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ALMOST 300 people are alive to- day thanks to the brave efforts of the Kilkee Marine and Rescue Service.

Irelands oldest voluntary sea res- cue service is this year celebrating a quarter of a century in existence, with local man Manuel diLuici still a member 25 years on.

The original crew was made up of himself, Eamon Murnane and Joe Haugh, with John Nolan, Martin Tweedy, Kieran De Loughry, Barry O’Shaughnessy, Kevin Heenan and Eamon Nunan some of its longest serving member.

Today up to 20 local people are part of the totally voluntary service.

The youngest member is trainee ’7-year-old Sheena Nolan, who has joined her father and brother as a member of the service.

The teenager is not fazed by the amount of time and dedication re- quired by the service.

“T love being involved. I don’t mind the commitment, it is great fun,’ she Cr HTOe

The crew train twice a week, with other routine checks and procedures also part of the commitment.

The crew are also on standby 24 hours a day seven days a week in case of a call out via mobile phone.

The service was set up in 1982 un- der the auspices of the Kilkee Devel- opment Association.

The fist ever call out for the Kilkee Marine Sea and Rescue Service 25 years ago was to a trawler in diffi- culty.

The crew responded to the call in force eight winds and brought it and its crew safely back to Doonbeg har- lereltbe

In 1986 the Kilkee crew were forced to recover the bodies of two of their own members – JJ Hartington from Castletownbere who was work- ing in Moneypoint and Ian Benson from Kilkee.

Both men were in there twenties and were out fishing when the trag- edy occurred.

“It was one of the saddest incidents of my career,’ said founding member Manuel diLuici.

The rescue service has recovered 28 bodies during the past 25 years and saved 280 more.

Despite the crew, some 160 mem- bers throughout the 25 years, giving their services for free it costs be- tween €30,000 and €40,000 to keep the service running.

Ennis businessman PJ Howard sponsored the first of the services four-life boats.

The boats need to be replaced eve- ry five to seven years with the engine usually the first piece of the equip- ment to give trouble.

The current boat was purchased in 2003, but the service must already start thinking about how it will fund the €150,000 necessary to buy next the state of the art boat.

Over the years members of the service have brought honour to the seaside village due to their bravery. John Cosgrove, his son Frank and Eamon Nunan received a certificate of merit from the minister for the ma- rine for a rescue in October 2000.

The three men risked everything to save a young Limerick man who got trapped in the propeller of a boat.

The thankful family later held a huge fundraiser to say thank you.

The links between Limerick and Kilkee are strong so it 1s not surpris- ing therefore that the links between the service and the Treaty County are equally tight.

Many of the Limerick people who spend summer in the west Clare town also sign up to be part of the life saving service.

IT looks increasingly likely that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisher- ies and Food, Mary Coughlan, will face many of the same challenges in her second term of office as she did in her first. One issue that shows no sign of resolution is the ongoing issue concerning BSE testing.

Indeed Coughlan came under re- newed pressure to move on the is- sue of compensation for the cost of testing animals between 30 and 36 peeved ete

Last week Clare farmer and chair-

man of the ICMSA Beef and Cattle Committee, Martin McMahon, stat- ed that in line with the commitment given under “Towards 2016’, the De- partment should immediately agree to fund the cost of BSE testing cattle between 30 and 36 months until such time as EU legislation is changed to remove the requirement.

According to McMahon, under the terms of “Iowards 2016’, a commit- ment was secured that the Govern- ment would seek a higher age for BSE testing. The ICMSA has stated that it is very disappointed with the slow progress being made on this matter

with a conclusion now unlikely until well into 2008 at EU level.

Mr. McMahon added that the mat- ter was perfectly simple – farmers cannot continue to carry this cost.

‘At a time when beef farmers are under severe pressure on prices and costs, it is essential that regulatory costs are kept to a minimum.

BSE testing of cattle between 30 and 36 months cost farmers nearly €6 million in 2006 and farmers now want to see this cost removed imme- diately”, said McMahon.

Given the delay at EU level in ad- dressing the BSE testing age and as

recognition of the problems facing beef producers at this time, the IC- MSA 1s proposing that the Minister should immediately fund the full cost of BSE testing cattle between 30 and 36 months.

