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A 29-YEAR-old man who appeared in court to provide a cash surety to secure bail for a friend, found him- self in custody after it transpired a warrant for his arrest has been in force for almost five years. Romanian national Jon Gratian Serban of 5, Sundale Lawn, Tallaght in Dublin, appeared at Ennis District Court to provide an independent cash surety of €2,000 for Cereasala M1-

halaiche, also from Romania, who faces a charge of theft following her arrest in Miltown Malbay County Clare. Ms Mihalaiche, with an ad- dress at 1, Phibsboro Drive, Dublin 7 appeared in court in Ennis last week in relation to the theft charge. She was remanded in custody with con- sent to bail on that date.

At Ennis District Court yesterday, Judge Leo Malone was told that a friend of the accused was in court and was in a position to provide a

cash surety to secure bail. Howev- er, during questioning by Inspector Michael Gallagher, it emerged that the accused had previously been ar- rested and charged with burglary, al- leged to have taken place on 18 July, 2002, 1n Dublin.

Solicitor for Ms Mihalaiche, Wil- liam Cahir, said he was not aware of this turn of events and the matter was adjourned briefly. Ms Mihalai- che was, however, allowed take up bail and after signing the necessary

documentation was released from custody. She is due to appear at En- nistymon District Court again on 5 Yo) oles 00lolos matey. a

Mr Serban was arrested outside the court and brought before the Judge Inspector Gallagher told the court that a warrant for Mr Serban’s arrest was issued on 30 September, 2002, at Kilmainham District Court after he failed to appear in court. The inspec- tor sought to have the accused re- manded in custody to Dublin District

Court on 17 August next.

Mr William Cahir, now acting for Mr Serban, said, “This is an unusual case. I would ask the court to accept my client’s bone fides in the matter and that he was not aware that a war- rant for his arrest existed.”

Judge Leo Malone agreed that it was an unusual case but after hear- ing details of the accused’s bank Statements, remanded the accused in custody with consent to bail in the sum of €1,000.

SOUTH-EAST Clare is to get a new state-of-the-art health centre.

It will be located at Westbury and is scheduled to open next summer.

The Health Service Executive has confirmed that the new centre will provide a wide range of services for infants to older people in the provi- sion of primary community and con- tinuing care services.

The new development at Riverdale, Westbury will provide public health nursing, community welfare serv- ices, child health clinics and dental oss Goh

Therapy rooms will be available for treatments such as speech and language therapy and occupational and physiotherapy services.

Locals have been campaigning for such a centre for several years as services had to be provided in the Presbytery attached to St Nicholas Parish church. There were delays in going ahead with the development with problems regarding its location and funding.

Local Labour cllr Pascal Fitzger- ald who lives in Westbury said its great to see this project now coming on stream and “we are now seeing interest being shown by the HSE”.

Killaloe cllr Tony O’Brien said it is a very welcome development for the people of south-east Clare and he looked forward to its completion.

‘There were hold-ups and difficul- ties along the way, but now that its going ahead its better late than nev- er,’ he said.

This part of Clare has seen spec- tacular population growth in recent years stretching from Ardnacrusha across to Clonlara.

Once a rural county, Clare’s new housing estates are now taking over the landscape and early develop- ments in Westbury resulted in severe flooding with flood waters entering

elehyene

Today Westbury is serviced by a new mixed business retail com- plex and Clare County Council has opened offices there to cater for the needs of the people in east Clare.

The new proposed health centre will further strengthen the infra- structural needs of the area which is now a parish of the diocese of Lim- erick complete with a church for the ever-growing population. Parishion- ers who send their children to Scoil Ide in Corbally and Parteen School now want a school in their own par- ish as the other two schools are expe- riencing overcrowding.

CPSSL have preparations well un- derway for the Kennedy Cup compe- tition to be held at the university of Limerick in June 2008.

This is an annual national event aimed at showcasing the best un- der 13 soccer talent from across the country. The event is attended by numerous head scouts from all the best clubs, both from Ireland and England, and is regularly attended by English Premier League clubs.

Each season Clare’s showing im- proves, and in June of this year, under the management of Michael Guilfoyle and Tommy Molloy, Clare improved their seeding up to 13th in the country.

Following the appointment of Dave Kerin and Clive Slater as joint man- agers, their first move was to appoint

Avenue United coach expert Tommy Molloy and meet up with FAI Re- gional Development Officer, Denis Hynes.

Arising out of this meeting the fol- lowing detailed plan has been pro- duced, which will see Clare pushing to improve even further on last sea- son’s success.

