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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.

CRATLOE man Joe O’Gorman, a farmer and father of five, was pre- sented with the Stephen Donnel- lan Memorial Cup and a cheque for €100 by last year’s winner, Stephen Hickey, at the Clare Shout Festival in Kilkishen on Saturday night.

It was second time lucky for Joe, who now lives in Kilkishen. Last year — the first year of the compe- tition — he was pipped at the final whistle. On Saturday night, he was deemed by the adjudicators to have a shout that was nearest to the genuine and unique ancient Clare Shout.

Again this year the championship was keenly contested, with over 30 competitors lining up on the main street in Kilkishen to take part.

Former national teacher, Mary Mc- Grath-Fahy of Knappogue, Quin, was the first-prize winner at the Clare Shout photo competition. Her picture, ‘Childhood Memories of Cullaun Lake’, was one of over 30 photographs entered for the competition. She was presented with a Galway Crystal tro- phy donated for the event by festival

secretary Joe Meaney.

Second prize went to Seamus O’Donoghue of Ballycasey Road, Shannon, who is a member of Shan- non Camera Club, the only camera club in Clare.

The winner of the third prize was Denis O’Rourke of Clarina, County Limerick, and the children’s section was won by 13-year-old Eryk Prajs, from Poland, who is a pupil at Kilk- ishen National School.

DOZENS of young people in Shan- non have signed up to one of the newest clubs in the town – the kick- boxing team!

The club has enjoyed a huge suc- cess since it first set up two-and-a- half years ago and is now Seeking a permanent home, which it can call its own!

The club’s members currently trains at Tullyvarraga hall. However those who set it up would dearly love to have a more permanent base.

Since the club was set up, more and

more young people have taken it up and the increased demand should be reflected in the facilities available.

Howie Vincent has been a member of the Shannon Wado – Kai karate club for the past 25 years. Two-and- a-half years ago, he decided to set up the kickboxing club.

He is pleased that Tullyvarraga hall has been made available, but would like the club to have its own home.

“Tullyvarraga hall is very good but at the end of the day, it would be nice to have our own place,” he said.

“We are hopeful that we can get a place,” he said.

“Financially, you get no grants. Whatever money we get from the classes goes back into the club. We usually have a flag day in Shannon once a year. That tides us over. Peo- ple are brilliant and help us out,” he Sr nLG

Up to 40 people – aged between 11 and 60 – who attend the club regular- ly, many of who are young women.

“It has become popular in Shannon. People are looking for self-defence,” |ntemncy-B (0

“The interest has certainly in- creased among young women. A lot of girls come up for the fitness,” said

Howie, who, himself trains five days a week and has fought at internation- al level.

“I get a great buzz out of training them,” he said.

Howie, who was born in the UK and who lives in Shannon, said mar- tial arts has many benefits.

“In martial arts, you get out what you put in. It is a discipline,” he said.

THE route of the Ennis General Hos- pital Committee’s protest rally has been changed to a public march, as confusion reigns over commitments given by Minister Mary Harney to Clare’s five mayors on Thursday Ee

Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy, who attended the hour-long meeting with the Health Minister, said that 24-hour consultant-led accident and emergency services would be lost from the hospital eventually.

In its place, the minister hoped to see a 24-hour A&E service, with a consultant on site for a certain number of hours every day, hours yet

to be decided.

Cllr McCarthy said the minister was looking to the Canadian model of GP coverage for the remainder of those hours.

“We made it very clear to her that nurse-led was not acceptable,’ she ALOE

“Never did she mention that we Should not have 24-hour A&E,” said the first citizen of Clare.

A statement from the Ennis Gen- eral Hospital Development Commit- tee said that last week the “minister announced a consultant led 24-hour accident and emergency at Ennis General Hospital will close and be replaced by a nurse-led minor injury unit, which will close at night”.

“If Ms Harney’s “vision” comes about, it will lead to at least 20 people dying needlessly every year in Coun- ty Clare. It’s a bloody nightmare,” said Peadar McNamara, chairman of the committee.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s rally has changed due to a range of difficul- ties, including public liability insur- ance cover, to a protest march from Cusack Park to The Square. People are asked to assemble at 11.30am be- fore marching to The Square via the Tulla Road, New Road, Newbridge Road, Harmony Row, Bindon Street and Bank Place. Speeches will start in the square at lpm and end at ap- proximately 2pm.

Ennis Town Councillor Tom Glynn

(FF) has said he feels betrayed and upset by his “misplaced trust in those obviously couched and hallow prom- ises” of his party and has called on the people of Ennis to support the march.

“If you believe we in Clare deserve and require full and acute 24-hour accident and emergency services in our local hospital that fully meet with the needs of our community at all times of the day and night, please join in the protest rally with family and friends,” he said.

Local TD Joe Carey (FG) is also lending support. “I am asking that people rightly vent their anger at this decision and make their feelings public.”

HE moved from Pakistan to Shan- non ten years ago, to study, and has grown to love the town so much that he has remained here.

Jimmy Arbab arrived in Shannon in 19977, to study at the Shannon Col- lege of Hotel Management. Now, a decade later, he has just decided to open his own business, Apache piz- za, in the SkyCourt shopping centre.

