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ASPIRING gardeners and environ- mentalists can help funds to grow for Special Olympics Ireland by work- ing in the gardens of the Irish Seed Saver Association in Scariff.

The pay for every hour spent volun- teering at the 20-acre site at Capparoe will be donated to the ‘Support An Athlete’ initiative, to pay for the team’s trip to the World Summer Games in China this October.

Marketing Co-ordinator, Hilary Gleeson, said that the seeds of this inaugural scheme were planted by a part-time worker in Scariff.

‘Joe McGrath was involved with ‘Support an Athlete’ and he asked us if we would be interested in help- ing out. Over 140 athletes will travel to Shanghai in a few months so it 1s nice to give something back. We are aiming to raise around €1,000 so if we only got 10 volunteers for a day or two each, we would easily reach that target.”

She added that the association was hoping to cultivate an interest in its work as well as help a worthy cause.

‘This would be a unique opportuni- ty and a nice experience for someone to see how the organisation works. Summer is a lovely time to be out in

the gardens or orchards. They would be digging, mulching, using organic sprays, fixing beds to plant or work- ing in the poly-tunnels. Volunteers would also be learning about seeds, apple trees, soft fruit, herbs and veg- etables. They could even try some of our produce at lunch.”

There are no minimum or maxi- mum age restrictions to participate and no prior experience is needed. Volunteering hours run from Mon- day to Friday, 9.30am to 5pm.

Ms Gleeson explained that Scariff was the hub of the Irish Seed Saver Association, which works to promote organic and biodynamic farming and

preservation of seed varieties.

“The organisation has gone from strength to strength since it was founded by Anita Hayes in 1991. We acquired another 10 acres to add to our previous 10 in the last three years. We have a seed bank of 600 rare seeds and seeds from abroad, as well as lots of ‘old’ varieties of fruit and vegetables. There are other organisations saving seeds but Clare is very important in the scheme of donb enoacn

People interested 1n raising money or volunteering can contact the as- sociation on 061 921866 or, for more information, visit irishseedsavers.ie.

IRISH farmers are one of the most likely groups to be deprived and liv- ing in poverty, according to results of a study launched last week by the Economic and Social Research Insti- tute (ESRI).

The study, which was based on the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) sur- vey, looked at social inclusion from a number of different approaches.

It looked at five different areas of deprivation including consumption, housing, health and neighborhood or environment factors.

Farmers were found to be one of the groupings at risk, alongside the unemployed, lone parents and those

with less than a Leaving Certificate education.

‘There is an urgent need to imple- ment immediately the key farm sup- ports in the Rural Development Plan, which include an improved REPS Scheme, an increase in disadvan- taged area payments as well as other key rural development measures,” said the IFA’s Rural Development Chairman, Padraig Divilly.

‘Farmers also need social welfare supports through improved pension provision and farm assist assessment. Every farmer should devote some time to thoroughly reviewing his or her pension cover under both state pensions and supplementary private pensions.

“This review should also include

the pension provision for the spouse working on the family farm. The few hours spent by a farmer this week in planning for retirement income could be the most valuable time spent at work for the year.”

Less than one in four Irish farmers have any private pension provision at “Ne

“Low-income farmers, whose tax returns show that they have no net li- ability to pay income tax, and wrong- ly think that they do not have to pay PRSI, should do so,” he continues.

“The law requires that everybody with an income above €3,174 must pay PRSI. Farmers in this low-in- come category should pay the flat- rate PRSI contribution of €157 per year to secure their pensions.”

Overall, less than one per cent of people are deprived on all five of the criteria set out by the ESRI. Indeed, only eight per cent of the population were found to be lacking in three of WtoRGulKout.

‘For maximal deprivation, labour market inactivity and illness or dis- ability are powerful predictors,” said a spokesman for the ESRI.

‘Education is also a strong influ- ence and so is being an urban local authority tenant.

“The fact that multiple depriva- tion and multiple disadvantage are relatively rare acts as a counter to the sometimes despairing tone of com- mentary focusing on a so-called un- derclass entirely detached from the mainstream of society.”

LITRES of ice cream were eaten at the Old Forge in Tulla on Sunday, May 27 but it was all for a good cause as the community hosted a very successful HB Ice Cream Sun- day in aid of Down Syndrome Ire- land.

The event, among several around Clare and many nationally, was organised by local woman Maeve Mulcahy and her neighbour, Max Krauss.

