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MINISTER of State, Tony Killeen, has received assurances from the Minister for Agriculture and Food and the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection that all produce entering the EU must meet standards equivalent to those re- quired of community producers.

The response follows Minister Kil- leen’s representation on behalf of a number of Clare farmers who had expressed concern over the standard of Brazilian beef imports.

“Minister Mary Coughlan and Mr Markos Kyprianou confirmed that

EU policy requires that third coun- Daves bee] ole )u KO) mr-DObONT-D mm oyueye LUC Kmppe ete! standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between, EU member States,’ ex- plained Minister Killeen.

“As regards traceability and con- trols of residues of veterinary medi- cines, the commissioner said that the purpose of EU legislation is not to impose on exporting third countries a system of guarantees that is equal to the EU system, but that the export- ing country provides guarantees that are equivalent to EU standards.

“Commissioner Kyprianou pointed out that his service is committed to

protecting the health of European consumers and livestock.

“The commissioner also assured Minister Coughlan that the Commis- sion will not hesitate to take appro- priate protection measures if a prod- uct, imported from a third country or produced in the domestic market represents a risk for the health of ECX consumers, livestock or plants.

‘Tam also aware of a similar assur- ance to members of the Dail in Sep- tember 2006 by a senior commission official.”

In a letter this week to Minister Killeen, the Minister for Agriculture and Food stated, “I have consistently

expressed the view that Irish farmers deserve fair play in the market place. At EU level I have advocated that produce imported from third coun- tries must meet standards equivalent to those required of community pro- ducers. In the interests of our pro- ducers and consumers | will continue to adopt this approach.”

Concern have been raised by all of the Irish farming organisations in recent months over the safety of Brazilian beef. Foot and Mouth dis- ease 1S widespread in many areas of Brazil and fears have been raised of spreading the disease through the importation of infected animals.

CURRACH rowing is enjoying a revival in Quilty village as the local currach-rowing club and Leon Com- mittee make the final preparations for the Leon XIII Festival.

Starting on September 28 the fes- tival will celebrate the bravery of the local men who rescues the crew of the stricken Leon XIII 100 years ago.

Members of the local rowing club began training off Seafield at the beginning of summer in hopes of winning at least one race during the weekend long festivities.

Under the guidance of John Downes and trainers from West Clare Cur-

rach Club, several racing crews have formed to help fly the Quilty flag in the upcoming Leon Regatta.

The training regime has been given an added boost with the recent acqui- sition of a new racing currach, which will be in action during the Leon Re- gatta starting in Quilty village at 4 pm on Sunday, September 30.

This regatta will bring together teams from all over Clare to compete in the heats and finals of three main events – The Mixed Open, The Leon Trophy Men’s Open and the Wom- en’s Open Event.

Regattas were a feature in Quilty village up until the late 1950s and the rowing club and festival organis- ers plan to host the Leon Regatta on

an annual basis starting this year.

“Regatta Sunday” will commence with a special commemoration Mass in Star of the Sea Church in Quilty at 12pm.

Incorporating new musical compo- sitions created for the occasion, the Mass will be followed by open-air set dancing in Quilty village starting at 2pm.

Many people from the area now living abroad are planning to return to Quilty for the festival and the Regatta will certainly bring back fond memories to locals and visitors who remember the last occasions on which currach racing events were held in the village.

Beginning with the opening cere-

mony and unveiling of commemora- tive plaque at 6pm on Friday evening September 28, a full programme of events is planned for the festival weekend.

For further information, please take away one of the free programme fly- ers available locally or contact Agnes on 087 1355738 or Caroline on 087 2194541 for details.

LIKE an annoying relations at Christ- mas time, Irish farmers can’t seem to shake the threat of foot and mouth disease. Restrictions are once again in place across the island of Ireland and Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan and her Northern Irish counterpart Michelle Gildernew.

The latest outbreak, which comes just days after the state lifted re- strictions imposed in the wake of the August scare, saw a ban on UK farm exports and the setting up of disinfection points at Irish ports and airports.

IFA President Padraig Walshe de- scribed the latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK is most

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‘The IFA and its members are to- tally committed to all emergency measures to prevent FMD reaching this country. The latest outbreak in the UK, which comes just six weeks after the original Surrey outbreak, highlights the highly infectious and virulent nature of foot and mouth disease,” he said.

‘This time frame is a lot longer than it takes to transport beef from Brazil which is one of the control measures the EU rely on. FMD 1s endemic in Brazil and the European Union are taking unnecessary risks with the importation of 330,000 tonnes on an annual basis.

“The USA, Japan and a number of other counties are not prepared to

take the risk involved with Brazilian beef imports.”

