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THE number of people living in Clare who have a third level degree has risen by almost one third in the last five years.

The figures were revealed in latest results from the 2006 Census which show that the number of people in Clare with a third level degree or higher has risen dramatically by 30 per cent since 2002.

This means that 16 per cent of all adults in the county have at least a primary degree, which is the same as the national average.

“Tt is really encouraging to see that Clare is retaining its well educated and increasing the knowledge base of the region,’ says Western Devel- opment Commission (WDC) Chief Executive, Gillian Buckley.

“Attracting and retaining well edu- cated people is the key to the west’s future in the knowledge economy. We know from the population trends and our LookWest.ie campaign that well qualified people want to stay in, or return to, Clare. The latest Census results confirm this,” she added.

The Census information also showed that the numbers in mana- gerial and professional jobs in the county have risen by 13 per cent while those categorised as unskilled

have fallen by 18 per cent.

“At the WDC we have set it as a priority to make prospective employ- ers aware of the skills pool available in the region. The next phase of our LookWest.ie campaign will specifi- cally target businesses to highlight the numbers of skilled and educated people who want to live and work in the west,” said Ms Buckley.

Commenting on the Census results regarding internet access, Ms Buck- ley continued, “It’s clear that Clare fares badly in terms of broadband. Just under 30 per cent of those with internet access had a broadband con- nection compared with the national average of 43 per cent. Widespread affordable, high-speed internet ac- cess 1s critical to Clare’s future in the knowledge economy and must be a national priority.”

Figures also revealed that 85 per cent of households in Clare have at least one car compared to the nation- al average of 80 per cent.

Ms Buckley said that this “points to the need to continue to invest in road infrastructure across the county but also underlines the importance of public transport provision, particu- JENe Weve meceyeebeslll(osmpKeleiKonwe

The 2006 Census was conducted across Clare and nationwide on April PRM MES Misr:

AFTER a long winter break, big time music is returning to Doolin this summer with the relaunch of the Best for the West series of concerts at Magnetic Music.

This years series of 12 events will see some of the country’s most pro- lific musicians and singers descend- ing on the village between now and the beginning of September.

The series opens on Thursday, July 19, with a concert from new folk wizards Beoga. The five-piece tradi- tional band from Antrim was drawn together after jamming in a fero- cious music session at the All-Ire- land Fleadh in August 2002. Their

unique sound features the twin du- eling accordions of Sean Og Graham and Damien McKee, along with four times All-Ireland bodhran champion Eamon Murray and pianist Liam Bradley.

Over the last couple of years Beoga have followed a busy European tour schedule, which included headlining various prestigious festivals includ- ing performances on the Guinness Irish Christmas tour of Austria, the German Irish Folk Festival tour along with Solas and Kevin Burke and the Irish Unplugged Tour of Holland, with the Fureys and Davey Arthur.

The group have just released their second eagerly awaited album Mis-

chief which contains more of their self-composed material, played in their own highly individualistic style.

Following Beoga, Emer Mayock, Donal Siggins and Robert Harris of Afro Celt Sound System fame will bring their eclectic mix of traditional and self penned tunes accompanied by guitar and bodhran to Magnetic Music on Sunday, July 22. Six days later, fiddle and concertina virtuo- So of Riverdance fame, Niamh Ni Charra and Mike Galvin will be live on stage before the free Irish Music Table Quiz on July 29.

Indeed their will be a series of free Irish Music Table Quiz’s through- out the summer with extra events on

August 5 and 12. On August 3, Pad- raic O’Reilly and the Corofin String Quartet will take to the stage with legendary Cork singer songwriter John Spillane performing on the fol- lowing night.

Other concerts include MacDara and Friends on August 10, Niamh Parsons and Graham Dunne on Au- gust 25, Patricia Daly and the Span- ish-Lady Ensemble on August 31 and the Outside Track on August 8.

Doors for all concerts at 9.30pm, families are welcome with small children sitting on the lap free and children from 10 to 14 years half je ulGen

For more information call 7074988 or check out magnetic-music.com.

THE number of US military person- nel going through Shannon Airport in the second quarter of this year increased by 135 per cent on the number that went through the airport between January and March.

According to figures published by the Shannon Airport Author- ity (SAA) yesterday, the numbers of troops that went through Shan- non from March to June was 63,827 with 27,104 passing through in May alone.

Some 27,070 US military person- nel went through the airport between January and the end of March.

According to the Executive Chair- man of the Shannon Airport Author- ity (SAA), Pat Shanahan, Shannon Airport outdoes all other airports in the world in terms of service levels for the various military carriers.