“This would represent a one-off cost only as it would no longer be re- quired once the EU raise the age of BSE testing. It would, however, 1m- mediately meet the commitment give under “Towards 2016’ and would re- move a substantial cost on beef farm- ers at this time of depressed prices,” concluded McMahon.

THE patient at the centre of an in- vestigation into treatment at an Ennis nursing home was “not dehydrated or in a medication induced coma as al- leged” according to the HSE.

In answers to a series of questions dating back to late November regard- ing the treatment of the late Gerard Finn at Cappahard Lodge Nursing Home, the HSE said a complaint that the Kilrush man was returned to En- nis General Hospital with bruising and dehydration in July 2006, was investigated by two senior nurses.

While denying the patient was dehydrated, the HSE said that two bruises “described as a pinch mark or a finger prick”’ were found.

Mr Finn had also been admitted to the county hospital in March of that year, where he was diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection in the presence of advanced dementia.

Allegations of bruising to the arms and head were also made at the wneales

“No evidence of any maltreatment was found by the GP or the consult- ant at Ennis General Hospital. The patient had suffered two falls in the week preceding admission and was x-rayed. It was concluded that the cause of the falls was advanced de- mentia with recurring TIAs (tran- sient ischemic attacks),” said HSE.

It also said that Mr Finn was not medically fit to leave Cappahard Lodge, Ennis, when his daugh- ter wished to remove him from the home.

According to the HSE he was taken to visit his daughter’s home when he was fit to do so but his daughter was not allowed to take him from the home on Father’s Day 2006 as he was not medically well enough.

The HSE confirmed that it used re- straints on the 69-year-old Kilrush man “on a needs basis with a seat belt

in an appropriate chair for short peri- ods for health and safety reasons.”

It also stated that the restraints policy at Cappahard Lodge was “evi- dence based best practice in accord- ance with national norms.”

The HSE ordered an external in- dependent review last May into the treatment of Mr Finn at the home fol- lowing concerns raised by a number of parties including staff.

A separate Garda investigation 1s also under way following complaints made by some family members of the Kilrush man.

Mr Finn was admitted to the home in December 2005 with Alzheimer’s and angina. During an “extended period of time” some of his family members made a number of com- plaints to the HSE regarding his care at Cappahard Lodge.

The complaints were investigated by the Clinical Director and Direc- tor of Nursing, Clare Mental Health Services. The “screening process” found that no abusive actions had taken place and that “nursing and medical care provided for Mr Finn was appropriate’.

The HSE said that as a result no further investigation was warranted.

Following the Trust in Care investi- gation the HSE continued to receive complaints from some family mem- bers. The external review was then commissioned, prior to Mr Finn’s death at the home in June.

‘The HSE is confident that all pa- tients in Cappahard are well and pro- fessionally catered for,’ a HSE state- ment said.

Mr Finn’s widow Ann said repeat- edly she had no issue with her late husband’s treatment at the Ennis home and was full of praise for its staff. Last night the HSE confirmed that the terms of reference for the independent review were being final- ised and the review was expected to begin shortly.

that some of the positions have oLeres OMB UU OLSLO Mmm A100 MmmaSE-DOODURVammBu lo I(C0 bY, work arrangements” more common- LY ented ware em (elem stcvuberce He said that the office in Kilrush is

part of the Collector General’s Divi- sion of the Revenue, which is respon- sible for the collection of all major taxes.

These include VAT, PAYE, PRSI, income tax, capital gains tax, and corporation tax.

It is believed that up to a third of the staff are coming for civil servant jobs in Ennis, another third is mov- ing from Limerick, while the major- ity of the remainder are returning to west Clare or moving there for the first time from Dublin.

The 50 posts in the Kilrush Reve- nue office will be made up of 31 cler- ical officers, nine executive officers, three higher executive officers, three Staff officers, three service officers and an assistant principal.

According to the Revenue Press Of- fice, the Collector General’s Division collected €50.7 billion last year.

Mayor of Kilrush Councillor Tom Clyne (Ind) welcomed the new em- ployees to the town, and wished them well in their new life in west Clare.