Just last week, Minister Coughlan had announced the discontinuation in Ireland of bio-security measures, such as the removal of disinfectant points from ports and airports, after Britain was declared free from foot and mouth.

A ban on the importation from Britain of live cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, as well as fresh meat, meat products, raw milk and other animal products was also lifted.

The latest case of foot and mouth disease was discover on Wednesday last on a farm some 30 miles from the outbreak centre of last months small outbreak in southern England.

The origin of the latest outbreak is

still unclear but experts are research- ing the possibility of a link between the latest outbreak and the August outbreak.

Meanwhile, the ICSA has called for the Pirbright laboratory, where the first outbreak is believed to have originated, to a safer, more protected location.

A report issued last week by the UK authorities confirmed that the FMD outbreak was caused by a leak, and at least five lapses in bio — secu- rity measures.

“In the USA, all these kinds of fa- cilities, which handle dangerous and Sensitive materials such as viruses, are located off — shore, as a further barrier to accidental leaks,” said Mal- colm Thompson, ICSA president.

THE organisers of Kilkee’s Cois Fharraige festival are preparing to run the doomed surfing competition within the next few weeks.

The summer weather conditions did not favour the short board com- petition, which was planned as part of the weekend.

Hailed in its conception as Ire- land’s first surf and music festival the three-day event was to include surf- ing competitions at the picturesque Doughmore beach.

Now organisers Sony Ericsson are hoping to hold the surfing element in Spanish Point when the surf condi- tions are more favourable.

Meanwhile Sony Ericsson has de- clared a “major success”.

Up to 5,000 music fans soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed a three-day music extravaganza with a differ- ence.

“The festival’s stellar line up, which included performances from Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Ocean Col- our Scene, Paddy Casey, Badly Drawn Boy, Roisin Murphy, Newton

Faulkner, The Enemy, Republic of Loose, The Blizzards and Majella Murphy to name but a few, ensured a phenomenal demand for tickets and a sell-out in its first year,” a spokes- person said.

“Cois Fharraige is not just a music festival, it’s a cultural music festival – an amalgamation of sea culture and music.

“There was a family friendly at- mosphere all weekend as music fans enjoyed sunbathing and swimming on Kilkee beach, craic agus ceol in local pubs and a carnival atmosphere

on the streets of Kilkee not to men- tion great bands in the Cois Fhar- raige Kayham tent.”

Colin Williamson from Sony Eric- sson said, “Cois Fharraige has ex- ceeded our expectations.

‘The music weekend has been a great success, the carnival atmos- phere was brilliant and the crowd were very chilled out and well be- haved.

“We are thrilled with the feedback we have had from the PJ Linnane, Mayor of Kilkee, local businesses and festival goers.”

WITH just a week to go before the beginning of this year’s National Ploughing Championships, excite- ment is already beginning to reach fever-pitch in and around the Tul- lamore venue.

With final preparations now being made, organisers are expecting a good crowd this year following the massive success of staging the World Ploughing Championships last year.

Food 1s likely to be one of the main attractions at this year’s champion- ships with a number of exciting new gastronomic additions to the pro- eau beeueslen

Leader will host the most fantastic food village, featuring gourmets and gourmand’s, foodies and faddies,

even the most demanding of divas will find their every craving satisfied Ain UOCoMB UNE TeXon

From baked foods to ice cream, fruit to chocolate and from whiskey to cocktails, Leader’s food village will cater for all. With a similar fo- cus as the craft village, the aim 1s to heighten awareness of the fantastic range and variety available from lo- cal producers.

A food créche will also be provided to keep your goodies in the best con- dition, so you can enjoy the rest of iW elom-NOAB ASLO (one

Another attraction which will prove very popular is GM Canopies, an in- tegrated farmers market consisting exclusively of Irish farm and cottage industry products, including fudge and jelly bean confectionery, free

range eggs, organic vegetables and Irish manufactured woollen socks.

The Braganza Food and Wine hall will also have plenty to keep you with going throughout the day with Tea Time Express, Lakeshore Foods, Keelings Fruit and Fox’s Confection- ery being just some of the exhibitors in the Braganza.

Education, which always plays a big role at the ploughing, with many edu- cational bodies taking stands includ- ing the National Consumer Agency, Citizens Information Bureau, The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht and Harper Adams University in the UK. Harper Ad- ams is the UK’s largest specialist provider of higher education of land, food and rural-based industries and will be handing out information on

education, training and research.

The tourism industry in this coun- try is as strong as ever with the ploughing attracting many overseas visitors from countries such as Po- land, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Syndey, Australia.

Failte Ireland will be distributing information on education and train- ing, Mid Ireland Tourism, Northern Ireland ‘Tourist Board, Kilkenny Tourism, Meath Tourism, Shannon Development will also be busy pro- moting their regions as popular holi- day destinations. From further afield, The Province of Manitoba will be present promoting agriculture and agri-business in Canada.

