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THE mayors, chairs and managers of west of Ireland Local Authorities and Regional Assemblies have been invited to attend a briefing today on the removal of the Shannon to Hea- throw link today (Tuesday).

The briefing has been called by Mayor of Clare, Patricia McCarthy, on the eve of the Dail debate on the issue. The meeting will be attended by the mayor of Clare, cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, mayor of Roscommon, mayor of Galway City,

cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council, mayor of Limerick City, mayor of Kerry, mayor of North Tipperary County Council, cathao- irleach of Tipperary South County Council and cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council.

Also in attendance will be senior representatives of the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly; Mid West Regional Authority; and the Border, Midlands and Western Re- gional Assembly.

The meeting is being held at the

Oakwood Arms Hotel, Shannon.

Today, Mayor McCarthy urged members of the public to express their opposition to the axing of the Shannon to Heathrow service by at- tending the first full Government de- bate on the issue this Wednesday.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy urged peo- ple to join business, tourism and community leaders from the west of Ireland inside and outside the Houses of the Oireachtas when the Dail re- turns from its summer break.

The mayor said she would also be seeking the support of colleagues

from the wider region to make sim1- lar calls at the meeting of Local Au- thority and Regional Assembly rep- resentatives today.

“It is now time for the Government to deliver on the clear guarantees given regarding the Heathrow slots at Dublin, Cork and Shannon,” stated Mayor McCarthy.

She continued, “Minister for Trans- port Noel Dempsey, who professes to be acutely aware of the challenges faced by the region as a result of the Aer Lingus move, must now bring the solution to the Dail Chamber.”

CLARE farmer and Chairman of ICMSA’s Beef & Cattle Committee, Martin McMahon, has welcomed as ‘a move in the right direction” the EU Commission’s new proposals for changing the currant age limit at which animals must be tested for BSE.

The Commission has _ proposed that the age limit for the BSE test be raised from 30 months to 42 months for healthy slaughtered animals pro- viding that the member state wish- ing to avail of the new age limit has declining or consistently low BSE prevalence and has implemented, for

at least six years, a full BSE testing scheme based on traceability and identification of live animals.

As well as this, each individual member state must also have en- forced, for at least six years, the com- munity legislation on total feed ban for farmed animals.

“We definitely meet all those crite- ria and ICMSA will be pushing hard for the Government to expedite the matter. he said.

“We think it’s unacceptable to be talking about dragging this matter into the next year when a bit of de- termination and the full deployment of the facts should see the European Commission accepting the incontro-

vertible facts that there is no need for any Irish animal to be tested before 42 months.

“We regard this movement by the Commission as a move in the right direction and we consider these pro- posals to be a testament to the pres- sure we’ve brought to bear on both the department and the Commission on the question of BSE age-limit testing, which, quite frankly, has been illogical and pointless for some considerable time now.”

Meanwhile, ICSA President Mal- colm Thompson, last week called for BSE testing in Ireland to be finished. The President of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association 1s call-

ing for the ending of BSE testing to be phased out over the next couple of years.

According to Thompson, the inci- dence of BSE is rapidly declining, with just 41 positive results returned in over 850,000 tests carried out in cattle in 2006.

Thompson met with the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Cough- lan, last week and requested that she establish a timetable for the phasing out of BSE testing which he claims is costing farmers money while it is now unnecessary.

The ICSA President also claimed that the BSE testing sector had be- come an industry onto itself.

PEOPLE will be hurt if immediate action isn’t taken to tackle a number of incidents of sea erosion along the north Clare coast.

That was the message which emerged from yesterday’s meeting of the local area authority in Ennisty- mon where a number of non-related incidents of dangerous erosion were mentioned.

Ennistymon Cllr Martin Conway (FG), said that it was only a matter of time before a serious injury took place on the Lahinch Promenade be- cause of years of erosion have caused a protective railing to become dan-

gerously brittle.

“The bars in Lahinch are ready to collapse at any time. Someone is going to be hurt out there sooner or later if something is not done. It is re- ally very dangerous at the moment,” Sr HK6 Os Dba oye a ch VA

“I know that there are major works set to take place in Lahinch later this year and early next year, but this situ- ation needs to be tackled now before something happens.”

Fears have been raised that a sec- tion of railing, which runs from the O’Looney’s Pub at the foot of the prom in a southerly direction, in un- stable and could break or collapse.