The newly elected mayor said that the vast majority of the 60 workers would be living in the Kilrush area.

“It is great for the town. It is good for the commerce of the town, and the schools and the economy in gen- eral,’ he said.

“We have plenty to offer them as well. There are lots of leisure facili- ties here you would not find in the midlands,” said the Westmeath born town councillor.

“We have sailing, yachting, great

golfing, leisure walks and of course the walled garden. They are very happy with the facilities in the town,” |atemncy- BG

The Integrated Shannon Decen- tralisation Network (ISDN), which was established in November 2000, promoted a joint approach to decen- tralisation by the towns of Kilrush, Listowel and Newcastlewest, follow- ing a public meeting chaired by then local TD Brendan Daly.

The ISDN was a partnership be- tween Shannon Development, town councils in Kilrush and Listowel and the Community Council in Newcas- tlewest together with the area repre- sentatives of Limerick County Coun- cil and supported by the Chamber of Commerce in each town.

ALMOST two years after the first emergence of the dreaded HSNI1 Strain of bird flu, its effects are still being felt across the world.

Even though Ireland has yet to con- firm a single case of the dreaded dis- ease, the related industry and social pass-times continue to be affected on an almost daily basis.

An example of this was seen last week when the Minister for Agri- culture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan, announced an immediate ban on pigeon racing to Ireland from France and the Channel Islands.

This action was taken following the confirmation of cases of HSNI avian

‘flu in swans in the Moselle region of eastern France and a subsequent deci- sion by the French authorities to ban pigeon racing throughout France.

Minister Coughlan also confirmed that her officials had been in close contact in recent days with colleagues in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Belfast and, given the all-island approach which the two Departments have been op- erating, said that a similar measure was also being introduced in North- ern Ireland today.

“The current ornithological advice available to the Department, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, suggested that the recently confirmed cases in the Czech Repub-

lic, Germany and France did not sig- nificantly increase the risk to Ireland and that the overall risk of the intro- duction of HSN1 avian “flu to Ireland remained low,” she said.

‘Nonetheless, these measures are appropriate and entirely consistent with the actions taken by the French and UK authorities.”

Racing between Britain and Ireland and throughout the island will con- tinue to be permitted.

Coughlan reiterated that, notwith- standing the current low risk to Ire- land, there was no room for com- placency and she urged continued vigilance among the general public.

She strongly advised the poultry industry of the need to maintain very

high levels of biosecurity and added that a considerable amount of infor- mation and advice, for the poultry industry and the general public is available at www.birdflu.ie

Poultry flockowners have also been reminded of the grant scheme, in- troduced by Minister Coughlan’s department, for the installation of water chlorination facilities in com- mercial poultry units.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s helpline to which unusual patterns of wild bird or poultry mortalities should be re- ported is 1890 252283.

THE HEALTH Service Executive is preparing to announce that accident and emergency departments at three hospitals in the mid west are to close and be replaced with “nurse lead mi- nor injuries units.”

According to sources, the depart- ments at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s voluntary hospital in Limerick City will be named as the three casualties of the Teamwork report, a review of accident and emergency departments nationwide by the British-based con- sultants. The announcement is ex- pected in the next three weeks.

The news comes just two months

after a document leaked to the media revealed that accident and emergen- cy departments in the north east of the country are also set to close.

The Teamwork report will recom- mend that accident and emergency services at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s be moved to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. The facilities will instead be replaced by “nurse lead minor injury units.” It is not clear, however, whether these new units will be open on a 24-hour basis.

Clare Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen, has called on the Government “to shred this report, live up to their election commitments or lives will be lost.”

Deputy Breen said, “If these reports are true, then Ennis hospital will ef- fectively become a 12-hour nurse-led injury clinic. Whilst acknowledging the outstanding role that nurses play in the hospital and the care and atten- tion given by them to their patients, the failure to provide 24-hour con- sultant-led accident and emergency will mean that lives will be lost”.

“Of course, it 1s no coincidence that the Dail is in recess when this report is set to be published.”

