Category: Uncategorized

A DAY of colour and culture was held for new Clare and Limerick people in Limerick at the weekend with dance, music and art delighting all who visited it.

The New Young Festival featured African dance, music, art and much more in a day which celebrated the

differences and similarities between African people and their new Irish neighbours. The event was organ- ised by the Igbo Union, Ireland and was One of a number of activities de- signed to promote understanding and co-operation.

Attending the event were the may- ors of Ennis and Limerick, council- lors and TDs and the Nigerian Am-

bassador to Ireland.

The event featured works of art, dancing, song, traditions and culture of the many African nations repre- sented in Ireland.

A spokesman said that the day showcased offerings from Africa people who have settled in Ireland to work or study as well as those seek- ing asylum or refugee status.

FIFTEEN groups in Shannon have applied for community grants un- der the town council’s annual grants scheme.

The initiative is geared towards projects which are designed to im- prove the quality of life for the peo- ple of Shannon. The projects which qualify for funding must show a clear community focus.

The groups which made the sub- missions have made various requests for funding, ranging from €400 to €2,000. ;

The Gleann an Oir Residents As- sociation is seeking a grant between €1,500 and €2,000. That is the single biggest request. Wolfe Tones

camogie side is seeking €1,500, while the local handball club has requested €1,200. Applications for €1,000 have been made by Clare Ha- ven in Shannon, the Shannon Family Resource Centre, SEED, Shannon Olympic AFC and the Musical So- OAs

Newtown FC is seeking €7/50, While applications for €500 each have been made by three youth projects. Duchas na Sionna has ap- plied for €400 funding.

The local graveyard maintenance committee and Jet FM, Shannon Community Radio, have both applied for unspecified amounts in funding.

Last year, some 15 groups in the town received funding, under this scheme. The size of the grants ranged

from €300 to €500 and the total funding amounted to €5,200.

A number of the projects which re- ceived money last year have applied for funding again this year. Some of the applicants, including Wolfe Tones camogie club and the Fam- ily Resource Centre, did not receive eae OL SM ERS (orb

The grants will be presented at a special function to be held in Shan- non later this year.

Meanwhile, people who encourage others to get involved in sports and other activities, will also be hon- oured, under the annual Liosta na Laochra scheme.

Previously, awards were given to local people who excelled at national and international levels.

Tomas MacCormaic has suggested that people who work behind the scenes should be honoured this year.

This idea was supported by mem- bers of Shannon Town Council.

Cllr Geraldine Lambert (FF) said, “It’s easy to overlook honouring the people behind the scenes. As a town council, it would be a very good move to honour these people.”

Mr MacCormaic said that people honoured in this category must be living in Shannon, or involved with a club which is located “within the functional area of the town.”

Nominations must be made prior to the first week of October. The ‘Laochra’ will be honoured the same night as the presentation of the com- munity grants.

JUST 60 people have applied to fill the 292 posts which have to be filled if Enterprise Ireland is to decentral- ise to Shannon.

The shockingly low figures were revealed as SIPTU called on the Government to abandon plans to de- centralise semi-state bodies.

SIPTU delegates representing al- most 1,600 members in 16 semi-state organisations have called for an end to the Government’s plans to decen- tralise them.

Delegates met in Liberty Hall to hear a report of the Labour Court on a dispute over voluntary decentrali-

sation being linked with promotion. The court had ruled that any reloca- tion must be voluntary. Representa- tives attended from bodies including Enterprise Ireland, Failte Ireland, the National Standards Authority Ireland, the National Roads Author- ity, Bus Eireann, Bord Bia, BIM, the Combat Poverty Agency, the Arts Council and FAS to discuss the rec- ommendation.

Afterwards, SIPTU Regional Sec- retary, Patricia King said the union representatives had “welcomed the acceptance by FAS management and the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, of the Labour Court recom- mendation. The delegates reaffirmed

that their campaign would continue to remove all state agencies from the decentralisation programme.

“We believe that the Labour Court recommendation has highlighted the legitimate concerns of staff and has spelt out very clearly that voluntary means voluntary.

“The court accepted people had legitimate expectations and propri- etorial rights based on their careers with these agencies and cannot be compelled to relocate.”

So far the applications for reloca- tion with Enterprise Ireland have fallen far short of the expectations or the minimum number necessary to make the move.