Or course, along with this there will also be a bit of ploughing. For more check out Www.npa.ie.

has revealed in a special investiga- tion into juvenile crime in Clare.

While gardai are satisfied that rates of crime committed by juveniles have not spiralled out of control, there are concerns that three teenage members of one family are creating havoc in Ennis.

Several members of the family have

been before the courts on a number of occasions over the past few years, for a variety of offences. One has ad- mitted to dozens of offences, includ- ing theft, damage to schools and cars and public order, while his two sib- lings are also facing several charges.

Their disregard for the law and their ability to continuously re-of- fend is a major cause for concern for gardai in the town.

The trio have come before the Chil- dren’s Court on dozens of charges, after they repeatedly came to garda

attention over a considerable period of time. Garda sources say that two other Ennis families also account for a significant amount of crime detect- ete aetomKOn 20

When it comes to young offenders, bullying, robbing schoolchildren of their money, shoplifting, damage to property and minor drug offences are the main problems identified by gardai in Clare.

Agencies that work with children at risk say poor family support is at the core of a large percentage of ju-

venile crime. Other prevalent factors include alcohol consumption, drug use, peer pressure and lack of edu- cation.

During the first eight months of this year, 41 young people were before the courts in the county. Many of those who appeared are facing a string of charges and all have come through the Juvenile Diversion Programme, which deals with young offenders by means other than prosecution.

ALMOST 63 per cent of the popula- tion of Shannon is in the labour mar- ket, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office.

65 per cent of the Sixmilebridge population is working, while 58 per cent of those in Newmarket-on-Fer- gus are earning.

The labour force participation fig- ures, which have just been published, outline details of the results of the Census of Population, compiled in April 2006.

The figures show that 62.74 per cent of those aged 15 and over in Shan- non were in the labour force. This compares with Swords and Finglas

in Dublin, which recorded the highest proportion of people in the workforce nationally, at 75.3 per cent.

Of the 7,319 people in that age cat- egory living in the town, 3,737 were males and 3,582 females. 4,592 work — 2,673 males and 1,919 females.

61 people were looking for their first regular job, while 369 were un- employed. 655 people were students, while 726 were looking after their homes or their families. 601 people were retired, while 292 were unable to work, due to permanent sickness or disability. 23 people marked ‘other’ as the category that suited them best.

The vast majority of people living in Shannon are employees (4,225). 362 people are employers, five people as-

sist relatives.

2,379 of the employees are male, while 1,846 are female. 290 of those in the ‘employer’ category are male, with the remaining 72 female.

Of the 369 in the ‘unemployed’ category in Shannon, 22 are aged be- tween 15 and 19; 51 are aged between 20 and 24; 104 are between the ages of 25 and 34; 72 are aged between 35 and 44, while 66 are aged 55 and over. 213 of those unemployed are male, while 156 are female.

The figures also show statistics for Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on- Fergus. They show that 1,268 people aged 15 and over lived in Sixmilebri- dge at the time of the census. 828 of those (65 per cent) were ‘at work’.

Eight people were seeking their first jobs, while 54 people were un- employed. There were 112 students, while 133 people were looking after homes or families. 72 were retired, while 60 people were unable to work, due to sickness or disability.

In Newmarket-on-Fergus, 58 per cent of those aged 15 and over were ‘at work’. There were 1,267 people in this age category living in the vil- lage, 740 of who were working. Four people were looking for their first job, while 57 were unemployed. 129 people were students, while 126 were looking after homes or families. 151 people were retired, while 56 were unable to work, due to various rea- sons.

TEAGASC has decided to change the way it delivers its advisory serv- ice, in an effort, it says, to meet the changing needs of modern farmers. Successive recent agricultural policy reforms have provided the oppor- tunity to shift the future develop- ment of farm businesses away from scheme-driven income to a more market-based business.

The new advisory service, For Bet- ter Farming, was launched by Tea- gasc last week.

“This new service is built around four distinct programmes — business and technology, good farm practice, rural development and adult train- ing,’ said Pat Boyle, head of advisory in Teagasc.

“The Business and Technology Programme will deliver cutting-edge technology to commercial farmers, bringing the best knowledge from the applied research carried out at Teagasc research centres onto dairy, drystock and tillage farms.

“Increased specialisation among our advisors will provide our farm- er clients with the information and knowledge to increase their profits by adopting new production tech- niques onto their farms.

“Dedicated business and technol- ogy advisors, supported by a national eroup of enterprise specialists, will focus on improving farm businesses by challenging the status quo and increasing the uptake of technology onto farms.”