Meanwhile, the PRO of the Ennis General Hospital Development Com- mittee Councillor Brian Meaney said, “They are suggesting putting in an injuries unit and they should do

but it should operate in tandem with the existing 24 hour accident and emergency department which is al- ready stretched…

“We will fight this and if means marching on the Dail we will but we also have a number of imaginative civil disobedience protests we could mount,’ Mr Meaney said.

“If they think the HSE can intro- duce this policy unilaterally, without consulting politicians, like they did with the mammography unit in En- nis earlier this month, they will have to deal with a different reality in due course,” the councillor added.

A comment was still awaited from the HSE last night.

KILBAHA is a small west Clare vil- lage that is proud of its history and traditions.

The tight-knit community has now made that unique history avail- able to tourists and visitors with two projects that bring the past to life and celebrates the creativity of the areas many artists.

Looking out on to the Atlantic is the newly completed Garden of Re- membrance and the year old Five Pi- lot Memorial.

The projects are the brainchild of the Kilballyowen Development Company and the work of the Rural Resourse Development Scheme.

Local men Eddie Fennell, John O’ Dwyer, Gerard Collins and Pead- ar Keniry are proud of the stonework that will ensure the two projects live

on for generations to come.

The beautiful stonewalls are built from local stone, with limestone flags underfoot.

The top of the wall is encrusted with beach stones giving the struc- ture a rope like effect.

The men’s stonework skills were also used to create a water feature in the shape of a milk churn at the front of the garden, and an open fireplace at the back.

A bog oak tree from Tulagher Bog makes up the centre of the bronze Diarmuid and Grainne sculpture.

The piece representing the two lov- ers whose story is part of the Loop- head folklore was designed and cre- ated by father and son team, Jim and Seamus Connolly.

Along the right hand wall, that has been created to look like a scroll, is the wroth ironwork of local man and

former teacher Paddy Murray.

The ironwork is made up of eight pieces reflecting seven moments in history for the peninsula.

Not surprising the Little Arc Church makes up part of the sequence under the title of “Religion”.

“Fishing” features artic explorer Captain Michael Brennan, while “music” features the late John Kelly and the Clare Set.

Two of the scenes depict traditional farming methods, with the scene on the “Irish language” featuring por- traits of Seamus O’Dea and Eugene O’Curry.

“Emigration” tells its own stark sto- ry aS women on the shore wave good bye to their sons and daughters.

It is his final scene entitled “Sport” that begins to tell a lot of the penin- sula’s hidden history. Depicted in the iron is Peter Foley who was a record

holding weight thrower from 1889.

Yet to be added to the garden are two pieces by Michael McTigue, re- flecting the history of the “yellow men” who perished in a shipwreck approximately 150 years ago and all who lost their lives at sea.

The second pieces is “the flame of freedom” remembering all of those involved in the Irish move towards Independence.

The Sides family, who have a hol1- day home nearby, donated the piece of land on which the garden was een ne

IT seems that the European Om- budsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, is going to have to brush up on all things Irish, as it was revealed last week that at least three of the Irish Farming Organisation have lodged official complaints with his office.

The ICMSA and Farmers for Fair- ness in Europe (FFE), lodged a join complaint with Ombudsman, target- ing both the European Commission and the Council of the European Union on grounds of maladministra- tion by failing to ban Brazilian beef imports.

The complaint, which was drawn up in ICMSA Head Office, centres on what ICMSA President, Jackie

Cahill, has described as ‘the incon- trovertible evidence’ that the failure to ban beef imports from Brazil is in breach of EC law.

“We think we have identified the Commission’s vulnerable spot on this issue, which infuriates us all. The European Ombudsman func- tions in a similar way to the ombuds- men in member states – he must now undertake a full investigation of all the trails and reports drawn up by the Commission — including any that are as yet unpublished. He must then present his report with recommenda- tions to the European Parliament.

“The complaint is to be issued in the name of FFE and the presidents of the 12 associated farm organisa- tions and according to Mr. Cahill the

‘wriggle-room’ that the Commission have been using on the issue of Bra- Zilian beef will be severely circum- scribed by the formal complaint.”

