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THE PEOPLE of Carrigaholt are planning for the future.

The local people will influence the future design of the west Clare vil- lage, as Clare County Council begins drawing up a Village Design State- ment.

Carrigaholt will be just one of two villages in the county to undergo the overhaul.

The local authority’s Planning and Economic Development Department intends to prepare the “statement”, in consultation with the public, over the coming months.

A Village Design Statement pro- vides planning advice directly ap-

plicable to the statutory planning system and is entirely community based.

According to Risteard UaCroinin, Conservation Officer, Clare County Council, “A Village Design State- ment sets out clear and simple guidance for the design of all de- velopment in a village, based on its character. It is an advisory document produced by the village community, not by the planning authority. It will not stop change from happening, but it can help effect how any new build- ing fits in to the village.

‘These statements are intended to influence the operation of the statu- tory planning system, so that new development is in harmony with its

setting and makes a positive con- tribution to the immediate environ- ment.”

Officials of the Planning Policy Unit following a series of public con- sultation workshops and meetings with local interested individuals and eroups will undertake the project. The unit will also be seeking the in- put of local public representatives.

“The main focus of the upcoming public consultations will be to turn the informed wishes of the local com- munity on the future development of both villages into part of develop- ment policy,’ said Mr UaCroinin.

Clare County Council hopes to ad- dress a number of issues during the drafting of the statements, including

the protection and conservation of important buildings, improving der- elict areas and structures, upgrading and enhancement of public spaces and facilities, appropriate develop- ment for infill sites and adjacent sites, and other relevant issues raised by the community.

The process will also attempt to identify the unique character of Car- rigaholt, with particular reference to the character of its landscape, setting and built environment.

Public information, consultation meetings and workshops will be or- ganised during the next two months. They will be held during weekday evenings and will be advertised lo- cally.

CO-OP are coming under increas- ing pressure to increase the amount of money being paid to farmers for milk.

The ICMSA launched a fresh at- tack on what they deemed an “inex- plicable and glaring milk price gap” between the price being received by farmers and the market returns being received by the country’s Co-ops.

The organisations milk chairper- son, Dominic Cronin, said last week that it is imperative that this “utterly unacceptable” gap was closed when a number of Co-op Board meetings take place this week.

“The gap between the Irish Dairy Board’s On-Account Price and the price being received by farmers now stands at 9c/litre.

In the case of a 50,000 gallon pro- ducer and in the event of the co-ops failing to fully pass back that in- creased price in July, the gap repre- sents a loss of €2,460 for July milk,” he said.

“These losses are simply not ac- ceptable and ICMSA is urging those Co-ops who have set their July and August milk prices to immediately IKeaTA CoA An te loa 08 i

Cronin singled out the state’s big- gest milk processor, Glanbia, as the Co-op ICMSA felt should be taking

a lead in the matter.

Meanwhile the IFA’s National Dairy Committee Chairman, Rich- ard Kennedy, said last week that he believed the Irish Dairy Board would soon have to adjust their SMP and butter prices further for the month of July, in view of continued EU spot market price increases for both prod- ucts, and many other commodities.

“The current EU average price for SMP is €3,600/t, 150/t more than the current IDB price including the June retrospective payment, while EU butter prices reach € 3,500 on average, €200/t more than the Irish Dairy Board are paying,” he said.

“Current EU butter and SMP pric-

es, calculated on the same basis as the IDB index, reach the equivalent of 47c/l. That is 4c/l more than the current Dairy Board index.

“It is clear to me that an adjustment to the IDB prices, which I believe must happen soon, will make those returns available to those among our processors who do not already have access to them because they do not trade outside of the Dairy Board.

“Contracted prices with manufac- turers of cream liqueur, infant formu- lae or chocolate crumb, are all based on the IDB index plus a premium – so that returns for these products are 1n- creasing every time the IDB increas- es its commodity prices.”

THIS year’s Scariff Harbour Festival has been declared a massive success. The programme for the weekend, particularly the family day, proved to be a huge attraction for visitors.

It was also an occasion to celebrate the links between Ireland north and south, via the country’s waterways, as Martin McGuinness arrived to of- ficially open the festival.

Michael Rodgers expressed his de- light that the deputy first minister had accepted the invitation to come to Scariff. “Over the years, the aim of the festival committee has been to develop a special relationship with the people of Northern Ireland at po-

litical, cultural and community lev- els, and each year we are delighted to welcome guests and acts from Northern Ireland. We are especially pleased that the deputy first minister is one of this year’s distinguished cuests,” he said.

Jeanette Ervine has also accepted an invitation by the festival commit- tee to come to Clare following David Ervine’s untimely death in January of this year.