A spokesman for the Department of Finance, which is handling the whole decentralisation project, said that many of the semi-state bodies had “issues” to be ironed out before the move could take place.

These were generally HR issues of the kind demonstrated in the FAS dispute, he said.

Plan to decentralise the Revenue Commissioners to Kilrush have met with much more success, however. Of a required 50 posts there were 86 applicants and 55 people have now been assigned to the town.

The excess number is explained by the fact that a job-share option was taken up by a number of applicants.

A MUSIC project, open to young people in the Shannon area, has been launched, for the fourth year in suc- ISSO) F

The project, which is run by Clare Youth Service, has been a huge suc- cess over the past three years. Run by local youth workers and a committee of young people, it provides various workshops for those interested in music.

As the project returns this week, its organisers have announced plans for free guitar workshops.

The committee has put together an information brochure about the

workings of the project and the fa- cilities available to young people in the Shannon area.

The project is open to all young people aged between 13 and 21 years, who are interested in learning musi- cal instruments and participating in music workshops. The committee also hopes to begin music apprecia- tion workshops and a listening club in the near future.

The workshops takes place on Fri- days from 6pm to 7pm, in The Re- spond Community Building, Rine- anna View. The workshop is being run by a local guitar teacher Paul O’ Donoghue.

The workshops will begin with

acoustic guitar for the first four to five weeks and then electric guitar will be introduced.

“The only catch that Paul insists on is that people be on time. Partici- pants are invited to be ready to learn at 6pm sharp. Also, if you don’t have a guitar its still ok to show up as ar- rangements have been made to pro- vide additional guitars for use at the workshop only,” said Shannon youth worker, Cathal Dillon.

The committee is in the process of recruiting other performers from the area to do workshops in drums and vocals also. This should be made available at a later stage.

Meanwhile, the Shannon Youth

Club has re-opened, following the summer break.

The club runs at The Respond Com- munity Building, Rineanna View, every Tuesday night, from 7pm to whet

The club is open to all secondary school students aged between 13 and 16 in Shannon but places are restrict- ed to 40, due to limited hall space.

The club is currently recruiting volunteers for the posts of assistant leader and activity leaders within the club. Clare Youth Service provides training and full support is given to all leaders by the leader in charge. The posts are open to those over the age of 18.

A DEVELOPER who secured plan- ning permission for a €45 million development in the south-east Clare village of Ardnacrusha is contesting the Clare County Council demand that he pay a special contribution of €1.5 million.

Last month, Joe McMahon secured planning permission for 181 homes in the village in spite of strong local Opposition.

Now, both Mr McMahon and local

residents have appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala.

Along with other financial contri- butions, the council is demanding that he pay a special contribution of €1.5 million.

Mr McMahon’s consultants state that the imposition of the special development “lacks transparency, is onerous and inappropriate”’.

In their appeal, consultants for Ardacrusha residents state, “Such a high density development will re- sult in an unsustainable development

pattern, with families commuting to Limerick city and other towns to uti- lise necessary public services such as primary schools, recreational facili- ties and shops.

“It is contended that these restraints render any intensive developments in Ardnacrusha, such as the nature of that currently proposed, premature until such time as the required infra- structure has been put in place.

“The density of the proposed de- velopment has been maintained at 21 dwellings per hectare. This re-

mains contrary to the provisions of the County Development Plan which identifies the Parteen villages includ- ing Ardnacrusha as being suitable for a lower residential density.

“The proposed density is consid- ered more suitable to a suburban lo- cation and if permitted would cause significant adverse impact to the es- tablished rural character of the area.

“Taking into account the lack of infrastructure and services in the area, a development of the scale and nature as currently proposed is con-

sidered premature.

‘The proposed development by vir- tue of its density, layout, design and style is completely at odds with the established low density rural charac- ter of Ardnacrusha and would there- fore result in a significant negative impact on the residential amenity of the area. The proposed development would have an acceptable negative impact on traffic and would endanger public safety in the area.”

A decision is due on the appeal later this year.

THE Burrenbeo Resource Centre in Kinvara has been celebrating Herit- age Week.