“My husband’s nine-year-old niece has Down’s Syndrome and so we al- ways attended the event in Ennis so I decided it might be nice to have one locally. We applied online and printed off posters for around the village. We got a fantastic response and there was probably a couple of hundred people throughout the day from one to four o’clock.”

The Tulla Ice Cream Sunday raised nearly €900, the majority of which will go to the Clare Down Syndrome branch.

“We just put out a donations box rather than charging per ice cream and that actually raised a lot more Wer DOr. @ oe Cereb

“You never know how some- thing will go for the first time and weather-wise it was a bit dodgy but it didn’t stop people. Wveryone was very good,’ she added.

The event became a real commu- nity effort, with businesses and or- dinary people contributing.

“I have to thank a lot of people — a lot of them approached us with

help. Sla’s Powerhouse donated four crates of minerals, crisps and sweets. East Clare Bouncing Cas- tles and Circus Bouncing Castles gave us two castles free of charge. O’Hallorans Service Station gave us cones and JP O’Connor allowed us to use his land for the party. Ann Cahill helped us out too,” said Ms Mulcahy.

She said she hoped that Tulla might play host to another party next year as part of Down Syndrome Ireland’s continuing fundraising efforts.

IRISH beef farmers struggling to remove potentially dangerous and sub-par Brazilian beef from the EU market received a timely boost this week from an unlikely source.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed to the IFA last week that, based on sci- entific assessments, the USDA con- sider the risks too high and are not prepared to import fresh beef from Brazil.

Both Brazilian and Argentine beef has been underfire in recent times because of doubts over the safety of production methods as well as the documented foot and mouth problem in the region.

IFA National Livestock Chairman John Bryan last week contrasted this strong position of the USDA with that of the EU Commission which adopts the opposite policy on risk and imports 331,000 tonnes of beef from Brazil.

The IFA livestock leader had just returned from a visit to the USDA head office in Washington where he met with senior policy and veterinary experts to discuss the US approach

in not accepting fresh beef imports from Brazil.

“It is clear the USDA have a strong and robust policy when it comes to food safety and animal health risk assessment,’ he said.

‘They are not prepared to take un- necessary risks with their consumers and livestock sector. The US do not import fresh beef from Brazil be- cause they consider it too high a risk to take, both from a consumer and livestock point of view. We simply cannot afford to risk allowing fresh beef imports from Brazil into the ON ie

The IFA Livestock leader said the USDA are very proud of their robust policy on risk assessment and point to the fact that they have not had an outbreak of FMD since 1926. They put this down to not accepting fresh beef imports from Brazil and other abhcd eto Wh) ere Busts

He said the EU Commission must reassess its policy on imports from high-risk regions such as Brazil, where there are FMD outbreaks on a continuing basis related to the lack of standards and controls, particularly a lack of traceability and an absence of movement and border controls.

STUDENTS are being sought for a new course in equestrian studies to be held in Clonlara Equestrian Cen- tre as part of the educational pro- gramme for Limerick Senior Col- lege.

Course co-ordinator Sharon Tan- nian explained what the one year full time course aims to cover.

“The course will be very hands on and practical. The majority of the week will be spent at the cen- tre where students will develop and progress their horse-riding and sta- ble yard management skills. Limer- ick Senior College will be attended

for the essential science and business related modules.”

She added that the course was be- ing run is association with several equestrian bodies including the Irish Horse Board, Association of Irish Riding Establishments (AIRE), Association of Irish Riding Clubs (AIRC) and Shannon Development.

‘The Irish Horse Board considers it vitally important that individuals involved in the horse industry have access to education and training in horsemanship and horse care. Such training would facilitate an improve- ment to the conditions and welfare of the Irish horse by providing relevant and practical training to individuals

involved with horses on a day to day basis,’ she added.

The centre’s owner, Davnet Kiern- an O’Brien, has taught horse-riding at various levels for 12 years and she will be the course’s main instructor.

‘This course will cater for students of varying horse-riding abilities. We have no set number of places- around 10 to 15 most likely for the first year. The demand for qualified instructors and staff is definitely there so we are really looking forward to starting,” she said.

Clonlara Equestrian Centre is around 5km from Limerick and all equestrian disciplines are taught there including showjumping, cross-

country and dressage.

Potential students should have Leaving Certificate or FETAC quali- fications although mature students are exempt from some requirements.

The course will begin in September and application forms are available for download on www.limericksc. ie or by phoning the college on 061 ae

RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary has confirmed that the airline will never operate a long-haul or transat- lantic flight but is in the process of establishing a sister company which will do so but not for a number of years yet and definitely not from Ire- land.