Last year, profits from the US mili- tary traffic kept the SAA in profit. 280,785 military personnel used the airport’s facilities, which was a drop of 17 per cent or 59,903 on the number that went through Shannon in 2005.

The airport made a profit of €9 mil- lion from the troop traffic in 2005. The profit last year is an estimated ae esneeleyee

“Shannon has a tradition of han- dling military traffic. We do it very well and we have the infrastructure to do so.

“Geographically, the airport is ide- ally located between the two great continents,’ said Mr Shanahan.

“It is a business we do very well. Obviously the ultimate decision is a Government decision. While there is a business opportunity we will certainly capitalise on it. Shannon captitalises on it more than airport that I know in the world in terms of friendliness and in terms of the serv- ice level we give the various carriers that operate that business.”

Asked would the authority be look- ing for additional military business, Mr Shanahan said, “We’re good at that business, but if opportunities come along, certainly, but it is not a business you can rely on or predict a certain level of income, it fluctuates oA AAW NCCU RA

“It is not a business we will basing our future on, but it is a reasonable revenue generating business when there is an opportunity to capitalise One

“It is not a predictable business, but it is a business that we are happy to be in 1f the Government is happy to allow the carriers to go through Shannon,” said Mr Shanahan.

STAFF who are arriving first day on the job without experience are demanding minimum wage, causing headaches for employers, according to the Ennis Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber says there is confu- sion about who is entitled to the new minimum wage of €8.65 which was introduced by new Labour Affairs Minister Billy Kelliher last week.

“It’s important to note that the min- imum wage applies to people over 18 years of age with experience in their field,” said chamber CEO, Rita Weal tious

“People who are coming straight from school with no experience can- not be paid the minimum because there is a cost involved with training them,’ she said.

While the increases had _ been agreed as part of a national plan, the CEO said that businesses would hope that once the level had been reached, further increases would not come as quickly on each other again.

The increase to the National Mini- mum Wage is the second this year. The first increase to took effect on January 1, last. Overall it is the sixth increase to the national minimum wage since it was first introduced in

April 2000.

Ms McInerney said that the increas- ing cost of paying wages was one of a number of mounting expenses which were putting businesses under pres- sure.

“With the review of valuations on property in Ennis coming up, we re- ally need to examine the costs. If a business improves its premises, it’s caught for higher rates. The cost of renting a premises in Ennis is also something which needs to be looked ale

“We are concerned with the number of empty premises in the town. It’s not good for business or for the 1m- age of the town.”

Introducing the new wage, the minister said that the increase would “clearly benefit low paid workers in society, in particular part-time and younger workers”.

Anybody seeking information on the increase in the national mini- mum wage can telephone the Em- ployment Rights Information Unit at Ol 6313131, 1890 201 615 Co-call if outside the O1 area) or visit the web- site www.entemp.!e.

SOMETHING truly remarkable took place in Tubber National School this year. In the seven months be- tween September of 2006 and May of 2007, 17 children from the north Clare school read an amazing 2086 books, or one book for each child every two days.

This sudden addiction to the writ- ten word came through the schools participation in the ‘Transatlantic Reading Challenge. The reading challenge was set up between some 20 school in Clare and a number of school in Canada to encourage stu- dents to read more books.

“Each child was given a reading log at the beginning of the year and this log was used to record each book they read. In total the children of the school read 2086 books. There was 17 pupils involved so that means that in the seven month period from Sep- tember to the end of May, on average 111 books were read per child in the school,’ said a spokesperson from the school.

“We actively encouraged reading this year, we ran a number of ini- tiatives in the school such as paired reading, we got involved in the MS Readathon and we set up a Reading Buddies scheme. It became part of the curriculum but we also encour-

aged them to read from outside of it”

The Reading Buddies Scheme sees children paired off, with each child helping to support his or her partner in their own reading.

“It is an initiative that is used in a lot of schools to promote literacy and to help reluctant readers to read in a comfortable and encouraging envi- ronment. It gives them a support net- work, they can both get together and help one another with any difficult words and with the filling out the log,” continued the spokesperson.

“They were devouring books, I just couldn’t get over it. It really started to gain momentum as it went on. The

children have got a real respect for books and it is a life-long still for them. It’s the road to knowledge but it’s also a road to a more fulfilling and happy life.”

Amazingly for such a small school, Tubber came second of the 20 Clare schools in the competition. To mark their achievement, Chairman of Clare County Council’s Community and Cultural SPC, Councillor Pat Hayes, present a plaque to Lisa Mc- Mahon of Tubber National School last week.

that its architect was in Kilrush dur- ing the week to sign off on the fitting out of the building.