The new service will be delivered

through Teagasc’s nationwide office network, which is organised into 18 area units, to allow Teagasc to pro- vide a local service to all our custom- ers, regardless of location.

The Business and Technology Pro- gramme will be delivered by 78 spe- cialist dairy advisors, 32 cattle and sheep advisors, and 15 tillage advi- SOrs.

The four programme areas will provide a full range of services to farmers meeting the diverse needs of our customers.

“European and world agricultural policy is continuously changing and evolving, presenting new challenges and opportunities for farmers, and for organisations like Teagasc that provide services to them,” said Tom Kirley, acting director of Teagasc.

“We have had milk quotas for nearly 25 years, but a major change is expected as part of the 2008 health check of the CAP.

“Tt is 15 years since the McSharry reforms brought in a whole new raft of schemes.

“The Fischler reform has already confined many of these schemes to history with the introduction of the Single Farm Payment but others like REPS, farm retirement and forestry remain and will continue to have a major influence on Irish farms”, he continued.

“The new advisory service an- nounced today by Teagasc equips us to provide the best possible service to farmers in these changing times, and to assist the future development Ome Detour haw leuinelnomee

THE Department of the Environment has raised questions over plans by an east Clare company to place an ultra- sonic device on top of a wind turbine to “scare” away protected bats.

Last month, Olympus Diagnostica lodged plans for the turbine arising from a company initiative “seeking a solution which would meet a portion 40-50 per cent of our electrical base load using alternative energy”.

The height of the turbine will be

200ft high and the company pointed out that this is “half the size of the industry norm”.

The company stated that it would consume all the energy from the wind turbine and there was no need for a grid connection. It pointed out that the proposal didn’t he within any recognised flight path of the Whooper Swan and the Greenland White Fronted Goose.

As part of the project, Olympus Diagnostica is planning to place an ultrasonic “scarer” that will provide

a signal to all bat species likely to en- counter the motors, while the compa- ny is to also put in place 20 bat boxes in order to provide roosts away from the zone of potential impact.

Now, in a submission to Clare County Council, the Department of the Environment state that clarifica- tion is needed regarding the reliabil- ity of the ultrasonic “‘scarer”’.

The department is aware of expert AYO MACCComUBON(O SMOT-RMLUl aol Kerem NET I MBS lonts ultrasonic “scarers” do not have any impact on deterring bats away from

a Site.

The department state the Envi- ronmental Impact Statement (EIS) lodged with the plan indicated that no bat roosts were present and sub- sequently two roosts were recorded by department staff during a site in- spection.

The department is now requesting that an extensive bat survey should be carried out by a bat ecologist to confirm which bat species are utilis- ing the proposed site for the turbine and the habitats within a 500m radius

of the proposed turbine.

The turbine is facing opposition from a local family. In their objection, Mr and Mrs JP Murphy and family State, “We are local residents, in the area for the past 60 years, and we feel that the decision taken by Olympus to erect the turbine in the position in- dicated on the submitted site plan is inconsiderate to the local landscape and setting of Rosslara Lake and its woodland surroundings.”

A decision is due on the application later this year.

THE Tidy Towns committee in Shannon is happy with its showing in the national Tidy Towns compe- tition, the results of which were an- nounced last week.

Shannon increased by just two points but the committee was happy with the improvement, on the back of last year’s phenomenal increase of 19 points.

Spokeswoman for the Tidy Towns committee, Tess Barry said this year’s total of 254 points pleased everybody.

Although she is concerned about the state of the roundabout at the town centre and the condition of erass around the town, she is overall optimistic that Shannon will contin- ue to improve its points in the com- Oe B BLO) NE

The categories in the competition are based on population size and Shannon was placed in the same cat- egory as Killarney, in the 10,000 to 15,000 population section. Killarney won that category, with 298 points.

“We are not disappointed. We are very happy we didn’t go down in marks. The grasscutting and spray-

ing were haphazard. One example is Corrib Drive, where you can hardly see the kerbing as the grass and weeds are so bad. That’s only one example,’ said Ms Barry.

“Gaining 19 marks last year was a big improvement. I had a fear we would lose some of those. I was very happy we retained the marks,” she Sr ALG

She said people on the committee are disappointed that a feature has not been put in place at the town centre roundabout, despite promises from Clare County Council over a year ago.

Overall, a lot of work needs to be done on the roundabouts.

“Our roundabouts are very bad. The weeds and grass are coming up through the trees. Something has to be done,” she said.

She is looking forward to the future and further success for Shannon in this competition.

‘We need more help. While we are very grateful to the residents who keep their areas beautiful, there is a small core group doing the work. We have entered Clare in Bloom and we are hoping to do well in that,” she Sr HOR