The widow of David Ervine, late leader of the Northern Ireland Pro- gressive Unionist Party, will present a trophy named in his memory to the Young Angler of the Festival. The church concert this year featured multi-platinum singer/composer

Liam Lawton on Friday.

The star of the open air concert on Sunday was Derry folk singer, Cara Dillon who has recorded three successful albums with fellow band member, Sam Lakeman.

Saturday was Family Fun Day in the GAA Park and the younger fam- ily members were particularly happy being entertained with bouncy cas- tles, the Conor Lambert puppet show, a bungee rodeo bull, twister game, kiddies sumo wrestling, costumed characters, an airdancer clown, nov- elty races, nail and face painting.

There was music in the air too and the programme for the weekend fea- tured a mix with everything from jazz and folk to traditional music.

Everyone who turned out agreed that it was wonderful that most of the entertainment was free.

Sam and Pat Hyland, who hail from Athlone, came down the river on a cruiser with their two children to en- joy the fun.

“We came last year and moored up at the harbour,” said Pat. “We had such a good time that we made sure this year to organise our holiday so we could come here. There’s plenty for everyone to do and particularly for the children,’ she said.

AFTER all the excitement and razz- matazz of last years Irish and World Ploughing championships, prepara- tion are now well on the way for this year’s event.

Applications for exhibition space are reportedly flooding in to the Na- tional Ploughing Association offices in Athy in advance of this year event which takes place in Tullamore, from Tuesday, September 25, to Thursday 27

The championships will once again be one of the largest outdoor events held in Europe this year and organis- ers have concentrated on exceptional quality and diversification in their 60 acre trade arena this year with a huge

cross section of businesses being successful with their applications.

Government Departments, political parties, semi-state bodies, sporting organisations, hotels and education are just some of the businesses at- tending.

Financial institutes are also well represented with stockbrokers, 1in- vestment clubs and the Financial Regulator coming on board.

As in previous years health will have a strong presence at the cham- pionships with cholesterol and blood pressure checks from the Irish Blood Transfusion Board, the Irish Haemo- chromatosis Association and _ the Health Service Executive.

The National Office for Suicide Prevention will also be providing in-

formation on suicide prevention, an issue becoming increasingly com- mon in rural Ireland.

Renewable energy will have a big presence with wind turbines, bio- mass boilers fuelled by chicken litter, oats and barley. Solar panels, wood pellet stoves, science and engineer- ing stands will have you totally up to speed on the latest equipment and cost saving devices on the market.

The European Commission and the European Parliament will also be there to discuss the environmental challenges that exist in Europe, spe- cifically nature and climate change.

Northern Ireland departments will also have a presence with the De- partment of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Agri-Food and

Biosciences Institute.

The Road Safety Authority along with the Garda Road Safety Division will be carrying out seatbelt demon- strations for child car seats as well as free eyesight tests in conjunction with SpecSavers.

The ever popular overseas property exhibition returns this year, as does the fantastic Leader Food Village with its hand made chocolates, farm house cheeses, breads, cakes, honey and marmalades.

Leader Crafts are also making a welcome comeback with their mag- nificent displays that were so popular ETS more e

Tickets are now available by call- ing (059) 8625125 or for more infor- mation, visit Www.npa.ie.

and who suffered the gruesome fate of

being hanged drawn and quartered for his patriotism.

“My father was William Wallace from Edinburgh,” he pointed out.

He was brought up within hailing distance of White Hart Lane the home ground of Tottenham, Hotspur Football Club. “I’m a lifelong Spurs fan,” he said.

He has had paintings exhibited in the Hunt Museum in Limerick and local venues in south east Clare.

“IT also had paintings on show in Philadelphia in the US when I worked there,’ he said.

He won a free scholarship to the Hornsey School of Arts and Crafts in London when he was 12 years of age eventhough the exam was for 15 year-olds. “I was the only child of that age to ever achieve that at the time,” he said.

He pointed out that there are peo- ple who like to have their portraits hanging on the wall and others get paintings done as presents for rela- LU Aorcer-HOLe BU Lo AXC Ke

‘They can also be very acceptable wedding presents for young couples to adorn their new house with a sce- nic view or even a Surprise portrait of themselves which they didn’t know was being painted for them.

“Portraits are also very acceptable to give to people on their retirement. I was commissioned to do a portrait of a Roadstone employee in Bunratty to be presented to him on his retire- ment. They gave me a photograph of him in his work gear complete with helmet. It turned out very well,’ he ene

Among the scenic views he was requested to paint again from pho-

tographs were The Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle, King John’s Castle and Sarsfield Bridge in Limerick.