“The terms and conditions of the lease have been agreed and it is with the solicitors to be signed off,’ he nee

He said once the documents had been signed the OPW would be able to hand over the building. In the meantime, the remaining staff des- tined for the Kilrush office continue in their current assignments. The ten staff transferred from other depart- ments reported by prior arrangement to Kilrush on Monday week last.

‘As a temporary measure while Revenue is awaiting approval to oc- cupy the designated accommodation in Kilrush and due to the unavail- ability of suitable alternative accom- modation and facilities in Kilrush, these staff were allowed home,’ a spokesperson for the Revenue Com- missioners said.

“The position is under constant review in the light of on-going con- tact between Revenue and OPW,” he aXe Celoren

Revenue staff were expected to ar- rive in Kilrush on June 11, but the OPW said it had not put any date on the move. In total 70 civil servants will be employed in 50 positions in the Kilrush offices. Some of the staff will avail of part-time work or job sharing.

A third of them are believed to be coming from Ennis, another third from Limerick and one-third from Dublin.

Decentralisation of Government offices to Kilrush was first mooted in 2001 at a meeting chaired by Sena- tor Brendan Daly (FF). When con- tacted yesterday, Senator Daly said the delay was due to “bureaucratic lolenerca pustcaae

“This is most unsatisfactory for staff left in limbo for the last year or so, when this could have been expe- dited.”

A KILRUSH man who “fabricated a tissue of lies” to cover for having thrashed two cars has been sent to jail for a week while a judge decides on his sentence.

Martin Walsh (49) of 20 Island View had denied causing almost €4,000 worth of damage to two cars belonging to Mary O’Brien and her partner, Anthony Shannon at 22 O’Gorman Street, Kilrush, on No- vember 28, 2005.

Ennis Circuit Court heard that Mary O’Brien was roused from bed by her sister in the early hours of the morn- ing on that date and she looked out

the window and saw “Martin Walsh with what looked like a baseball bat. I saw him strike the back window of my partner’s car and smash it”.

O’Brien told the court that her own car had already been damaged.

When challenged by the defence barrister, Lorcan Connolly on her statement to the gardai, O’Brien agreed that she had not said in that statement that she saw the accused actually breaking the window of her partner’s car.

Garda Michael Ryan told the court that he went to Walsh’s home after speaking to the injured parties and found him “sitting on the ground in a coal shed in the back yard.”

The court heard that glass shards found on the accused’s clothing matched the glass in one of the car windows.

Walsh denied having anything to do with the damage to the two cars and the court also heard alibi evidence from his sister, Margaret Reilly, that he was nowhere near the scene of the damage.

Walsh told the court he was in the shed because he had a row earlier with his partner and she was not al- lowing him back in the house. “She threw me and my dinner out – the shed is the doghouse. I’m there fairly often’, he said.

After a jury found Walsh guilty

on two counts of criminal damage, Judge Sean O Donnabhain said he could give him no credit in the mat- ter and refused a defence plea that he be allowed organise compensation before sentencing.

After hearing that Walsh had re- ceived some compensation after be- ing seriously assaulted, the Judge said that he had experienced “some restorative justice but he has dragged these people through the court and or NN Tere Mm daosne mere Dace

‘He has fabricated a tissue of les,” the judge added.

He adjourned final sentencing and remanded Walsh in custody until July 5.

A MAN died on Sunday after he was washed into the sea while fishing at a notoriously dangerous location near Doonbeg where as many as I1 lives have been lost in the past.

The Moldovan national had trav- elled from Limerick along with three friends to go fishing at the Blue Pool between Kilkee and Doonbeg. It 1s thought that he was washed from the rocks by a rogue wave. His body was recovered at around 3pm by mem-

bers of the Kilkee Rescue Unit.

Gardai have confirmed that they are treating the incident as an accident.

The alarm was raised after two of the four men had returned to Lim- erick. They are understood to have gone to Henry Street Garda station to report the incident prompting a search and rescue operation. Gardai say, however, that they do not believe that there is anything sinister in this and said the men returned to Kilkee Fiore

A Garda spokesman confirmed,

“We are treating this incident as a tragic accident. We have spoken to several eyewitnesses who were at the scene as well as the victim’s friends.”

When the alarm was originally raised at 12.45pm an exact location was not known So rescue crews could only stand by waiting for further in- formation. Shortly before 3pm, Kil- kee Marine Rescue Unit was scram- bled to the Blue Pool just south of Doonbeg where they quickly located the body of a man.

