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THE people of Quin are being urged to oppose plans by Clare County Council to put a temporary footpath in place on the bridge in the village.

The council is proposing to put the footpath in place on a temporary ba- sis, with a view to possibly creating a permanent footpath at the same lo- cation.

However locals argue that this will see traffic reduced to one lane

and will create chaos for the village, where population levels are expand- ing on an ongoing basis.

Local councillor Sonny Scanlan (FG) is calling for local residents to join together and oppose the plan.

“€60,000 was allocated for the footbridge a couple of years ago. I thought it would be up and running by now. It is now proposed, instead, to put a temporary footpath in place on the bridge. As a result, there will only be one line of traffic at all times.

Trying to put traffic into a single lane is ridiculous,’ he said.

“I am completely opposed to this. I want a public meeting in Quin to discuss this,” he said.

“The population of Quin is in- creasing rapidly. More than 100 new houses have been built over the past year or two. There is no place to park in Quin at the moment. There is a huge number of children going to school, who need a footbridge. It was proposed that a footbridge would be

put in place to the right hand side of the bridge. That is still needed,’ he CrHOR

A meeting, involving council offi- cials, gardai and public representa- tives, will take place in the coming weeks, where the issue will be dis- cussed. Councillor Scanlan is ada- mant he is vehemently opposed to the idea.

“We are appealing for people to get behind us. We can’t allow it to go ahead,’ he said.

AN Ennis-based residents’ associa- tion has claimed that the high percent- age of rental properties in their estate is contributing to the ongoing anti-so- cial behaviour problem in the area.

Dun na hInse Residents Associa- tion, in an objection to plans to con- struct 26 terraced homes at Lahinch Road, Ennis, point out that Dun na hInse is primarily a rented estate, with 60 per cent rental property, mostly with absentee landlords.

The objection states, “This has re-

sulted in an ongoing litter problem, ongoing anti-social behaviour and subsequent devaluing of properties.” The residents association has writ- ten numerous letters to Ennis Town Council in this regard. They argue that the impact of 26 more housing units will exacerbate this existing so- cial problem, should the proposed de- velopment of townhouses go ahead. “This has been the trend in all the new estates nationally and we do not intend that our area further deteriorates due to lack of vision, management and responsibility by

our planners. It is incumbent on us as residents to object strong to this development given the history of de- velopment.”

The residents’ association point out that Dun na hInse consists of 131 houses, with Brookville accounting for 40 homes. The residents point out that “what is now a green area, scarce in Ennis town, will be saturated with an additional 26 units…Houses, con- crete walls and railings are not a sub- stitute for green spaces in an already high density environment.

In a separate objection, the Brookville

Residents Association claims that there are no amenities for children. They ask, “What can be more conducive to anti-social behaviour than adding more houses to this already high den- sity area with only one area to serve three housing estates?

“We feel that the combined units of Brookville and Dun na hInse al- ready constitute a high density area with enough social problems of their own. Adding more houses can only increase the problem.”

A decision is due on the application later this year.

THE young people of Newmarket- on-Fergus have been busy raising money for local groups, over the summer holiday break.

The beavers, cubs and scouts club raised €1,500 towards their own club and also collected €500 for the Meals on Wheels committee.

The Meals on Wheels group in the village prepares meals for several people in the area, on a weekly ba- sis. Earlier this year, they obtained a permit for a flag day, during the vil- lage’s show.

The scouts organised the flag day for the group and in the process raised €500. This was presented to the Meals on Wheels committee by their leader Ger Fahy.

The beavers, cubs and scouts also raised money, to assist in the day-to- day running of their club.

Up to 200 people took part in a sponsored walk, from Newmarket- on-Fergus, to Mooghaun Woods. SW sl Komm detente yO icre ae DulOLemeelela bars activities.

The club’s 10 beavers, 25 cubs and 20 scouts were involved, along with their families and the club’s leaders.

The sponsored walk raised €1,500 and these funds are crucial to the club’s existence. Along with a churchgate collection, this is the main fundraising event annually.

According to Ger Fahy, the club has been enjoyed a hugely successful period and its members are anticipat- ing its re-opening in September.

“The new season kicks off next week. We will have camps in Ruan and overnights in Cratloe, while we hope to go ice skating before Christ- mas,” said Mr Fahy.

There will also be a jamboree next year, to mark the centenary year of

scouting.

The club had been strong in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. It went out of existence for a number of years in between and was rejuvenated two years ago.

Once it resumes later this month, the club will be busy and volunteers are invited to lend a hand.

“We are always looking for lead- ers, if anybody wants to help with the scouting in the parish,” said Mr Fahy.

will include works from painters such as Paul Henry, Gerard Dillon, Jack B Yeats, Mainie Jellet, Mary Swanzy and No- rah McGuinness.

Curated by Fiona Woods of the Clare Arts Office, the works repre- sent a broad spectrum of Irish paint- ing and rates as one of the most high profile art exhibitions ever held in Clare. Many of the paintings have been sourced from the Arts Council and Limerick City Gallery of Art’s permanent collection.

To coincide with the exhibition, the Clare Arts Office is organising a se- ries of guided gallery tours, public

talks and workshops for artists.

Catherine Marshall, Chief Cura- tor with The Irish Museum of Mod- ern Art, currently on secondment as Visual Arts touring and Collections Advisor with the Arts Council, will provide the opening talk on Irish Painting.

On Saturday, September 15, Ennis- born artist Mick O’Dea RHA will give a talk about his work, followed by a closed workshop for artists.

The former National College of Art and Design tutor has won numerous awards including four Arnotts Na- tional Portrait Awards, the KMPG award at the 1992 and 1998 Oire- achtas exhibitions and a major Arts Council Bursary in 1986.