Management –

Emerging Talent Head Coaches and Kennedy Cup Managers – Dave Kerin and Clive Slater.

FAI Regional/County Development Officer – Denis Hynes

Kennedy Cup Expert Advisor and Assistant Coach – Tommy Molloy Other Coaches/Positions – To be CLoyibebuaaterem

Programme –

August 2007 – Clubs to submit names of county standard players

02/09/07 – Weekly Trials and Train- ing commences at Lees Road 23/09/07 — Selection of panel of ap- proximately 25 plus goalkeepers. Early October 2007 — Parent and player’s evening to explain commit- ments and expectations.

October 2007 (Depending on com- pletion of league season) — Increase training to | Emerging Talent (tech- niques and skills) plus 1 Kennedy Cup (tactics) session per week. January 2008 — Panel of 20 selected. Easter 2008 — Travel to a tourna- ment (possibly abroad).

May 2008 — CPSSL organised county tournament at Lees Road 09/06/08-13/06/07 — Kennedy Cup Tournament at University of Limer- ick (Dates to be finalised).

Training and Trials All training sessions will be run in

accordance with the Emerging Talent programme and taken by David Ker- in, Denis Hynes and Clive Slater.

The panel will be divided amongst the coaches available and, when ap- propriate, rotated through the ses- sion. Clubs will be permitted to submit three or four players, born in 1994, of county standard for trials.

Clubs are required to take a respon- sible attitude before submitting play- ers for trials.

In the event that a club considers they have more than three or four players of a suitable standard, they will be permitted to advise the man- agement of this.

The trial format will be open in that we will be happy to receive comments from other managers and coaches in attendance and take these into consideration when assessing players.

VETERAN Fianna Fail councillor, Peter Considine will have to wait until 2008 to learn whether he will receive planning permission to con- struct four homes on his landholding outside Ennis.

A decision was due last Thursday on the application by Cllr Considine for outline planning to construct four homes at Drumadreheid, Ennis.

However, Cllr Considine sought an extension to the time in which the council would make its decision until February 7, 2008.

In a note to the council’s planning department, Cllr Considine request- ed the six-month extension to allow the council consider the application. Usually, when applicants seek an extension, it indicates that there are planning hurdles associated with the application.

Cllr Considine purchased 25 acres of land at Drumadrehid in 1993. The sites are not subject to strict council planning rules that apply to lands in the open countryside on the outskirts of Clare’s main population centres. There are a series of such “develop- ment clusters” across the county that allow the lands to be zoned for hous- ing development. Clusters are usually designated when there are already a number of homes built in the area.

Ironically, because of the coun-

cil’s tough planning rules to inhibit one-off homes in the countryside, Cllr Considine can expect a pre-

mium price if he decides to sell on the sites when planning permission 1s secured.

An Taisce has recommended that one of the homes be moved else-

where as there is a ringfort adjacent to site four.

The national trust also states that “the elevation of the site is high and concerns of drainage problems and visual obstruction need to be ad- dressed”.

The Department of the Environ- ment has recommended that an archaeological impact assessment be prepared to assess the potential impact, if any, on archaeological re- mains in the area.

The department has made the rec- ommendation as the development site 1s within the zone of archaeo- logical potential established around a recorded monument.

“The assessment should detail the visual impact of this development on the recorded monument. This assess- ment shall also define the buffer area or area contiguous with the monu- ment which will preserve the setting and visual amenity of the site.

“It should be borne in mind that, if significant archaeological remains are found or there is a significant negative impact, refusal might be recommended and/or further pres- ervation in situ or by record may be required.”

A decision is due on the application later this year.

AER LINGUS’S decision to end its Shannon-London Heathrow serv- ice will mean added trauma for be- reaved families living 1n the west of Ireland.

That is the view of parish priest of Shannon, Fr Tom Ryan, who yester- day said that the ending of the serv- ice will result in the ending of the repatriation of Irish bodies from Eu- rope and the UK through Shannon.

Three years ago, Aer Lingus an- nounced that it was to end the repa- triation of bodies on its short haul flights to the three Irish state air- ports but quickly rescinded its deci- sion following a public outcry.

Now, arising from the Aer Lingus decision to end its Shannon-Lon- don Heathrow service from Janu- ary next, bereaved families will no longer be able to receive repatriated bodies of loved ones in a service that Aer Lingus has provided at Shannon for decades.

With no other airline providing the service at Shannon airport, families will now be forced to travel to Dub- lin and Cork airports to receive the

bodies.

a LO Er Cee EDOM mee ieee! over the pastoral dimension to the Aer Lingus decision and it under- lines the ripple effect of the decision for everyone in the region.

