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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.

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.

SINN FEIN national chairwoman, Mary Lou McDonald has refuted the allegation that the Aer Lingus deci- sion to relocate its Shannon-Heath- row slots to Belfast was a form of “peace dividend” negotiated between both Governments and the parties. North Kerry deputy Martin Ferris, Clare representative Pat Talty and Maurice Quinlivan from Limerick, accompanied the MEP to Shannon to meet the various concerns opposing

the moving of the slots.

At the airport they met with mem- bers of the Shannon Action Group to offer Sinn Feéin’s full support to help overturn the Aer Lingus decision.

Ms McDonald added that Sinn Féin had agreed to write to the leaders of all the opposition parties in a bid to form a political alliance to have the Aer Lingus decision reversed.

“As far as Sinn Féin is concerned, the origins of the present difficulties can be traced back to the privatisa- tion of Aer Lingus. What I want to

make very clear is that we are aware of speculation locally that the move- ment of these slots was some form of ‘peace dividend’. As someone who has been involved in detailed nego- tiations for two years or more, I can categorically say that at no stage was any such thing discussed as part of a peace package.

‘Sinn Fein would never have agreed to pitching the Belfast region against the mid-west. This isn’t a zero-sum game. It isn’t about pitching Shannon against Belfast,” she said.

Speaking on behalf of Clare Sinn Fein, Cathy McCafferty said that some of the ideas being floated as alternatives to Aer Lingus retaining its Heathrow slots for Shannon are nothing more than “smokescreens ZWOOMRceCd NUM TITSa ee

“T don’t see anything realistic com- ing from proposals that Belfast or Charles De Gaulle could provide alternative hubs for Shannon. As re- gards the news of BMI coming in, there’s nothing concrete about that either.

“In any case these alternatives do not address the core issue of whether Aer Lingus workers at Shannon, es- pecially those employed on ground support roles, will have a future.”

Martin Ferris commended the Aer Lingus workers on their campaign to save the Heathrow slots for Shannon and promised the support of his par- ty’s Dail deputies.

Deputy Ferris said Sinn Féin had campaigned during the recent elec- tion for the re-nationalisation of Aer Bars teat ine

A DAY IN THE LIFE – 6am and the dawn is peeping through the banana leaves. The ceiling fan drones lazily above the mosquito net but our neigh- bours are already out and about.

A group of barefoot teenagers are training for soccer, children are on their way to school and the goats and hens are foraging for breakfast in the dump behind our house.

There is something stimulating about the trot across the yard for a cold shower followed quickly by breakfast of passion fruit and banan- as on toast.

Then it’s on the bikes and it’s off down Kilimandege (Bird Hill) to the teacher training College a mile eae

No two days in college are the same So one 1s ‘winging it’ a lot of the time. Yes, there is lots of team teaching in English, Maths and Science but that’s the easy bit! Often we are called on to fix the computer or research some- thing on the internet.

We have been put on the spot to solve complicated problems in Maths or questions in English Literature by students who are resitting their Form 4 exams or correct essays written on

scraps of paper! Staff need help to write proposals or letters of applica- tion for further studies and teachers who are doing Open University some- times discuss their assignments.

We hear stories of the struggle for

education, of infant death, of the harsh choices some people have to make and tales of abject poverty. It is a humbling experience to share our life with these wonderful, resilient people.

Evenings are varied but most eve- nings we teach English or computers at the Catholic Mission or students call to the house. Just before dark there is the race to the ‘kidala’ for fresh bread and at exactly 7 o’clock a shrill voice is heard.

‘Neeeenas, no school au yes?’ as ten year old Hiradi, outside on the veranda pleads with Neilus to come and teach reading to herself and her friends by torch light.

It has been a good day with the add- ed luxury of uninterrupted water and electricity. At last it’s time for rest, reading, relaxation and a sound sleep under the lazy drone of the ceiling e0F