Suggestions that Ryanair would commence transatlantic flights were first mooted in 2001 but resurfaced last month following confirmation of the scrapping of the Shannon stopo-

ver and the introduction of a US/EU Open Skies policy.

Mr O’Leary said however that while such flights would not oper- ate from Ireland, some of the new company’s aircraft could be based at Shannon and that the mid west air- port could be used as a hub for these transatlantic services. Speaking af- ter he announced eight new services from Shannon Airport he said there was no possibility Ryanair would ever operate a long haul flight.

‘‘However, we are looking at a sep- arate stand-alone company that will

not be Ryanair, which in the next downturn in the industry, will pro- cure a fleet of long-haul aircraft to provide low fare point-to-point serv- ice across the Atlantic but they will not be from Ireland to the US.”

“We are talking about €10 or $10 fares from Europe to the US. It will not be from Ireland to the US but what we have in mind is with a fleet of 30 to 40 long haul aircraft, we would base two or three in about six or eight of Ryanair’s larger base air- ports in Europe and Shannon could be one of those.”

The most likely European bases would be Barcelona (Girona), Stan- sted in London, Frankfurt Hahn and probably Brussels and Stockholm Skavsta. There is a possibility that we could link Shannon with six or eight very exciting destinations and bigger cities in the US. Wherever we have a large base in Europe there is every likelihood that some of those long-haul planes could be based at Shannon.”

Mr O’ Leary stated however that all of this would not happed for “three or four years yet.”

WITH the technology sector coming under increased pressure in recent months, one Clare man has bucked the trend this week by being appoint- ed to one of the most senior positions in California’s Silicon Valley. Clarecastle’s Tim Leyden last week rejoined IT giants Western Digital, and will take over as Chief Finan- cial Officer (CFO) for the company, which is the worlds second largest producer of hard disks, on Septem-

ber 1, 2007.

Fifty-five year old Leyden is a sen- ior figure in the global software sec- tor and joins Western Digital from Sage Software where he was a Senior Vice-president and Chief Financial Officer.

This is Leyden’s second time at Western Digital having previously worked there from 1983 to 2000 in a variety of different capacities. He will be joining fellow Irishman, John Coyne, at the company which has more than doubled its revenues from

$2 billion in 2000 to $4.3 billion in paul eToys

“IT am delighted to welcome Tim back to the Western Digital team and look forward to having him work closely with me in addressing the tremendous opportunities available to Western Digital as the world’s sec- ond-largest supplier of hard drives,” said Western Digital CEO, John Srey sites

‘“Tim’s deep knowledge of the com- pany, its finances and operations and the hard drive industry will be major

assets to me and to the entire West- ern Digital organisation.”

Western Digital is currently consid- ered one of the most profitable firms in Silicon Valley. In recent years it was moved from making losses of $188 million to an income of $396 million, which has swelled it invest- ments to $699 million and posting one of the IT industry’s leading re- turns on invested capital in the proc- ess.

Coyne took over as CEO last No- vember and has acted early in an-

nouncing Leyden as successor for outgoing CFO, Steve Milligan.

Leyden will serve as Executive Vice President for Finance, reporting to Milligan until September 1, but will take full control before that date should Milligan decides to leave his post earlier than planned.

After leaving Western Digital for the first time, Leyden joined Sage Software in 2001 and also worked as a management consultant to tech- nology based companies such as Pit- tiglio, Rabin, Todd and McGrath.

SHANNON Airport is equipped to cater for more than 5 million passen- gers and will continue to develop in order to cater for any future expan- sion in passenger numbers, according to Airport Director Martin Moroney who was speaking after Ryanair’s announcement of eight new services from Shannon.

“If we see that passenger numbers will exceed five million, which we are well able to take, we will expand accordingly. We are expanding as it

is and we have already started to in- crease the number of departure gates for airlines including Ryanair,” he said.

“We are developing and expanding ahead of growth while Dublin Air- port is behind growth.

‘We are geared to take five million passengers and if we See it expanding beyond that, we will certainly invest. It will be difficult with the popula- tion base but with new road networks set to be finished by 2010, we will be very well placed,” Mr Moroney added.

“With the development of these roads we will try to draw passengers from Kilkenny, Kildare and Mulling- ar because the roads will make Shan- non more accessible than Dublin.

“We are better placed than most other airports and when the Ennis to Galway railway link is completed we will take advantage of that too.

