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BY 6pm, Clare’s largest polling sta- tion was humming. The flow of vot- ers had been steady all day at Ennis CBS, but now business was really picking up.

The narrow hallways rumbled with the purposeful steps of voters. Out- side cars and SUV’s were plonked on the footpath. Inside the walls, others jostled for parking spaces.

Normally you’d associate this kind of traffic with the daily school com- mute taken by parents and children to and from New Road.

But today there’s a different reason for the hustle and bustle. It’s Election Day.

Time to chose the men or women that will serve Clare in the 30th Dail. And the people are eager to have Dales DMITRY

“Oh it’s always this way,” says Cen- tre Supervisor Anne Monahan. Pre- siding officer Lawrence O’ Loughlin concurs, “You’ll always find it like that.”

Between them, Anne and Lawrence have over 50 years experience at the polling stations. Steady hands on hec- tic days. 3,800 voters drawn mainly

from the Tulla Road and Roslevan areas of the town passed through the CBS last Thursday.

Seven individual stations were di- vided between two buildings. The booths propped neatly in classrooms in the main building. Three more ar- ranged in a circle in a separate hall.

The school also housed the busi- est polling booth in the county – box number two where 860 of the coun- ty’s 79,883 potential votes were cast.

Anne checked the first polling fig- ures at 2pm and already turnout was high, at 18 per cent. By 6pm that fig- ure had risen to 30 per cent.

A staff of 15 people sat through the long hours of voting, making sure everything ran smoothly. A good thing too.

A power cut struck parts of Ennis on Thursday. Electronic voting may- be quick, easy and less cumbersome, but what happens when the lights go oD nia

‘That would be an absolute disas- ter. No one would be able to vote,” says Anne.

While we await the winner of the pencil versus keypad debate, there will still be plenty of work for pre- siding officers at election time.

For Lawrence, that means rising in the early light of 6.30am. The day isn’t done until 10.30pm when the last of the all-important ballot boxes are under lock and key in the West County Hotel.

It’s a day for people and their pri- orities. After a 15-hour day, there’s only one place the Boston, Tubber native is thinking of.

“It’s a long day alright. I remember we had a long one a few years ago. It will take about a half an hour to clean up. I’ll be aiming to hit Rory Kenny’s by twenty past eleven’, says Lawrence.

MICHAEL McDowell’s decision to retire from the political scene last Friday has been greeted with sadness by the party faithful in Clare.

The Progressive Democrat’s candi- date in Clare for last week’s general election, Murt Collins paid tribute to the former Tanaiste.

“TI think that the people have let us down. I think that they have made the worst mistake of all with the Minis- ter for Justice, Michael McDowell. He was one of the best ministers for justice that we have ever had. He took on the IRA, he reduced overtime in certain state bodies, and what did he get from it?” said Mr Collins.

“We took a hammering but it was a bad day for all small parties. It was bad for us but it was bad for the coun- try. The PDs were keeping Fianna Fail on the straight and narrow.

“They drove the economy and tax reform. We have all the tribunals out

of the PDs, we’d never know what was going on in the country if it hadn’t been for the PDs.”

The Kilrush general election candi- date also blamed Fianna Fail’s reac-

tion to Michael McDowell’s handling of leaks from the Mahon Tribunal as one of the main factors in the PD’s disastrous election campaign.

“This 1s my opinion, it was all about McDowell’s statement there a couple weeks ago about Bertie. What happened then is that Fianna Fail de- cided not to cross vote. It was very obvious there in Limerick when Wil- lie O’Dea got a huge vote and Tim O’Malley didn’t get the transfer. I think McDowell got Fianna Fail’s backs up a small bit,” he said.

“Whatever happened in the last week there was a whole swing to the big parties. Having the vote on the Thursday didn’t suit some of the smaller parties because they are depending on youth. In the last few days, the bigger parties pulled out all the stops and brought out all the voters.”

A POLISH woman came to the res- cue on Wednesday last after three horses bolted into heavy traffic on the Clare Road.