“T met my wife Karen O’Callaghan, from Shannon and am settled here

now,’ he explained.

“I love Shannon. It is quiet, away from the city, with lots of young peo- ple and no traffic. That is what has kept me in Shannon for so long,” he ene

Since finishing in college, Jimmy has worked in management in Breaf- fy House Hotel in Castlebar, along with the West County and Clare Inn Hotels, all of which are part of the Lynch Hotel group.

However, he always had a desire to open his own business.

“I always wanted to open my own food business. There is a lot of hard work in the hotel business, so I said I might as well do it for myself,” he Cr HOn

Over the past decade, Jimmy has made several friends in Shannon and he believes this will stand him in good stead with the new business. Two years ago he and his wife moved to Cree, but he still has strong con- nections with Shannon and believes his business will be a huge success.

“Nearly everybody knows us at this

stage,’ he said.

“IT did a lot of research and thought that there was a demand for pizza. There is no other pizzeria as such in Shannon,” he said.

Jimmy’s wife Karen operated a la- dies’ fitness company in Shannon for five years. She closed this when they moved to Cree, where she has set up her own fitness centre.

OCTOBER has been designated ‘Reading Month’ by Clare County Library, which launched its Autumn Lecture Series on Monday. Com- mencing at the deValera library in Ennis on October 9, the series will include adult lectures from three leading literary academics.

The series starts with a lecture by Dr. Paula Murphy on ‘Taking The Snobbery Out Of Reading’. On Oc- tober 16, Shalini Sinha, one of Ire- land’s most insightful commentators will present ‘Why Reading Is Good For Your Health’. The final talk in the series takes place on October 23 when Robert Dunbar presents *“Grow- ing Up With Children’s Books’.

TRAVELLERS living in Shannon are poised to be allocated space to keep their horses, following an agreement by councillors last week.

Shannon area members of Clare County Council agreed in princi- pal with a proposal that the issue be progressed, in that land should be made available to Travellers for the ZNODUOOTAN ESE

The initiative is part of a plan to improve the quality of life for travel- lers, under the programme ‘Strategy for the co-ordination of public serv- ices to the Traveller community in OE TroA0 Oe 0 OTe

Director of Services at Clare Coun- ty Council (Community and Enter- prise) Tom Coughlan explained the background to the idea.

‘Traditionally, Travellers have kept horses, but traditionally they would have had nowhere to keep them. That has been a point of conflict. We are looking at the possibility of leasing land to Travellers so they can keep their horses on the land,’ said Mr Sree

“We have to identify land owned by the council, which we can lease to Travellers. It has been raised as an issue by the Travellers themselves,” he added.

A number of Travellers live in Bal-

lymurtagh, Shannon, and the council is hopeful that suitable land will be found for the horses, as near to the houses as possible.

“We will try and come up with the most suitable land. We will progress it and see 1f the land is suitable,” said Mr Coughlan.

The decision taken by the council- lors last week gives the council the go-ahead to make efforts to secure the land. The size of the land will depend on the number of horses the travellers hope to keep there and the land will be leased to them.

This proposal regarding land for the horses arose as a consequence of the strategy, which stated that it would

“establish mechanisms to identify rentable land adjacent to Traveller accommodation’. In that, Travellers identified a need to rent land to allow for grazing of horses and for the care of valuable sulkie ponies.

It was suggested that as the request coming from the group was broad- based and could be difficult or take time to effect, the feasibility of run- ning a pilot project in Shannon would be investigated.

In June, a subgroup of the Accom- modation Actions group met with representatives of the Tralee Com- munity Horse Project, to gain an in- sight into how this particular project is organised and managed.

A MEMBER of the Kilrush-based Western Yacht Club has been hon- oured by Limerick County Council for his achievement in becoming the first Irish winner of the 608- mile Rolex Fastnet Yacht Race last month.

At a civic reception on Monday, Limerick-based property developer Ger O’Rourke received the local authority’s highest accolade for his achievements aboard his yacht Chief- tain, which were rated as the best ma- rine sporting successes of last year. The managing director of Chieftain Construction, who remains heav- ily involved with the Western Yacht Club, was named as Cork Dry Gin

Sailor of the Year earlier this year. He also won his class in the famous Sydney to Hobart race in Christmas PAU Oey

His remarkable run of success con- tinued last month when he and his crew were awarded the Fastnet Chal- lenge Cup and a Rolex Yachtmaster timepiece following their win in one of toughest offshore sailing races in eomUZeu (en

Speaking at the civic reception, Limerick County Council chair- man, Cllr Kevin Sheahan, said Ger O’Rourke’s success further enhanced Limerick’s proud sporting tradition and ability to compete at the top level nationally and internationally.

“Winning this tough event is, for sailors, like an Irish success in the

rugby or soccer world cup. Ger’s victory in the toughest of weather conditions resulted in a new page of sporting history being written. For the first time in the history of the Fastnet Yacht Race, which began in 1925, the name of an Irish boat is on that famous British trophy.

“The victory is especially signifi- cant considering Ger’s 50ft Cookson yacht was only given clearance to compete 48 hours before the event began. It must also be noted that of the 300 boats that started the race, less than 60 finished,” explained the Cathaoirleach.