The formal complaint is of the na- ture of a double-whammy in that the ICMSA/FFE complaint will also argue that the maladministration on the question of Brazilian imports coupled with the onerous regulations imposed on native European beef farmers amounts to an infringement of the rights of those farmers as Eu- ropean citizens as established and guaranteed by the European Court of Justice under the Treaty that estab- lished the European Community.

As a part of the FFE, the ICSA has also echoed the dissatisfaction of the ICMSA with the situation surround-

ing Brazilian beef.

“The Commission is failing in its legal duty to EU citizens by continu- ing to allow beef imports from Bra- Zil,’ said ICSA president Malcolm Thompson.

“The combined efforts of the or- ganisations in FFE are targeted at forcing the Commission to act on the clear veterinary evidence and other information collected by the Food and Veterinary Office of the European Union arising from nu- merous official missions undertaken by that office. In addition, FFE is confident that the Ombudsman will have to factor-in to his deliberations the complete ban on Brazilian beef imports operated by both the US and Australia.”

UP TO 190,000 bednights and 25,000 car rental days will be lost as a result of Open Skies and there will be 40,000 fewer US visitors to the Shannon region, a startling new industry report has predicted.

The report, featured on the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) website, 1s based on flight figures and current information from tourism industry players, many of whom are moving their interests to Dublin Airport.

Based on recorded visitor behav- 1our, an increase in the number of

US visitors flying into Dublin won’t make up for the Shannon losses as Americans who fly in through Shan- non stay longer, spend more time outside Dublin and are more likely to hire a car to get around.

Shannon will see a reduction from 59 flights per week in each direction last winter to 34 for the coming win- ter – a 40 per cent decrease in maxi- mum available seat capacity.

‘The net impact of a possible shift of between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of US holiday traffic from Shannon to Dublin in the short term, without any appreciable increase in overall capacity on direct routes to Ireland

in 2008, could see an estimated net loss of between 150,000 and 190,000 bednights in the country, a reduction of up to 25,000 car rental days and at least 25,000 fewer Americans visit- ing in Cork/Kerry and up to 40,000 fewer Americans visiting the Shan- non region. The Galway west region could see at least a drop of 15,000 US holiday visitors’, the report states. The ITIC study predicts a “redistri- bution of mobile services – car rental fleets and coaches from Shannon to Dublin, with added congestion issues in Dublin together with higher oper- ating costs for most”

“These changes have potentially

very significant implications for the tourism industry, particularly busi- nesses based in the west’, it states.

ITIC is calling “as a matter of ur- gency” for the implementation of “a tourism and economic plan for the region, to include funds for the promotion of the west of Ireland in the US market so as to overcome the short-term impacts of open skies.”

It also argues that a special budget allocation to Tourism Ireland for each of three years (2008-2010) should be directed at heightening the motiva- tion to visit the western seaboard and to at least sustain the level of services to Shannon Airport.

THE Miltown Malbay E-town is on course despite the bad weather af- fecting building projects across the county.

That’s according to Shannon De- velopment E-Town Project Leader Paul Ryan, who said that the project is On course for opening in October.

The Miltown Malbay E-town will give a “turn key” working and living space for families and single people wishing to avoid the rat race and set

up business in the west Clare town.

The 12-unit E-town is expected to attract micro business to the area and cluster them so that they in turn could grow from each other and pro- aCe ComAUUUM sloiumoreel O)Cenranetounle

Miltown Malbay has a hard work- ing community and a history of in- dustry, which made it attractive for this project.

The population of the town is about 1,000 people with another 3,000 in the area.

In partnership with the local au-

thorities, local communities and the Ibrickane network Shannon Devel- Opment is pioneering this new rural town renewal initiative, a €4 million investment by the development com- Orv aNYA

Among the many attraction likely to entice people to the west Clare town and its e-town are the nine pri- mary schools and secondary school in the area.

It also has a vibrant community, surfing, golf, drama, Irish music classes, créche facilities, 15 bars, and

a dozen restaurants within a couple of miles, and the sea.

It is just 30 minutes from Ennis and less than an hour from Shannon In- KoouirleCeyer Diane Oe) um

The primary aim of the pioneering approach of the e-town is to enable people to achieve a live/work bal- ance in tailor-made accommodation, create clusters of businesses and bring new economic activity back into local communities.