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FORMER senator and newly elected TD, Timmy Dooley, has admitted that his party colleagues in Clare are facing an “uphill” battle in the up- coming Seanad election.

Looking forward to his first term as a ITD, the east Clare Fianna Fail deputy, was predicating a busy time ahead amid fears that his party would not return two senators from the banner county to replace himself and outgoing Senator Brendan Daly.

“It will be more difficult (work- ing in the 30th Dail). In the last ad- ministration we had four Oireachtas members. We now have two,” he said referring to himself and outgoing Minister for Labour Affairs Tony Ono

“We are hopeful that the Seanad will deliver two for us to balance it out but that is going to be an uphill battle with the way the Seanad cam- paign is going,’ he said, just hours before Senator Daly removed his name from the Seanad race.

The most Fianna Fail in Clare can now achieve is one Seanad seat if Cllr Pat Daly is elected. A Taoi- seach’s nomination could secure a second but this 1s thought very un- likely to happen.

“So it is going to be a big job of work for us to try to cover the county and manage the issues that are there,” he said.

Fianna Fail are expected to lose ap- proximately one senator from each panel in the upcoming election due to the make up of the council and the party’s losses in the last local elec- tions.

Poll topper Dooley does not see himself as a junior minister in the upcoming Dail and has resigned himself to the backbenches.

“IT see myself as an active back- bencher working obviously to deliv- erer for the people that have elected me and I think that as a back bench- er, I can work effectively in the same way many back benchers before me have done in the past, having access to government ministers, having a weekly parliamentary party meeting chaired by the Taoiseach addressing the issues together with my colleague Tony Killeen.”

THE success enjoyed by local gov- ernment in Shannon over the past 25 years was celebrated, when council- lors – past and present – gathered to- gether last week.

At a special function to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of local government in the town, spe- cial tributes were paid to Town Clerk Tomas MacCormaic and Councillor Patricia McCarthy (Independent). Both have been involved with the lo- cal authority since its inception.

Current councillors were joined in the celebrations by former council- lors, including the first chairman of the local authority in the town Brendan Regan and Pat O’Brien, who was among the first elected mem- bers.

Shannon Town Manager Ger Dol- lard said he was proud that two ma- jor projects, which have been “in the blocks” for some time, are nearing CeO eF

One of those, the €3.5 million Shan- non Southern Primary Road project will open to traffic within a week and will be officially opened in July.

The other major project, the Shan- non Recycling Centre in Smithstown, will also be open for business this Ssseloe

Mr Dollard told the group that “a debt of gratitude” was owed to those who set up Shannon Town Commis- sion, back in 1982.

“That sense of community 1s still in Shannon,” said Mr Dollard.

He said that since Clare County Council took over the running of the town in 2004, a strong link between

the town authority and the county council has been maintained.

The mayor of Shannon, Councillor Tony McMahon (Labour), pointed out that the town has grown signifi- cantly over the years.

“It is a sign of the times in the de- velopment of Shannon that Shannon has progressed to the stage where we need to look at our boundaries. That is a sign of growth. It is a very posi- tive thing that Shannon has grown to that degree,” said Cllr McMahon.

He said the local authority is a “master of our own destiny” in look- ing ahead to the future status of the reaa

“We long for the day when Shannon has a different status. We do want to see that in the future,’ he said.

He expressed hope that the views of the people of Shannon are taken

into consideration, in the event of a proposed overhaul of the town taking se eeleres

Councillor Patricia McCarthy said she was honoured to be present, hav- ing represented the people of Shan- non at local authority level for the past 25 years.

“T first heard of Shannon in 1959. That was when my father moved us from Kilrush to take up a post in Sixmilebridge station. I always thank my family for that decision,’ she nee

“We all came to Shannon to make our home in Shannon. People always made us feel welcome,’ she added.

Addressing County Manager Alec Fleming, Cllr McCarthy said, “I still think he should evolve a budget each year for us to decide on how to spend on the town.”

THE developers of the €50 million retail park planned for the Quin Road in Ennis were last night refusing to confirm if they are to appeal Clare County Council’s decision to appeal to An Bord Pleanala.

A spokesman for Sean Lyne and Noel Connellan would only say that the two are “examining the deci- sion’.

Ennis Chamber of Commerce chief executive Rita McInerney said the chamber was keen that any retail park be near the town to offer ben- efits in terms of linkages to the town

centre.