Located in the heart of the pictur- esque seaside village of Kinvara

For Heritage week, the centre hosted events including children’s environmental workshops, free Bur- ren multimedia shows and weekend walks with local experts in the Bur- KOE

The childrens’ wildlife workshop was a big hit led by Gordon D’Arcy naturalist, author and artist.

On Sunday, families enjoyed the Burren Family Walk led by Dr.Brendan Dunford.

There were Audio-visual Burren displays, all week as well as free Burren cards and factsheets and much more.

There were also free guided walks of the Burren looking at the geology, archaeology, ecology and agricultur- al traditions of the Burren.

Last Thursday, there was an Illus- trated Talk on “The Burren — One Vast Memorial to bygone Cultures’ at Café Beo

The various events celebrating her- itage week were just part of on-going fun and educational initiatives which the centre runs.

Burren for Beginners – an intro- duction to the unique heritage of the Burren is a 40 minute illustrated presentation on the Burren including geology, flora, fauna and monuments ran through the summer.

Getting to know the flowers with Burrenbeo 1s another initiative.

Using a handy monthly check- Sheets, flower fans get to recognise and identify many of the flowers in

bloom.

The sheets can be downloaded printed and then taken on walks in the Burren.

“When you find one of the flowers on the list, tick it off on your check- list, and then go on and search for the others! It’s perfect for amateur bota- nists, schoolkids or anybody with an interest in our rich natural biodiver- sity. Good fun for the family too, to See who can find all ten flowers first,” a spokeswoman for the centre said.

Every month the centre features ten flowers currently in bloom in the Burren and elsewhere.

The Burrenbeo Resource centre is a little oasis of all things Burren. The centre forms an important part of the non-profit work of Burrenbeo in en- hancing awareness and appreciation of the Burren’s unique landscape and heritage. Visitors to the resource

centre can avail of Burren informa- tion through real time access to the acclaimed website www.burrenbeo. com, as well as a range of Burren reading materials, maps, images and a wide range of heritage and environ- mental resources.

Upstairs, nestled amid the ruins and graves of a medieval church, sits Café Beo, which serves up locally sourced vegetarian foods, organic juices and fair trade coffee.

Customers of the café can avail of a free Burren library, catch weekly lectures on the Burren, get free Wi Fi access and get up to date on all the news and events from the Burren.

POOR grain price offers by Glan- bia have resulted in IFA President Padraig Walshe seeking a meeting with Glanbia Chief Executive John Maloney to discuss the “derisory”’ sums.

The IFA President said, “Glan- bia’s on account prices of €170/t for barley, €180/t for wheat and €185/t for oats (at 20 per cent moisture ex- clusive of vat) are derisory and this move is clearly designed to under-

mine the market for green grain by €15 to €20/t.”

Mr Walshe said, “It is clear that the timing of the announcement by Glan- bia and a number of other co-ops 1s designed to dampen farmer expecta- tions at a time when competition for green grain has intensified.”

“Glanbia’s offer is all the more ri- diculous considering that their own managers are being authorised to compete for grain and do deals far in excess of their current price offer. In the last few days, up to €190/t and

€210/t has been paid for green bar- ley and wheat respectively collected ex farm (at 20 per cent moisture, ex- clusive of vat), as the main harvest gets into full swing.”

“It is clear that Glanbia is now try- ing to recoup a drying and handling margin of over €50 per tonne from wheat based on current market val- ues, a 66 per cent increase on last harvest. This is totally unacceptable. Based on current import values, the benchmark off which Glanbia sup- posedly works, green wheat off the

combine is worth €200/t and green barley €185/t (at 20 per cent mois- ture, exclusive of vat).”

“Where farmers cannot achieve a minimum price of €185/t for green barley and €200/t for green wheat off the combine, they should now consider a number of other options. They can tip and auction the grain, retain ownership of the grain and do a deal on drying and storage, which is available from €14/t (excluding weight loss), or trade the grain direct farm to farm,” he added.

THE ATLANTIC Connectivity Alli- ance 1S preparing to make the case to Transport Minister, Noel Dempsey for retaining or replacing the Shan- non/Heathrow slots at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

The alliance — which represents business, tourism, union and com- munity interests — was invited by

the minister to meet with him.

“We welcome this face-to-face meeting with the minister and will be taking this opportunity to leave him in no doubt as to the seriousness of the impact that this decision will have on the region, of our dismay over Government inaction on this is- sue and its apparent inability to un- derstand the grave repercussions this will have for a huge portion of the country,’ alliance vice-chairman, Ken Sullivan said.