The area is used by many local

young people and tourists for skate- boarding and and as a walkway.

“IT went walking along the prome- nade on Saturday and three different sets of people met me and mentioned the problem of the railing to me,” continued Cllr Conway.

“IT think that the bars should be re- placed with a solid block wall which would be safer and easier to main- eb

Meanwhile, Cllr Richard Nagle (FF), called for action to be taken to prevent a stretch of the R-478 road near Liscannor from being washed away due to coastal erosion.

“I appreciate that the local author- ity needs to get money from the De-

partment of the Marine but there is a piece on this road where the coastal erosion 1s coming right on to the road and it need something as a matter of urgency,’ said Cllr Nagle.

Responding to the request, Senior Engineer, Donie Buckley said that Clare County Council had made nine submissions to the Department of the Marine for funding in cases where coastal erosion were becom- ing a major but none had been suc- cessful.

These submission for coastal pro- tection totalled €1.885 million, and included a requested allocation of €375,000 for works on the R478 road.

RYANAIR has confirmed that it is taking legal advice on what can be done in the face of a second refusal by Aer Lingus to hold and EGM to discuss the withdrawal of the Shan- non/Heathrow flights from next Jan- VEDA

The airline has pledged to increase it routes out of Shannon, based on the strong forward bookings it is experi- encing there.

“Ryanair regrets that Aer Lingus is refusing to allow shareholders

an opportunity to discuss the clo- sure of a profitable route at a time When Aer Lingus’s interim profits have collapsed by 58 per cent to just €6m and its share price has fallen to €2.40, well below Ryanair’s of- fer of €2.80 last year,’ said Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary “Since the directors of Aer Lingus are will- ing to repeatedly breach their statu- tory obligations towards their largest shareholder, there clearly isn’t any influence that Ryanair can bring to bear on this profitable route closure. Accordingly, we’re considering what

legal remedies are available to us.”

Speaking after the company AGM, at which O’Leary pledged to double its traffic and its profits to 84 mil- lion passengers and €900 million by 2012, O’Leary laid out plans to expand the Shannon operation. He said that Ryanair’s services will al- most double on Shannon — London from four to seven flights daily with Services from Shannon to Gatwick, Luton and Stanstead, where Shan- non passengers can connect to more destinations than they presently can from Heathrow.

The airline will double its Shan- non-Paris services to a twice daily flight next summer, and Ryanair is now in negotiations with Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to see if a viable cost base can be agreed to allow a low fare Shannon-Amsterdam route to be launched. This winter, Ryanair will operate more than 40 daily flights to and from Shannon, connecting Shan- non to 30 European destinations. If Aer Lingus is determined to abandon Shannon and the west of Ireland then Ryanair will add more flights and more low fares.

MINISTER for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin TD has announced a €/million R and D investment by UCB Schwarz Pharma, supported by Shannon De- velopment.

The announcement took place dur- ing a visit by the Minister to anumber of companies located in the Shannon Free Zone. The Free Zone has more than 7,200 people employed in 110

companies generating over €3.3 bil- lion in annual sales.

During the visit Minister Martin was briefed at the UCB Schwarz Pharma plant on the capital invest- ment the company is making in 2007.

Total investment volume by the company is expected to be in excess of €100 million.

The company is currently rede- veloping a manufacturing plant on its site to manufacture a new drug

which they have recently developed. The investment also includes a major upgrade in facilities and infrastruc- ture.

Minister Martin said “This is pre- cisely the sort of activity and invest- ment that will secure Ireland’s pros- perity into the future.

It is through bringing innovation and our creative intelligence to in- dustry that Ireland will mark out its ground and gain competitive advan- eee

Welcoming Minister Martin to the Shannon Free Zone, Mr Kevin Thompstone, Chief Executive, Shan- non Development, said, “The Free Zone continues to be a location of choice for global businesses across a variety of industries. Shannon De- velopment is currently preparing a comprehensive master plan for a ma- jor regeneration programme at the Free Zone to guarantee its continued competitive edge into the future”.

Minister Martin’s visit to the Shan-

non Free Zone also included visits to aircraft leasing company, Genesis Lease; financial securities company, Genworth Financial; and. underwear manufacturer, Maidenform Interna- nlOyerNe

Speaking at the official opening of their new offices by Minister Mar- tin, Chairman and CEO of Genesis Lease, Mr John McMahon, said ‘We are grateful to Minister Micheal Martin for officially opening our new offices.