She said she would have to examine the reasons behind the refusal before making a definitive statement on the olor teee

The council decision ensures that the local authority will miss out on a development levy bonanza in excess of <1 million through planning con- Wm le)ULBlOeKe The proposal is the second retail development to have fallen foul of planning hurdles in the past eight rneLeye la etse Last October, a plan by Michael Lynch Ltd to develop a €50 mil- lion retail park at Clonroadmore that would create 250 jobs was turned down in a comprehensive ruling de- livered by An Bord Pleanala. The Lyne-Connellan consortium will need to make a decision quickly in relation to an appeal as it will be contesting the council’s decision on eight separate grounds. They have four weeks within which to lodge their appeal to An Bord Pleanala. The appeal could take up to eight peeve etse The decision is a setback for the two who are currently the prime resi- dential developers in the greater En- nis area through their company CLS Crystal Partners.

PRIDE overruled disappointment as Clare camogie representatives, Sixmilebridge were desperately un- lucky not to qualify from a extremely difficult group. They accounted for themselves well throughout, display- ing some terrific camogie on their way to winning two of of their three eroup games and were only outdone by two points in their final game against the eventual finalists, Mil- ford, which 1s a barometer of how far the bridge team could have gone had they overcome the fancied Cork champions.

The Bridge side were in a tough eroup with Kilmanagh, their Kil- kenny hosts who Sixmilebridge ac- counted for in their opening game on Friday evening on a score line of Sixmilebridge 7-4 to O-l. Scor- ers for Sixmilebridge in this game were Mairead Hyland (4-02), Alison Quinlan (2-0), Sinead Tuohy (1-0), Chloe Morey and Rachel O’Halloran (O-1) each.

On Saturday morning, the Dublin Champions St. Lachtain’s provided the opposition and once again, Sixmi- lebridge came out on top in this one 5-05 to 1-04. Sixmilebridge’s scor- ers were Mairead Hyland (3-3), Katie Liddy & Alison Quinlan (1-0) each and Rachel O’ Halloran (0-2).

In the final group game, Sixmi- lebridge were up against Milford, the Cork champions, who were also unbeaten at this point so this game would decide who would qualify from the group. A tough, tight game was played out between these two

and indeed, it was level at half time 1-1 apiece. Unfortunately, Sixmile- bridge just came out on the losing side, as the game finished Sixmile- bridge 2-2 to Milford’s 2-4. Alison Quinlan and Mairead Hyland scored (1-0) each and Rachel O’Halloran

and Chloe Morey (0-1) a piece in this game.

Sixmilebridge were understandably disappointed but were overwhelmed by the welcome and courtesy of their Kilkenny hosts who even had their county representatives, Eddie Bren-

nan and Jackie Tyrell entertain the Sixmilebrdige squad on Saturday evening.

Afterwards, Club Secretary, Ni- amh McInerney was quick to point out how well the team had done and that the quality of their play through- out was outstanding. Niamh went on to congratulate the girls, stressing that the club was very proud of all the girls and how they had acquitted themselves. “A lot of hard work had gone into this and the girls played very well, we are very proud of each and every one of them and if the final of this competition is anything like the last game we played in the com- petition, it will be a good one”.

Sarsfields from Galway were the eventual champions, seeing off Sixmilebridge’s group opponents, Milford by 2-8 to 1-3.

THERE’s been no time to pause and reflect. Since his re-election to the Dail almost a month ago, it’s been non-stop for Deputy Pat Breen. Plan- ning meetings, parliamentary meet- ings, Council of Europe business in Paris. The work may officially be- gin for the men and women of the 30th Dail this week, but in reality it all started as soon as the counting stopped and the seats were secured.

The political landscape locally and nationally may have changed but the problems and the issues remain the same.

The campaign trail brought prom- ises and plans for the future. Now it’s back to the grind. The future of En- nis General Hospital, a key election battleground, sits high on Deputy Breen’s list of priorities.

To him, the situation in the ancient building is bad and getting worse.

‘“T was over at the hospital the other night and to me that situation is an awful lot worse. There is terrible overcrowding in the surgical and male wards and terrible problems in the elderly care unit as well. It’s just not right. People have to go over and see it for themselves. In this day and age, to have that kind of overcrowd- ing in general wards is unaccept- able.”

With planning documents for the long-mooted re-development of the site now lodged with Clare County Council. Deputy Breen is skeptical about the merits of building a new

facility on a greenfield site.

The idea was a cornerstone of Breen’s party colleague and Dail newcomer Joe Carey’s pre-election manifesto.

But for now Deputy Breen believes the issue surrounding Ennis Gen- eral Hospital can only be addressed through the current strategy.