Stunned onlookers watched on as 21-year-old Magdalena Musial calmly took control of a dangerous situation that developed at the busy roundabout near the Westfield’s es- tate.

Three horses broke out from a nearby field into heavy morning traf- fic creating a dangerous situation for

motorists and passers by.

Gardai and members of the Clare fire service were called to the scene at around 11am on Wednesday morn- betes

Magdalena was in a car with her boyfriend Kieran O’Brien when the drama occurred. Magdalena who has been living in Ennis for the past year and works in Dunnes Stores took control of the situation by calmly guiding one of the horses in from the road.

The other horses followed suit and Magdalena then helped walk the an1-

mals into a horsebox when the owner arrived.

Kieran said, “Everyone there was amazed. One of the horses was bro- ken in but they other two weren’t, so it was quite a dangerous thing to do. Traffic was held up and people were walking by. Everyone kept well ley: 1e eae

Kieran explained how Magdalena moved the horses in from the road. He said “There was three of them that came out onto the road near Westfields. It was quite busy. She clapped her hands together and one

of them, the one that had been bro- ken in came over. She was able to get him in of the side of the road. Once the other two saw that, they followed him over.

“When the owner showed up with a horsebox, she walked them into it. It was pretty amazing. Everyone there just stood up watching. Even the guards and the guys from the fire brigade were impressed. She had everything under control”.

TRACES of the GM maize Herculex Rw, which is not authorized in the EU, has been detected in samples taken from animal feed imported from the United States according to the Department of Agriculture and Food.

This GM Herculex Rw maize va- riety is authorised in a number of countries including the US and an application for its approval in the EU has been made. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has evaluated the application as part of the EU authorisation process and has

recently given a favourable opinion.

The authority concluded that it is unlikely that the placing on the market of products consisting of, or produced from GM maize Herculex Rw will have adverse effects on hu- man or animal health or the environ- eeloale

The Food Safety Authority of Ire- land (FSAT) have been consulted and they agree with EFSA’s evaluation.

Some 6,000 tonnes of Corn Glu- ten Feed and 6,200 tonnes Distillers Dried Grain was discharged at Dub- lin port from a ship, the MV Pakrac, which went on to Rotterdam where it discharged the remainder of the ani-

mal feed cargo.

The cargo of animal feed was certi- fied as not containing GM Herculex Rw maize product. However, infor- mation was received from the Dutch authorities that official samples tak- en by them had tested positive. The Department immediately arranged for samples to be taken from the ani- mal feed off-loaded at Dublin Port and sent to the State Laboratory for analysis. The State Laboratory in- formed the department that the sam- ples submitted had tested positive for eloceilo.@ ays

When the department received the information on positive results

from the Dutch authorities they 1m- mediately put in place a restriction order on the 7,000 tonnes that still remained in portal stores.

In the meantime, steps have been taken to take out of circulation ma- terial that had left the portal stores. While some of the material has al- ready been incorporated into the an- imal feed chain, it 1s unlikely, based on the EFSA evaluation, to have any adverse effects on human or animal health or the environment.

The application for approval of GM maize Herculex Rw will be con- sidered at EU Standing Committee Meeting in Brussels on June 8.

PLANS for a €10 million windfarm seven kilometres from the east Clare villages of Tulla and Feakle have come under fire from local residents.

Last month, plans were lodged by Ventus Energy to develop eight tur- bines to supply electricity to 22,000 |aXeyaatercy

As part of the plan, the developers wish to remove 425 acres of forest plantation.

But in a strident appeal, residents say that the turbines proposed for the

site “are next generation machines optimised for off-shore use”’.

They state, ““As far as we are aware, there are no onshore wind turbines of comparable size operating anywhere in Ireland. The blade span is 93m or nearly twice as large as the turbines at Derrybrien for instance.

“The maximum blade tip height 1s 127m. The turbine tips will exceed the summit of Maghera mountain.”

The residents point out, “The pro- posed site is in a ‘preferred area’ for windfarms specified in the East Clare Development Plan. This is because

of its upland location and sparse hu- man habitation.