The body was later taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where a post mortem ex- amination was carried out yesterday (Monday).

Water Safety Development Of- ficer for Clare County Council, Liam Griffin, has again warned about the dangers of the Blue Pool.

“This 1s a very dangerous location and has been for many years. Several lives have been lost at the Blue Pool in the past. We have erected signs at the location and have repeatedly

advised people to avoid the area be- cause of the dangers there.”

Last November, a 27 year-old man died in front of his wife and child When he was swept into the sea while fishing at the same location. The Latvian man had been living in Athlone and had travelled to the Blue Pool with his wife and eight year-old son when he was washed into the sea before their eyes. Last week, a Hungarian student died tragically af- ter falling from the Cliffs of Moher while taking photographs.

A NEW survey by BT Ireland sug- gests that many Clare men and wom- en are living secret online lives visit- ing websites, but hiding it from their family and partners.

The survey of browsing habits claims that 10 per cent of Irish men and 7 per cent of Irish women hide the websites which they visit from their loved ones.

The survey revealed that seven per

cent of men hid the fact that they were viewing pornographic material online from their partners while only two per cent of women admitted to secretly visited adult websites. How- ever, two per cent of women admit- ted to buying clothes and other goods online without the knowledge of their partners. The survey was carried out

by BT Ireland during May. ‘This research has thrown up some really interesting findings,” said

Emer Kennedy, spokesperson for BT

Ireland. “While men and women are spending more and more time online and seem to share a lot of the same interests, they are also very different in terms of the amount of time spent on the internet, the sites they use and the things they buy.

“While the internet has clearly im- proved the quality of life of all those who use it regularly, it is interesting to see males and females developing different habits, many of which will be familiar to the growing number of

regular internet users in Ireland.” Almost 30 per cent of females ad- mitted to using networking sites such as Bebo and Myspace, twice the percentage of males using similar websites. Also 17 per cent of males and 13 per cent of females claimed to be secretly ashamed of things they had done on the internet with online gambling being one of the main rea- sons. According to the survey more than 80 per cent of Irish adults use the internet at least twice a week. It

also claims that 56 per cent of people use the internet every day, with a fur- ther 30 per cent of males and 26 per cent females using the internet every second day or twice weekly.

The research was carried out among a sample of 200 men and women over the age of 18. More than 44 per cent of those surveyed were between 18 and 24 years, 22 per cent were aged between 25 and 34 years, 18 per cent between 35 and 44 and the remainder were 45 years old and over.

A MAN threatened to rape relatives of a garda, then exposed himself and urinated all over the floor in the pub- lic area of a Garda station.

Joseph Gannon (46), a native of Dublin and with an address in Sta- tion Court, Ennis, was jailed for four months, when he appeared on charges of assaulting two gardai and public order offences.

Garda Cathal O’Sullivan told Ennis District Court on Friday that the ac- cused arrived at Ennis Garda Station at lam on January 22 last.

‘He was intoxicated and was shout- ing in the public office. He said he

wished to make a statement,” said the garda.

The garda told the accused he was too intoxicated. Gannon then started banging on the hatch and was direct- ed to leave the area. “He said, “I’ll get every female in your family and I’ll rape them’. He exposed his penis and began to urinate all over the floor. He stripped naked and grabbed his geni- tals and said, “Do you like this’,” said the garda.

‘He threatened to kill me and Garda Ryan,’ added Gda O’Sullivan.

Some hours later, two gardai went to Gannon’s cell, to release him. He was lying naked on the floor and made a lunge at the gardai.

The court was told that Gannon had a number of previous convictions in Dublin, including two of a sexual na- UN Ken

He was jailed for 12 years for a rape offence, at Dublin Circuit Court, in 1988, while he received a three year sentence at the same court for anoth- er rape offence, also in 1988.

However, defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client, who was born in North Inner City Dublin, would maintain he has only one con- viction for an offence of a sexual na- ture. She said the “‘alleged rape mat- ter – for which he spent nine years in jail – absorbed much of his life” and was the subject of the Court of Crim-

inal Appeal and the Supreme Court.

‘He believes the rape conviction was a miscarriage of justice. My client has never once stopped main- taining his innocence. He spent nine years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit… The file is still open, she said.

Referring to the charges before the court, she said, “He can’t believe he had it in him to say what is alleged. He doesn’t believe he said them.”

‘He sees his visit to the Garda sta- tion as acry for help.

‘He had come to the end of his tether.

‘He was in crisis, in a very serious way, She said.