THE west Clare members of Clare County Council have agreed to read and consider the terms of a “Grant of Easement” of a right of way in Cree on to Doughmore Beach.

Under the agreement a right of way on to the beach will be handed over to Doonbeg Golf Club Limited in exchange to alternative access to the leer eee

In addressing the Kilrush Area Committee Senior Engineer Donal Buckley said that he has been ad- vised that a high court judicial re- view will have “nothing to do with the right of way”’.

Under the proposal, which must get the approval of the elected members of the council, the right of way over part of the public road at Caherfeen- ick, Cree will be extinguished for 120 metres.

The extinguishment will only take place when criteria are met by the golf club according to Mr Buckley.

Among the commitments is the provision of a car park of 35 spaces constructed to Clare County Coun- cil’s specifications and supervised by the local authority’s staff.

An area of land including the car park and a further estimated .6 acres for 35 more car park spaces must also be transfered into the ownership

of Clare County Council.

A new “turn table at the new termi- nal point” on the Caherfeenick road to Clare County Council’s specifica- tion in size and standard must also be constructed and bollards installed.

“A clear legal grant of a pedestrian right of way to be given by Doonbeg Golf Club to Clare County Council from the turn table” at the end of the road to the beach is another part if the controversial proposal.

A document circulated to the coun- cillors also points to “a clear legal erant of a vehicular right of way for emergency vehicles” to be given by the golf club to Clare County Coun- cil and this right of way to be three

metres wide.

The final criteria to be met by the golf club states that Clare County Council is to be “indemnified against any claim on the Doonbeg Golf Club property by Doonbeg golf Club.”

The west Clare members of the council said that they would like time to study the documentation and to explore the feeling of the people of Caherfeenick on the issue.

‘Are the people of the Caherfeenick Road happy with the bollards there?” asked Cllr Oliver Garry (FG).

Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn said the council must ensure legal rights of the people. “The legal certainty is absolute,” she said.

OPPONENTS of the Aer Lingus plan to move their four Shannon/Heath- row slots to Belfast are being urged to join a Dail protest being organised in advance of the Government debate on the issue tomorrow.

The Atlantic Connectivity Alliance (ACA) is urging Clare people to go to Dublin and join the protests outside

and in the public gallery of the Dail, wearing county colours if possible.

The debate is due to start around Spm and a spokesman for the ACA said that it is “vital that we have a big, big presence, at least 300-400 people in Dublin that afternoon, so please pass on the word, and use your own ‘sectoral networks’ to get as many people up there as possible”.

He added that the plan is to fill the

public gallery in the Dail to capacity, and to have a strong, visible presence outside Leinster House. “Already the Hotels Federation are running a poster campaign and are planning other elements for the day. We need other sectors to follow suit, so please feel free to get creative around this. It is important that everyone makes the effort to be in Dublin, for what is a critical moment in the campaign.”

After a meeting last week with Em- ployment, Trade and Enterprise Min- ister, Michael Martin in Shannon, the Alliance accused the Government of “failing to show it has the political will to prevent the loss of thousands of jobs across western regions due to the fall-out from Aer Lingus’ deci- sion to abandon the profitable Shan- non-Heathrow service”.

Following what the ACA described as a “frank and engaging” meeting the ACA stated that while it has no doubt about Minister Martin’s bona fide’s on the issue, it seriously ques- tions the political will of the majority of Government on this critical issue.

Said ACA spokesperson Ken Sul- livan, “the soundings from Govern- ment are still very clear; they say they are not for turning in relation to Aer Lingus but that is purely a mat- ter of political will, which they don’t seem to have right now.”

Speaking after a separate meeting of the ACA in the Glenlo Abbey Ho- tel, Galway, Alliance member and Galway Chamber representative Dr Chris Coughlan confirmed that a meeting was held in Shannon late last week with the Inter-Departmen- tal Group “but it merely confirmed suspicion that the group has a pre- determined agenda to substantiate Government claims that it cannot in- tervene in the Aer Lingus decision.”

CLARE athletes Jennifer Tuohy and Marie O’Connor were special guests of President Mary McAleese in Aras an Uachtarain as members of the Irish team that recently brought home a record haul of medals from the World Transplant Games.