“Joe Carey, my colleague, has run

that idea for some time. I have said that in principal I have no problems in supporting it or supporting him on it. But the reality is I don’t see that hap- pening with any Government. The

Fianna Fail-led government is there for the past 10 years and that never happened. As I said before, Our La- dy’s Hospital was the ideal place for a greenfield site but that didn’t hap- pen. And now that the planning ap- plication has been lodged with Clare County Council for the first phase of the development plan, I would hope that we could get that speed- ily resolved. Of course, for planning for the long term, a new hospital is something that has to be planned for. But the fact that we are geographi- cally located between Limerick and Galway doesn’t help our cause.”

However, Breen also believes both he and Deputy Carey will be reading from the same page when it comes to big issues and problems in Clare.

“Over the past five years, it’s been a huge challenge to cover every cor- ner of County Clare. Clare is a huge geographic area to cover from Loop Head to Whitegate and from Ard- nacrusha right up to Bellharbour. I have a new colleague and I know that we’ll work very closely together on issues in relation to County Clare. Since the election the workload hasn’t eased off. I would hope that some of the workload could be eased and Joe and myself could share some common platforms in relation to 1s- sues in Clare, particularly the health issue and the challenges that Open Skies brings to Shannon”.

THE citizens of Kilkee will don their berets, prepare a few baguettes and gather in the Diamond Rocks Cafe this Thursday to celebrate 25 years of twinning with the French town of Plouhinec.

By celebrating the silver anniver- sary organisers hope to form a new twinning committee and reinvigor- ate the relationship between the west Clare seaside town and the small French town.

Kilkee Town Twinning Steering Group is looking for new blood to join the Kilkee-Plouhinec Twinning Association as ordinary, affiliate, or junior members.

It is proposed to form a new man- agement committee to revitalise the twinning arrangements between Kilkee and Plouhinec and realise the benefits of town twinning for the community.

The group are particularly encour- aging young people to get involved as it promises opportunities to travel and broaden language experiences and provide alternative work place- ments.

The steering group is also encour- aging clubs, groups, and organisa- tions in Kilkee and surrounding ar- eas to contact the association with a view to exploring the potential of twinning.

Those interested in joining are

asked to part take in the 25th anni- versary celebrations in the Diamond Rocks Café at 7.30pm.

Kilkee was formally twinned with Plouhinec, the small town in south- ern Brittany, in 1983 after initial con- tacts were made in 1982.

The aim of the Kilkee Twinning Association is to promote and foster friendship and understanding be- tween the people of Kilkee, Plouhi- nec and their hinterlands and associ- aK

It also aims to encourage visits by individuals and groups and the de- velopment of personal and organisa- tional contacts, thereby broadening mutual understanding of social, cul- tural, educational, sporting, recrea-

tional, civic and commercial activi- Woe

The idea of twinning was born after World War II when it was felt that establishing links between lo- cal communities from former enemy countries would contribute to secure peace in Europe. Since then, thou- sand of villages and towns in Europe have established twinning links.

Twinning aims at developing mutu- al understanding and cross-cultural awareness between people from dif- ferent cultures. It helps develop val- ues such as citizenship and tolerance. Above all, twinning is a fun way to discover how other European people live and make friends from different felt bau lone

THE tragic drowning of a man while swimming in Spanish Point last week has left the people of Cratloe in shock.

John Harrington (58), a father- of-three, drowned at teatime on Mere See E RA

Mr Harrington, who was originally from Newport, County Tipperary, had been swimming alone when he got into difficulty.

Two local surfers took his body ashore but efforts to resuscitate him failed and he died later.

Mr Harrington, a carpenter, had been staying at his family’s mobile home in Spanish Point during an early summer break. His wife, Kath- leen, had been due to join him on the holiday the following morning. The couple had spoken on the telephone Were rhe

Mr Harrington, a keen GAA fan, had planned to go to the Munster Senior Hurling Championship game between his native Tipperary and Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Sunday.

He was born in Tipperary and moved to Cratloe several years ago. His wife Kathleen hails from the lo-

cal area.

He was known locally as a talented musician and played the accordion in the local church and during senior citizens parties with members of his family. He was also involved in the GAA and community games locally and was a regular Mass-goer.

Cratloe parish priest, Fr Liam En- right, said the local community was in shock at Mr Harrington’s death.

“John’s death has come as an aw- ful shock to us all. He adored his family. He was very quiet and loyal and was a good musician. He was a great worker. He did everything for his family and made sure his three children furthered their careers.

