Social Inclusion scheme for Moyross.

Limerick City Council has to find accommodation for tenants whose

homes are being demolished as part of the plan.

The city’s policy is to supplement the number of new homes it can build by buying up houses for sale in the city and it’s hinterland.

But councillors said that they feel they are being kept in the dark about the plans.

Cllr Cathal Crowe told the meeting that he believes the city manager 1s including south east Clare in his defi- nition of “hinterland”’.

“I’m told by residents that two houses have been bought there and that the city council has bought nine houses in Westbury. But if you try to

question any of this you’re accused of being anti-Limerick. People have a right to live in any part of this coun- try they wish but there is a wholesale movement of people under this plan and that requires dialogue. I’m not being disparaging of anyone coming into this area. There are many fine people in Moyross and we would welcome them in but there is a small minority who are causing problems and if the city thinks it can export those problems to Clare, then it has another think coming.”

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald said that he has also been approached on the is- sue. “We’re told that one bad com-

plaint against a city tenant and they’re out. That’s codswallop – what’s a bad complaint? A stereo on too loud? We know nothing about how this is be- ing handled and we have a right to know what is going on in the area we represent.”

The councillor added that he was concerned that “Limerick city can buy houses in Clare, yet we have people on our housing waiting list for years and we can’t house them.

The members agreed to invite a deputation from the city council to come to their next meeting to discuss the issues.