“However, the site is also desig- nated as a ‘vulnerable’ or sensitive landscape. Not all preferred areas for windfarms in Clare have this dual designation. Indeed, ECDP shows preferred areas nearby which do not have a vulnerable landscape designa- tion.”

ftom rons (eCcoe acum ontcaeUetcd elm aston eles landscape in close proximity to the proposed windfarm, close by to Lough Ea, which the residents state “is associated with Biddy Early in

local folklore. It is a uniquely Irish place and frequently visited by walk- ers, anglers, birders and the contem- tek ome

They say that the scale of the devel- opment would “represent a profane intrusion into this serene and private landscape.”

“The turbines will be visible form huge tracts of Clare and even Galway and Tipperary…

“Despite its huge visual impact, the power output of this development is very modest. With a rated capacity of 24 MW, the development will con-

tribute only OMW on average.

“The trend in responsible wind industry is towards larger off-shore installations. The project proposed by Ventus Energy has only seven per cent of this capacity, but may well come at a much higher cost in terms of our landscape heritage.

“The wind power developer has a strong financial incentive to employ larger turbines on higher ground. Unfortunately, both of these aspects are detrimental to the long-term in- terests of residents and visitors of County Clare.”

SURFING and orienteering have be- come firm favourites among the stu- dents of the Ennistymon Vocational School who have this year been of- fered the chance of doing both as part of their school curriculum.

Last Thursday saw the last group of students from the school finish their surfing course with the Lahinch Surf NY storey

The groundbreaking programme, which received a grant aid from the Clare Sports Partnership, is designed to encourage non-traditional sport- ing activities in the school.

“We ran two periods of six weeks of surfing where we organised les- sons through the Lahinch Surf School. As a result of that, we had 26 students who did surfing on Thurs- day from all the different classes and right through the years,” said school principal, Enda Byrt.

“We had an awards night during the week and a lot of the parents were coming up to us and saying that we had cost them money because their children were taking up surfing. That shows the interest in it and how it was successful.”

Alongside surfing, orienteering has proved very popular among the stu-

Cle

“It’s about introducing people into something new. The second element of this was the orienteering.

“We got the Falls Hotel grounds professionally mapped so we have our Own orienteering area here,’ con- tinued Enda.

“We competed in Munster this year, ran orienteering throughout the year at different stages and we sent a team to the All-Ireland and we had a young first year who came eleventh.”

The idea of offering non-traditional sports and activities is to encourage people who have interests and skills besides the traditional team sports

like football, hurling and soccer.

“We have the wonderful resource here at Lahinch which is turning into a surfers’ paradise. We have our map of the Falls Hotel which is also a great resource.

“They are established and popular now so we would definitely like to continue them on,” said Enda.

“If there was a student who had a particular interest or expertise in an- other activity, then we could have a look at that also.

‘But it would be on the basis of the philosophy that it is something that they can keep on in later life for a while.”

THE problems faced by Irish sheep farmers made national media head- lines last Thursday following a successful stunt by the Irish Cattle and Sheep Association in Dublin’s O’Connell’s street.

The farming organisation took ad- vantage of last Wednesday’s morato- rium of general election coverage in the media and succeeded in bringing the issue to a non-farming viewer- ship for the first time.

ICSA sheep farmers gave away their lamb on Dublin’s O’Connell

Street last Wednesday, giving more than 400 families a free and tasty evening meal.

The promotion was designed to highlight the low lamb prices that farmers are currently getting while giving the public an opportunity to sample Irish lamb, which is at its very best at this time of year.

“The lamb giveaway this morning was a huge success. We are delighted at the public’s appreciation for Irish lamb, which is at its prime at this time of year, and also at the public’s understanding of the plight of the sheep farmers,” said ICSA president

Malcolm Thompson.

“They were genuinely shocked to hear that farmers are only getting €66 – €76 for their lambs, which would retail in the supermarkets for between €240 – €278.”

ICSA Sheep Chairman, Mervyn Sunderland, thanked members of the public for offering their support to farmers. “This kind of support for ICSA, and all sheep farmers, is very heartening. Maybe now the retailers will realise that the price they are paying for Irish lamb is unsustaina- ble, and that they had better improve their prices to farmers if they want

to maintain supplies and satisfy their customers.”