“T also do dogs in pastel and horses in oils and of course your favourite cat.”

John worked with money during his working life – not his own money but making it.

He was employed with the Royal Mint in London for 21 years and had Stints in countries such as the US, Japan, Argentina, Canada and Indo- nesia as a sales director in the same business.

So if you want to be hung over the fireplace or for that matter hang your dog, cat or horse or your favourite view, artist John can be contacted at 061-340592.

AS THE new Killanin stand opens for the first time this week to accom- modate over 7,000 racing enthusi- asts, it incurs memories of that fa- mous day when the Pope came to the Ballybrit racecourse on September 30, 1979. The new €22 million stand is a state of the art work of modern architecture which provides bar, res- taurant, lavish seating arrangements and countless hospitality suites but this is in stark contrast to the servic- es provided to the estimated 280,000 people who travelled far and wide to see Pope John Paul II.

For the three day duration of his stay, the country came to a veritable standstill. Traffic was chaotic, busi- nesses were shut down, families were gathered and surrounding buildings got a lick of paint as hundreds of thousands flocked to Dublin, Droge- da, Clonmacnoise, Galway, Knock, Maynooth, Limerick and Shannon airport to welcome the Catholic church’s highest figure in what was a whistle stop tour of Ireland.

He arrived in Ballybrit racecourse on the morning of September 30 to a crowd estimated at under 300,000. Flags, banners and umbrellas were all being sold by the clued in en- trepreneurs en route to the famous arena which was stewarded by 4,000 volunteers. It was a dreary, damp day but the entusiastic crowd were enter- tained by the pope’s support act, Fr.

Michael Cleary and Bishop Eamon Casey the singing duo who belted out such classics as “by the rivers of Babylon” among others in a scene which possibly would not have been out of place in Father Ted.

Such was the atmosphere as his holi- ness appeared on stage that the crowd began to chant “he’s got the whole world in his hands” before the pope began to address the eager masses. A spiritual silence fell on the crowd as the pontiff began to say mass. Dur- ing the ceremony, he relayed his messages of reassurance and hope to the youth of Ireland. “This morning the Pope belongs to the youth of Ire- land. I believe in youth with all my heart and strength of my conviction, and today I say: I believe in the youth of Ireland. Young people of Ireland, I love you.”

He also insisted that the ‘lure of pleasure’ would be strong and the ‘desire to be free from external re- straints may manifest itself very strongly in the sexual domain. How many young people have already warped their consciences and have substituted the true joy of life with drugs, sex, alcohol, vandalism and the empty pursuit of mere mate- rial possessions?” Prophetic stuff indeed.

The county had or will never see anything like this ceremony again. It was a momentous occasion which probably will never be equaled but will be forever remembered.

THROUGH gap in the dressing room door, Clare captain Frank Lohan can be seen shaking the hands of play- ers and thanking them. The place is almost empty. Players are filing out, heading back up that cavernous stretch under the David Stand.

Lohan, shakes the last of hands, says a few more words before ac- knowledging the two lads with the tape recorders.

He makes his way out the front door of the dressing room. Outside the stillness is rocked by another de- lerious roar as Cork and Waterford endeavor again to bring the very best out of each other.

He’s known better days on the big stage and knows the way Croke Park can provoke a thunderous response in a team.

On Sunday, it just wasn’t there. A genuinely dejected looking Lohan offers his thoughts on why Clare

failed to rise to the occasion.

Too many wasted chances. Allow- ing Limerick to get a run on them. According to Lohan it was a combi- nation of factors. “We gave them a soft goal and that put them a bit away. They got ahead of us so it was prob- ably that bit comfortable for them at the end of the day.”

With Limerick renewed by their three game saga with Tipperary, Lo- han said it was always going to be difficult once Clare fell behind.

“They had that bit of a cushion. It was three points for a bit and then it was seven or eight points and you can’t do that with a team like Lim- erick and let them have that sort of a cushion.”

Lohan also had words of praise for goalkeeper Philip Brennan. The Tul- la man had been the focus of unfair attention earlier in the season after filling the position vacated by David Fitzgerald.

‘Philip has had a great year. He’d a

difficult year too. He is a great goal- keeper and he is going to show that in years to come. We had three lads in Croke Park who were playing for their first time, maybe even a few more and hopefully that will stand to them”’.

“We came up with the intention of getting to an All-Ireland semi final and I suppose we didn’t play as well as we wanted. But that’s it, fair play to Limerick,’ he added. There was nothing left to say.

WIMBLEDON may be done and dusted this year but tennis is playing centre stage in Killaloe with the ad- dition of a fourth court to an already impressive set up at the New Street venue.