“The dead don’t have a voice and this decision to end the Heathrow service will only add to the distress of families at a very vulnerable time where they will have to embark on long journeys to retrieve the bod- oad

Fr Ryan said that it 1s a “very fre- quent occurrence” for him to go to the mortuary in Shannon and be in- volved in the repatriation of bodies. He said, “It takes place a couple of times a week, sometimes more.”

Fr Ryan added, “Aer Lingus has been very good over the years of providing the service and I would hope that the decision to end the Heathrow service would be reversed and rather than Shannon losing all its Heathrow lots that the burden would be shared between Shannon, Dublin and Cork.”

Spokesman for the Irish Associa- tion of Funeral Directors ([AFD), Gus Nichols, confirmed last night

that the IAFD will be writing to Aer Lingus chief executive, Dermot Mannion to express concern over the Aer Lingus move.

He said, “The move represents an- other reduction in services and will have an unavoidable impact on be- reaved families.”

Limerick-based funeral director, Gerry Griffin, said that the Aer Lin- gus will add to the costs of families seeking to have bodies repatriated. He added, “The service at Shannon is used greatly as Heathrow was the hub for all over the world for bodies being repatriated.”

He added, “The emotional impact will be huge for families worried about not being able to bring their loved ones home through Shannon and will only add to the trauma. That services are disappearing through so-called progress sounds strange.”

CLARE’S under 18 game against Galway, which was set for Sunday evening last, was postponed. Clare were all set for this game but it was postponed at the last minute at a meeting of Central Council in Nolan Park on Saturday afternoon.

Galway had looked for a postpone- ment of this game as members of their under 18 panel were also in- volved with their county senior panel who played in the senior semi-final against Wexford which they lost.

With fixture congestion, it was im- possible to fit in the game if it was put off, with the county junior side

in an All-Ireland semi-final this Sun- day and the winners of the Under 18 play-off due to play in a quarter-final on August 25.

However, when Central Council met on Saturday evening, they rear- ranged the play-off for August 25 and put the quarter-final back until September 16.

Tae) ee CoMM WE YACME OOD KMB OSE: hYAN ULE OU E-TKe as they will know their fate in the Junior Championship and the players who were in doubt over the weekend due to recent injuries should be fit for that renewed encounter with Galway and be able to claim their spot in the squad for the quarter-final in Sep- tember.

THE regional director of cancer serv- ices in the west, Professor Rajnish K Gumpta, has said that the progress in developing the network of cancer cen- tres “is hampered by the lack of re- sources and the employment ceiling”. As a result, he believes that patients and their GPs are seeking access to tests for breast cancer through routes other than the Specialist Breast Unit and a multi-disciplinary team.

Last month, the HSE announced that the mammography unit at Ennis Gen- eral Hospital would remain closed as it had decided to concentrate all mam- mography services for the mid-west at the Regional Specialist Breast Unit in the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, claiming more than 1,000 mammograms a year were necessary for the maintenance of the required level of professional skills in read- ing the x-rays. Professor Gumpta now says these units are not being properly resourced.

He was speaking after a second woman from the mid-west was mis- takenly given the all-clear for breast cancer. The case of this Tipperary woman is “Separate to the circum- stances and investigation” involving Killaloe woman Rebecca O’ Malley, who was also mistakenly cleared of breast cancer.

She went through a mastectomy and removal of glands and referred to Professor Gumpta in April and is currently undergoing intensive chemotherapy.

“Although I accept…that there was

a diagnostic error in the Pathology Laboratory at University Hospital Galway, this lady should have been referred to aregional specialist breast unit and a multi-displinary team at her original presentation in 2005,” said Prof Gumpta.

“Personally I am extremely disap- pointed, sad, angry and concerned that this has happened, was allowed to happen and I/we did not stop this from happening,’ he said. “I have raised concerns about the treatment of patients with cancer outside spe-

cialist units and regional hospitals for at least the last three years.”

Minister for Health, Mary Harney has apologised to the lady and an in- dependent review has been commis- sioned into pathology services at the hospital, which is being conducted, by the Health Information and Qual- ity Authority.

SWIMMERS braved the cold waters of Liscannor Bay to take part in the Lahinch/Liscannor swim to raise much needed money for the Burren Chernobyl Project on Sunday. Lahinchman, Pat Conway, leads the annual swim each year. “It’s a huge help to the Burren Chernobyl] Project and we are so grateful to Pat and to everyone who took part. The money will be used to help the children and adults in Belarus whose lives have been affected by the Chernobyl dis- aster,’ said Mary Cosgrove of the

Burren Chernobyl Project.