“Our priority remains the reversal of this incredulous decision by Aer Lingus to abandon a profitable route for a competitive market in Belfast and we are continuing to work across a number of strands to achieve this.”

The alliance will present the case which they have drawn up and doc- umented. Alliance members have vowed that the Aer Lingus decision to reject Ryanair’s request for an

EGM will not slow their campaign.

“The decision does not impact on the campaign being taken by the alli- ance to retain the Shannon-Heathrow slots and preserve them in perpetuity for Shannon. The alliance campaign will continue across a number of strands, including the meeting with the transport minister,’ Mr Sullivan SrHKOE

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Clare Pa- tricia McCarthy said that the Govern- ment must now take it upon itself to retain direct services between Shan- non Airport and London-Heathrow Mayor McCarthy added she was “bitterly disappointed” with the de- cision by the board of Aer Lingus to reject a request from Ryanair to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders.

Mayor McCarthy explained, “It is now evident that the Government must act and deliver on the guaran- tees given in its IPO document to have permanent and quality con- nectivity from Shannon to London Heathrow.

“The Government has, to date, failed to realise that this is not just a Shannon issue but has major im- plications for the entire country in terms of maintaining critical con- nectivity to one of the world’s busiest airports,” she added.

that there is more to the society than just acting and di- recting.

“There is a lot of behind stage work putting on make up, helping with the set, driving the van, even collecting the tickets on the night,” he said.

There is also a strong social ele- ment associated with the drama so- ciety that was reformed in the early ereL Oks

“It is a great way to meet people and get involved in the community. There is a lot of travel involved when you get involved with the circuit, and you get to meet a lot of different peo- ple and strike up friendships.”

This year is going to be a very busy season for the members of the dra- matic society as it embarks on a very ambitious three act play and three

one act plays.

The three-act play selected 1s Mar- tin McDonough’s award winning ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane”.

For the first time 1n years the group hope to travel the festival circuit in the new year with the play.

Experienced local producer John Clancy will take on the daunting task of producing the well-known play.

The blend of black comedy, melo- drama, horror and bleak tragedy is set in the Galway village of Leenane, Sreyibateseet-ve- seme bereden

The one-act play will take place in early December with one of the plays also going on the competitive circuit. These plays have yet to be revealed by their producers.

On September 15 the society has organised a workshop for its mem- bers and new people wishing to join.

Anyone who is interested in join- ing can contact the Chairman, James Neylon at O85 7526538 or email jameseneylon@eircom.net or contact the secretary Carol Andrews at 086- 3936257.

THE HSE is facing criticism for not upgrading the mid-west’s Sexual As- sault Treatment Unit (SATU) – leav- ing it the only region in the country without a full time dedicated unit.

Last week the health service an- nounced that it was expanding its SATUs by opening two new units in Galway and Mullingar.

The HSE failed, however, to give

the same privileges to the mid-west which already has a part-time SATU in Limerick servicing the county as well as Clare and Tipperary.

The service for victims of rape and sexual assault began operating in February 27, 2006.

By the end of that year it had helped 31 people, a number that has now esrown to 66.

According to a report into the first 10 months of its operation, eight peo-

ple from Clare were sent to the unit by gardai from Clare. Four of those using the service in that period gave a Clare address.

The service includes access to emergency contraception, referral information on screening for sexu- ally transmitted infections and rape crisis counselling.

Prior to February 2006 sexual as- sault victims were forced to travel to Cork for such a service.

In 2004 14 people from Clare were forced to make the arduous journey south, while eight people from the county travelled to Cork for the serv- ice in 2003 and again in 2005.

Despite its use the unit in the mid- west 1s now to be overshadowed by a full-time, new service in Galway.

As aresult doctors appointed to the new Galway unit will receive pay deals and nursing back up not avail- able to the Clare and Limerick GPs

working with the service.

In the Midwest, Shannondoc pro- vides the call-out facilities for the service when a victim is referred by the gardai.

The Mid Western Regional Hospi- tal Limerick provides use of a desig- nated clinic room located in the Out Patients Department. The Limerick Rape Crisis Centre, a confidential service, provides a crisis response to victims of recent sexual assault.