President McAleese told the ath- letes they brought honour and glory to the country at the World Trans- plant Games in Bangkok earlier this month as part of the team that won an unprecedented 39 medals.

The President was so impressed by their triumphs that she invited the

team to a special reception in iNet an Uachtarain, where she compli- mented the Clare athletes for “bring- ing the issue of organ donation to a level of national prominence it never before enjoyed.”

“You should feel very proud of yourselves,’ she addded. “You have shown people that there can be a creat life after getting a transplant, and you have touched the lives of more people than you realise.

‘Maybe somebody was waiting for a transplant recently when they read about your exploits and it may have given them a lift, shown them what can be achieved after receiving a

transplant.”

Team manager Colin White said the reception at Aras an Uachtarain was the highlight of a roller-coaster month for the team. “We came home on a high to a great reception, but this is even better,’ he said.

The team, which has its own web- site www.lransplantTeamIreland. com, will compete in the 2009 World Transplant Games in Australia, and Ireland will host the European Trans- plant and Dialysis Games in 2010.

ENNIS Chamber said that feedback from businesses in the town to Satur- day’s car-free day have been “largely positive”’.

The chamber conducted a foot- fall survey on Saturday and will be conducting another one in the near future to see whether the absence

of cars encouraged or discouraged people from coming into town to go SyaTo)ayoyberee

While the results of that survey are still to come in, Rita McInerney, Chamber CEO, said they had also conducted their own survey among members and, with one-fifth of busi- ness having responded already, the feeling is a positive one.

“Not all of the replies are in yet but most were positive and _ busi- nesses also felt that the good weather helped.

‘There were some reports of busi- ness slackening off somewhat in the afternoon.”

McInerney said that the chamber is “looking forward” to being involved in discussions on how pedestrianisa-

tion should work going forward.

With another car-free day being planned for Fashion Week in October and the possibility of car-free days for Christmas shopping, McInerney said that it was felt that Saturday was a good day of the week to try out the concept.

Future days would benefit, chamber members felt, from more advance

publicity and perhaps maps in the local media and notices to illustrate possible traffic movements.

“A map is worth a thousand words and a lot of people didn’t realise that some restrictions on traffic move- ments were lifted on Saturday to allow traffic to flow. Those are the kind of things people need to know for these events.”

MORE than 2,000 people will move to Shannon over the next few years and they should be made aware of proposed developments in their area.

That’s according to a local coun- cillor, who has suggested that pro- posed developments off the southern primary route will be outlined at a meeting, organised by Clare County Council.

Cllr Tony Mulachy (FG) believes that a variety of groups, including schools, religious groups, the par- ish council and community groups and all relevant bodies, should get involved in this.

“It would allow them plan for the future expansion of their facilities if necessary and, if required, land to be set aside to facilitate this where appropriate, prior to the start of de- velopments in this area,” said Cllr Mulachy.

“We are going to bring another 1,500 to 2,000 people into the town over the next few years. The likes of St Caimin’s, St Aidan’s and St Co- naire’s (schools) are all practically auueR

“If we load another 2,500 people into the area it is reasonable to as- sume some of them will be children.

“Everybody can have an open- minded discussion. We, as a council, should lead the way in this,” said Cllr

WIE ea ys

His colleague on Clare County Council, Gerry Flynn (Ind) agreed with the proposal and said it is vital that there is foresight, regarding fu- MUD como) E-veveun ete

“Tt is well documented that there is a masterplan. It is very wise that we plan properly for the future of Shan- non,’ he said.

In his response, Director of Serv- ices with the council, Ger Dollard said he agreed with “the sentiments of the motion”.

“A detailed masterplan was pre- pared for the land serviced by the Shannon Southern Primary Road. A consultation process was under- taken at the time of preparation of

the plan.

“The masterplan provides an over- all framework for the area and is not considered prescriptive and may be subject to variation in light of de- mands at a particular time.

“The development of the entire landbank is likely to take some con- siderable time and, depending on market demand, could take from ten to twenty years,” said Mr Dollard, in a written response to Cllr Mulcahy’s query.

He said he can arrange for a copy of the masterplan to be sent to any interested parties, while a copy of it can be placed on display at the Shan- non civic offices and the Sean Le- mass library.