The Killaloe/Ballina Tennis Club was founded in 1984 and has been at the current site since 1988. The tennis club is popular not only in the

Killaloe/Ballina area but also the surrounding parish with members coming from Parteen, Portroe, Scar- iff and Tuamgraney.

There are 150 family memberships along with 30 adult single member- Jabh eke

According to vice chairman of the club Pat Grace the development of the new court is much needed in the area.

‘The main reason behind the new

court is to help clear the backlog of 40 people waiting to join. You don’t want to stop people from joining but unfortunatly that has been the case.”

The court will be 60 x 120 ft in size and will have the same all-weather sandbased surface as its three sister courts. The development is expected to be ready by the end of Septem- ber and will cost €85,000, thirty of which is to be funded by the Nation- al Lottery.

Now the club is watching out for a young Roger Federer or Venus Williams waiting to burst onto the scene? The facilities are open to the schools of the area are according to Pat Grace are “being put to good use by the convent girls school, which 1s great to see’. On the club front the juniors are performing very well with a representative in almost all of the finals of a recent tournament which was held in Nenagh.

A NEW Dairy Consultative Com- mittee is to be set up to help Ireland avoid a farming meltdown, following next year’s CAP Health Check and WTO talks.

The forum, which will comprise in- terested parties from within the sec- tor, was announced my the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, at last week’s National Dairy Forum and will assist her in the evaluation of policy proposals ahead of the OEE Nee

Minister Coughlan will shortly an- nounce membership of the Consulta- tive Committee. “I am affording the sector as a whole the opportunity to

contribute to an all inclusive indus- try-wide perspective on the future policy and growth strategy for the dairy industry,’ she said.

Speaking after the Forum, Minis- ter Coughlan added that discussions were wide-ranging including the current market situation and the op- portunities and challenges that sus- tained market buoyancy will bring.

Discussions included the WTO and CAP Health Check and, in particu- lar, their implications for competi- tiveness at farm and factory level.

Minister Coughlan observed that there was a great sense of optimism amongst the participants about the future of the dairy sector and a great deal of confidence that current mar-

ket buoyancy would continue for the foreseeable future.

In this context, there was general agreement that the Irish dairy sector should take full advantage of the op- portunities that will arise to expand market opportunities.

“In the light of forecast growth in world market demand, the sector needs to adopt appropriate market- ing strategies that would best secure a growing share of international markets,’ she said.

“The general mood of confidence was tempered by concerns that com- placency might prevent the sector reaching its full growth potential. In this regard issues relating to com- petitiveness at both farm and fac-

tory level were identified including the need to expand production and processing potential in order to meet the growing demand for dairy prod- ucts in the EU and worldwide.”

According to the Minister there was a Shared view that any WTO agree- ment must be balanced and there should be parallel progress across all three pillars of the agriculture sector. ‘The period ahead and the decisions we take will have a lasting impact on the Irish dairy sector and this Fo- rum has started a process that will result in the development of a policy framework to build on the success of the sector and enable the industry here in Ireland reach its maximum potential,” she said.

YOUNG people from Every Moment Counts (EMC) Youth Group in Scar- riff and the Killaloe/Ballina Youth Initiative put their heads together at the weekend to raise some much needed funds to meet the transport costs of their youth groups.

Last year the transport costs for EMC Youth Group were a massive € 2,600, which they met by constant JaUUeTebR-BEcyDEnoe

The youngsters, parents and vol- unteers came together on Saturday

to push a purpose built bed from Youthreach in Scariff the 11 miles to the Family Resource Centre in Kul- laloe.

“In Scariff we have developed very strong cross county links with Coun- ty Kilkenny and County Laois and we have developed and run projects between us but we are finding it very difficult to cover transport costs to maintain these links,” said Tracey Doyle, EMC youth leader.

“We asked people to please be generous to this worthy cause.” The ‘bed’ was made by two Scariff men

who scoured the area for recycled stuff for the project.

“Little wheels would never have lasted the pace, so they went looking for bicycle wheels,” said Tracy.

Part of the high cost of transport 1s having to hire a bus and although the local bus hire company gives EMC a very good rate, Tracy said “there is still money being paid out.”

“What we were hoping was that if there is any politician out there that used a minibus when campaigning for the elections that would like to donate it to us we would be thrilled

to take it off their hands. Or indeed anyone who has a bus that would be willing to part with it – you never know. Other community groups could use it as well and we could maybe split the cost of insurance,’ said Tracey.

Once they have recovered from the exertions of the bed push, EMC members are planning another ses- sion of workshops, following on the recent successful “Drums not Drugs’, sessions and they are plan- ning a musical show which they hope to take on the road.