“We try to focus on on-going sus- tainable projects. Two of the orphan- ages we have been dealing with for years are the children’s facilities in Cherven and Goradiche. We also do a lot of work in Tarasaki and Kyl which are adult institutions for peo- ple of 18 years and up.”

The vast majority of work un- dertaken by the Burren Chernobyl Project involves helping to ease the suffering of people living in vast and under-resourced government institu- tions.

Many of these people are suffer-

ing both mentally and physically as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In recent times however, the Burren Chernobyl Project has been exploring ways in which day- care can be provided for the affected people, allowing them to live in their own home and travel to centres dur- ing the day.

“In Minsk we now have a drop-in day centre, which has received fund- ing from the Government as well as Roche Ireland, Clarecastle. As well as the funding, staff from Roche have gone out there and helped with building work in Minsk,” continued

Mary.

She added, “A lot of the workers who went over have stayed involved with the project.”

The Burren Chernobyl Project is based in Ennistymon and was estab- lished more than 20 years ago to help those affected by the Chernobyl Nu- OTTO N TN Kolm

If you wish to donate money or offer some support, contact the Burren Chernobyl Project at the Old Monastery Building in En- nistymon on 065 7071130, email office@burrenchernobyl.ie or check out www.burrenchernobyl.ie

THE Mayor of Shannon, Cllr Sean McLoughlin, has warned that the battle to retain the Shannon-London link 1s only just beginning.

Shannon’s first citizen is now ask- ing people from across the west and particularly from Clare to join a solidarity walk this Friday evening, from the Drumline roundabout to the Ballymurtagh roundabout, start- ing at 7pm.

The Drumline roundabout is lo- cated on the flyover at the off ramp of the main Limerick to Ennis road,

which leads into Shannon and the airport.

The Ballymurtagh roundabout 1s located at the end of the dual car- riageway at the interchange for Shan- non Town Centre, the airport and the turnoff for the Newmarket-on-Fer- gus road.

‘We are asking anybody who wish- es to show solidarity with the cam- paign to bring the necessary pressure to bear on both our government and the Aer Lingus management team to withdraw plans to cease the air-link between Shannon and London Hea- throw.

“The walk is about one mile in length and we will welcome peo- ple from all over who feel that they would like to do something positive to ensure our vital link with London Heathrow is maintained,’ he said.

“We invite people of all ages, from senior citizens to parents and chil- dren, to demonstrate that the residents of the west of Ireland have the power to gather as one and walk shoulder to shoulder in a dignified and peaceful manner to overturn this commercial decision and hold onto our right of passage to London Heathrow and thus the rest of the world.”

THE HSE has this week admitted that there is an internationally recog- nised difficulty in recruiting medical scientists with a specialty in cytology, vital in accessing cervical screens.

The admission comes as a Limerick woman, Elaine Price, reported how she had to wait 19 weeks for the re- sults of a follow-up smear in autumn 2006.

During a routine smear in 2005, CN2 cells (pre-cancerous cells) were found and she was told she would re- quire a colposcopy — a scraping of the cervix. Her doctor told her that an appointment would take weeks so she went private. Her follow-up smear in September 2006 took 19 weeks for a result. Both smears were sent to the cytology laboratory at University Hospital Galway.

All smears taken at the Mid West- ern Regional Hospital Limerick are sent to University Hospital Galway for analysis, while a portion of GPs from the mid-west send smears from their patients to the same hospital. The remaining GPs in the mid-west are directed to send the smears to Dublin.

A spokesperson for the HSE said that last year the cytology labora- tory at University Hospital Galway converted from the conventional cer- vical smear technology to a liquid-

based technology.

“This technology is in keeping with best international practice. This con- version involved a significant body of work and commitment from eve- ryone working in the laboratory. The process to convert the technology was a complicated one and it began in February 2006 and was complet- ed ahead of schedule at the end of paul etes

“All staff in the laboratory required training in the use of this new tech- nology and for the period of that training last year there was on aver- age a turn-around time of 10 to 12 weeks at the most. That has now been reduced and cervical smears are reported on within the four-week timeframe.”

The cytology laboratory at UHG is currently located in a prefabricated building which, according to the health service, “is of no relevance in terms of its functionality. The hospi- tal is at present finalising a brief for the development of a new laboratory for submission to the HSE Capital Projects Steering Group.

“The national required turnaround time is four weeks for a cervical Smear, from the time it 1s received in the laboratory to when the report on the smear is issued. Since the end of June 2007, smears . . . are reported on within this four-week timeframe,’ mel END a elereR