On September 22, leading contem- porary artist Micky Donnelly will give a talk about his work, followed by a closed workshop for artists.

Every Wednesday, Marie Con- nole MFA will give tours for school eroups, complete with educational material at 1.30pm. A guided tour for the public will be available at 3pm each Wednesday, or at another time by appointment.

The Fine Art Graduate of The Bur- ren College of Art received the Spire- sart Outstanding Student in Art, an accommodation and studio residency award in 2005 and tuition fees bur- sary in 2006/07 from The Clare Arts Office, and recently The Burren Col- lege of Arts Presidents Award.

She has worked at NCAD and IMMA and was a teaching assistant for life drawing and multimedia at the Burren College of Art. She has co- curated a number of shows and was one of the principles in the 2006 Tulca Fringe Festival in Galway. She exhib- its regularly in Ireland and Europe.

The exhibition will run until Sep- tember 23.

DAIL deputies and ministers in Clare are following the party line and re- fusing to be drawn on how they will vote in a Dail confrontation on the S)eTNev ee MOM ISIE

The Labour Party has announced that it is to table a Dail motion call- ing on the Government to join forces with other shareholders to reverse the Aer Lingus decision to move the Shannon-Heathrow slots.

The TDs’ responses to news of the

Labour motion came as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern insisted that the Gov- ernment would do nothing to under- mine Aer Lingus moving its slots from Shannon. Mr Ahern said the fo- cus was now on getting another car- rier and denied there was a Cabinet split on the issue. He said the Gov- ernment had no prior warning of the Aer Lingus move.

Mr Ahern’s remarks followed on from Transport Minister Noel Dempsey’s dismissal of the Ryanair proposal to call an EGM as “‘a side-

show.”

Asked yesterday how he intended to vote on the Labour motion, Dep- uty Timmy Dooley (FF) said, “I haven’t seen the Labour motion yet and I haven’t seen the Government amendment. Until I see that, I cannot comment.”

Junior Enterprise Minister Tony Killeen also said he had not seen the motion or the proposed amendment.

Describing Labour’s move as “po- litical opportunism”, the minister said that the motion would have no

impact.

‘Private members’ motions have no effect unless they are part of a cam- paign to move things on,” he said.

Asked if an EGM should be called, the Corofin TD said, ““There is no point in having an EGM if there is no positive outcome for Shannon.”

The Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea, was clear about what line of action he would take.

‘“There’s no point in voting in favour of something that will not change the situation,” he said.

A SURVEY of ancient monuments, including churches, castles and ring forts, in the Shannon region, 1s cur- rently being undertaken.

Duchas na Sionna is spearhead- ing the project, which includes visits to some 150 sites, between Bunratty Castle to the Fergus Estuary.

Among the main monuments in- cluded in the survey include ring forts, an Anglo-Norman moated site,

an Anglo Norman motte and bailey, a hilltop enclosure which dates back to the bronze era, several fulachta fiadh (cooking places), which also date back to the bronze age, along with several churches and castles. More than 100 ring forts in the area were also visited by members of Duchas na Sionna. This is the first time these sites were visited – from an archaeological point of view – since the 1970s. The project has been ongoing for almost two years and is due to be completed at the end

of this year.

Duchas member Olive Carey, who is involved in the survey, said a number of aspects are taken into account, dur- ing the visits.

“We look at the condition of the sites and we check with the record of monuments and places to see which sites are listed,” said Ms Carey.

“Some of the monuments are not there any more, but most of them are,’ she said.

“We carry out a report on the sites,

for example, taking measurements. The last survey done locally was un- dertaken in the 1970s, by a MA stu- dent. We compare with that survey, to see if there has been any deterioration in the monuments since then.

“With this in mind, we write up a proper report, which we will publish,” said Ms Carey.

She said that landowners have been particularly helpful, offering vital bits of folklore, which adds hugely to the project.

PREPARATIONS for the forthcom- ing National Ploughing Champion- ships began this week with the com- mencement of the layout construction of the site in Tullamore, County Of- faly. The championships, which will be held between Tuesday, September 25 to Thursday, September 27 are anticipated to attract in excess of 150,000 visitors and therefore exten- sive planning is needed in order to provide suitable facitilies and ameni- ties for the expected crowds.

Such is the scale of the annual event that planning for the following year’s event begins just days after the pre-

vious year’s competition finishes. Currently the organisers are in the process of laying 13 kilometres of trackway throughout the site and the pegging of the 800 exhibitor stands, which will take up a massive 60 acres of the impressively sized demonstra- tion area.

Colour coded free car parks take up 350 acres with the actual ploughing competitions demanding up to 200 acres to accommodate the various finals involved. Six KVA generators will also be on site with a staggering 20 kilometres of cables required to power 30 floodlights and 600 power points throughout the site.

As well as these facilities approxi-

mately 500 staff, mostly volunteers are necessary to make sure the three day event runs smoothly, including 200 stewards from every county in Ireland and 110 judges and supervi- SOrs.

Visitor’s appetites are also catered for with 22 catering units selling a vast array of foods including organ- ic, asian, specialised coffee bars and traditional Irish as well as 4 bars, 7 confectionary shops and several ice cream vendors.

An estimated 200,000 gallons of water are also required which further highlights the extent of the organisa- tion involved.

There are also numerous activi-

ties for those who want to take their minds off the competitions with the Land Rover Terrapod off road experi- ence, the first Irish Stihl Timbersport series and the Austrian Schuhplatters as well as the regular exhibitions such as livestock, machinery demonstra- tions, forestry village, motor show, bio energy village, education and business centre, a tented trade area and various entertainment events go- ing on all around the site.

This year’s championships will be opened at midday on September 25 by the guest of honour, President McAleese with the National Garda Band in attendence for the opening ceremony.

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.