“Galway people are the luckiest people in the world regarding inter- national connections with their own airport, Shannon and Knock but people still tend to travel to Dublin. We believe Shannon can take the

vast majority of this business in the future once the roads are completed and once we have increased both the short haul and transatlantic serv- Cone

Prior to Ryanair establishing its base at Shannon, the airport catered for approximately 2 million passen- gers every year.

“Galway is an important part of our catchment area for both inbound and outbound traffic, and we look forward to working with the tourism and business sector in harnessing support for these new Services”.

A PROJECT which has had a quiet existence in Shannon for the past 40 years was introduced to the wider community in the town last week.

The Sheltered Community Work- shops provide people with intellec- tual mental disabilities with an outlet that they would not otherwise have.

Through the project, hundreds of people – whose ages vary from 39 to 70 – work in a socially inclusive training environment, at the Indus- trial Estate in Shannon. They hail from all over the Munster region.

The group has been in existence for four decades, but has gone un- noticed by much of the community in Shannon, during that time.

Last week its co-ordinators decided to introduce the group and its work to the local community, through an open day at the Sean Lemass library in the town.

“The open day turned out very well. The aim was to get the people more involved in the community in which they live,’ said co-ordinator Martina Halpin.

‘People didn’t even know the work- shop and the disability centre was here. I was surprised by that,’ she added.

Art work, put together by members of the group, was put on display, for the open day.

Over the past 10 years, the group has mainly worked with Irish Coun- try Pottery, while some of its mem- bers have also worked in the restau- rant, located on the same premises. Their pottery is sold throughout the country and has grown in popularity in recent years.

Training, through Clare Adult Education Centre as well as through the FAS Community Employment Scheme, takes place on a regular ba- Sy

“We have done extensive training over time. The main focus of the workshops is to give people with mental intellectual disabilities an en- vironment where they feel included and it also puts something back into society, said Ms Halpin.

‘They produce the pottery here and are learning a lot at the same time,’

added Ms Halpin.

“If they didn’t have this place, they wouldn’t have any place. It is a home for them. It gives them an independ- ence,’ she said.

‘For over 40 years, the many train- ees within the workshop have seri-

ously contributed to the economic growth of Shannon town, bringing a beautiful selection of tableware, decorative lamps to the Irish and in- ternational markets,’ she added. More than 100 pieces of pottery will be displayed at the Sean Lemass

library during the month of June. These are the work of the commu- nity employment participants.

THE prices that farmers are receiv- ing for their produce continues to dominate across every sector of the industry this week, with a growing sense of dissatisfaction beginning to eaKO A

Last week, the ICMSA met with senior representatives of Meat In- dustry Ireland and stated clearly to them that the prices being returned to farmers at the present time are unsustainable and threaten the very future of winter finishing in Ireland.

“With significantly increased feed bills, nitrate directive investments and the losses already suffered this year, many farmers who tradition-

ally finished cattle during the winter period will change their system of production,” said Martin McMahon, Clare farmer and chairperson of IC- MSA’s Beef and Cattle Committee.

“These farmers have guaranteed meat plants a year-round supply of beef which has been critical in build- ing up high-value markets. The un- fortunate reality is that these high value markets are, at present, not leading to acceptable prices for win- ter finishers and these farmers are now being effectively penalised for providing the raw material for these markets.”

The ICMSA delegation told Meat Industry Ireland that unless beef prices increase immediately, farmers

will either scale back production or move to a system of finishing ani- mals off grass.

“The hard choice is for the meat plants, to either raise beef prices 1m- mediately or irreparably damage the long-term future of their own busi- ness. Farmers cannot be blamed for this; they cannot continue to supply beef at a loss,’ said McMahon.

Meanwhile, the IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman, Rich- ard Kennedy, has said EU markets for SMP and butter were continuing to be firm, pulling away ahead of even the historically high prices of €2,/00/t for butter and €3,100/t for SMP paid in May by the Irish Dairy Board.

However, only a fraction of this, he says, has been passed back to farm- ae

“EU market quotes have contin- ued to rise for both SMP and butter. I have no doubt that the Irish Dairy Board will reflect this further in- crease, worth a further 4.5c/l over the coming weeks. When they do, this will increase returns to co-ops from the current 38.8c/I to over 43c/l,” he said. “EU market returns have now increased by a total of 15.1c/l (68.7c/ gallon) since last July, of which the IDB has passed on 12.7c/l (58c/gal- lon) so far. Farmers have only been paid, at best, 2.6c/l (12c/gallon) — just about 1/6th of the actual market improvement,” he added.