‘He painted his house on Tuesday morning and headed to Spanish Point for a few days that evening,” said Fr JSyavwesd elm

‘He was well used to the area (Spanish Point) and was generally very careful. He used to go there eve- ry year to the Willie Clancy Summer School,” he added.

Mr Harrington is survived by his mother Peg, wife Kathleen (nee Chaplin), daughters Eimear and Orla, son Colm, brothers Michael and sis- ters Kathleen, Mary Bernadette and Geraldine.

BEACHES at Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon on Lough Derg have regained the prestigious Blue Flag status which was lost last year due to algal bloom on the lake.

The beaches were among two of seven in Clare to be awarded the international stamp for good water quality, safety and services as well as environmental management, in- formation and education.

The Blue Flag jury said that wa- ter quality at the beaches had vastly improved and was now in line with

Bathing Water Directives.

“The jury acknowledges the excel- lent management efforts Clare Coun- ty Council undertook to monitor the bathing areas at Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon, sending out press releases to the media about the algal blooms and warning the public.

‘The council must have a fast re- sponse time to get the flag down and ensure the public is adequately in- formed.”

The awards, handed out on June 5 by environmental minister Dick Ro- che, is a significant boost to tourism in east Clare and has been welcomed

locally.

Sean Ward, Senior Engineer for the Environment and Emergency Services Directorate said that an early warning system had been put in place, minimising the effects of algal bloom.

“It is safe to swim in Lough Derg. There has been no algal bloom so far this year,’ he said.

He expressed his disappointment that Doonbeg beach was one of only three Irish beaches that had lost a flag before adding that the decision would be appealed.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy,

Chair of Clare County Council’s En- vironment, Emergency Services and Consumer Protection Strategic Pol- icy Committee said that the awards were achieved through hard work and collaboration between commu- nities and local authorities.

Meanwhile, the 2007 Clare Beach By-laws were announced. From June 1 to August 31, no dogs or horses are allowed onto beaches between llam and 6pm. If on a beach outside of these hours, dogs must be on a eo

Detailed restrictions are available to view on www.clare.ie.

THE long awaited sewerage scheme for the coastal village of Carrigaholt came a Step closer this week, as the council prepared to send a revised proposal for the scheme to the De- partment of the Environment and Local Government.

The fortunes of the scheme has made a complete turn around in the last three months when it appeared that it was facing even further de- JE WAS

At the end of March a preliminary review of the cost of the scheme

had shown that the unit cost for this scheme was still at a high, unaccept- able level.

A further review of the scheme has shown a marked reduction in the cap- ital cost and seems to satisfy specific Department of the Environment and Local Government requirements.

Senior executive engineer for Clare County Council Hugh McGrath, told the west Clare councillors, “we are confident that the revised proposal now meets this criteria, and follow- ing an internal review of the revised document we expect to be able to forward the proposal to the Depart-

ment of the Environment and Local Government in the next week. We also need to submit a new Part III Planning Application.”

Initially a report was prepared for the Carrigaholt/Labasheeda/Co- oraclare Sewerage Scheme bundle and submitted to the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government, but this proved unsuc- COSINE

Cooraclare was then separated from the grouped sewerage scheme and the submission of a revised and reduced proposal for the village was drawn up. As a result approval was

received from the department for the Cooraclare sewerage scheme.

The design review is also complet- ed for Labasheeda. It proposes a re- duced outfall length and the installa- tion of a tidal valve and storage tank arrangement, allowing discharge of treated effluent on the falling tide.

The foreshore licence could hold up the Labasheeda project however by up to two year. Under the new proposal for Carrigaholt it will not require such a licence. The people of Carrigaholt have claimed that they were first promised a sewerage scheme more than 30 years ago.

EUROPE’S first ever large-scale au- dit of farm machinery is about to get underway in Clare.

The Clare Farm Machinery Audit aims to document unprotected early agricultural machinery and to estab- lish a strategy for the conservation of such items as seed drills, harrows, ploughs and rollers, horse carts and harvesting and haymaking machin- ery.

The Clare Heritage Office recently secured funding from the Heritage Council and Clare County Council to conduct the project.

East Clare-based — consultants Minogue Associates have been ap- pointed to conduct the audit. Re- orTKONSHUCMA YON MLO CCNLBE Rare TELOMmereyeel ODE Le an inventory of agricultural machin- ery in Clare and will allow for the future analysis of issues surrounding the future protection and role of farm machinery for education, historical awareness and museum and heritage centre accessibility.

“This tradition has bequeathed a significant amount of farm machin- ery dating from the late 19th- and early to mid-twentieth centuries,” explained Acting Clare Heritage Of- ficer, Tomas Mac Conmara.