“If this doesn’t happen, the Irish consumer will be forced to buy sub- standard imported products at an inflated price, and today’s public response clearly demonstrates that they don’t want that.”

The best of cuts, including legs of lamb, chops and various joints, all reared in Laois, were handed out to the public, as well as hot lamb chunks, freshly prepared, so that the passing public got a sample to taste and a sample to bring home and try out with a simple recipe.

A PUBLIC meeting was staged last night in the coastal resort of Lahinch in a bid to stiffen opposition against a five-storey apartment complex planned for the promenade. Currently, Clare County Council is evaluating plans by developer, Sea- mus Carroll for the €3 million com- plex that involves the demolition of the existing McDonald’s amusement arcade and construction of a five story building, including 20 apart-

ments, 18 duplex units, six ground floor retail units and underground car-parking.

However, chairman of Lahi- nch Community Council, Donogh O’Loghlin claimed yesterday that Opposition against the plan was erowing.

“The proposal resembles those apartment blocks from the former Soviet eastern bloc. It would be ab- solute madness if this was allowed to proceed and I hope that the coun- cil displays some sense and decides

to refuse planning permission,’ he SP HLG

Mr O’Loghlin confirmed that the four newly elected TDs had agreed to attend the meeting.

“What is planned is absolutely hor- rendous. It will dominate the skyline. It is around the same height as the Spinnaker building alongside it. We don’t want another eyesore in Lahi- nch,” he said.

In a fresh submission on their be- half, Eric, Mary and Isobel McDon- ald have expressed concerns over the

Ke) (em

The submission states, “The upper floors of the development have been reconfigured such that there will be substantial overlooking of my clients’ private apartment at the first floor of their property.

“This will result in loss of amen- ity of their existing residence and also affect the development potential of the property in the future due to the establishment of rights to light. . . furthermore, the nature of their arcade business makes them vulner-

able to break-ins, and the provision of windows at first floor level could facilitate illegal access to their prop- aaa

In a separate submission, Tom O’Hanlon stated that the proposed development would overlook and overshadow the surrounding build- ings to the detriment of these build- These

He said, “I would like to say that Lahinch does not need further holi- day home units that are locked up for eight to ten months of the year.”

FINAL preparations are being made this week for one of the first heralds of the summer in north Clare, the an- nual Ennistymon Agricultural Show. The two-day show, which takes place this Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3, attracts large crowds to Ennisty- mon’s Falls Hotel, both to watch and take part.

This year’s show includes a number of new events which should keep young and old entertained over the bank holiday weekend.

“One of the new elements of this year’s show is the adult art section. Children’s art has always been very big, there was hundreds and hun- dreds of entries over the last number

of years. So we have a qualifier this year for the adult art All-Ireland,” said show PRO Maurice Harvey.

“There is also a new competition this year for the best dressed mother and child up to the age of 10. That’s a new one. The dog show has been growing very rapidly. It was surpris- ing last year, there were more people around the dog show than around e1- ther the cattle or the horses.”

Alongside the many arts and craft competitions, there is also a large ag- ricultural section which 1s a big draw for spectators.

“There would be about five horse All-Ireland qualifiers at the show and probably about the same in cat- tle. The standard has got so high in Ennistymon that the qualifiers would

normally be there or thereabouts at the All-Ireland,’ said Chairman James Garrahy.

“One great achievement, about three years ago, was our number one and two horses finished first and sec- ond in the All-Ireland. The fact that it is early in the year encourages a lot of the people who would be bringing horses and who would be anxious to get them out and get them active.”

Although hundreds will come to the show to compete in competi- tions, many, many more will come to spectate and soak up the festival atmosphere.

“We would normally get a great crowd on the Sunday. The Saturday is all jumping, it popular with its own group but you would get a much big-

ger crowd on the Sunday. The biggest factor about the crowd on Sunday is really the weather,’ continued Mau- rice.

‘The one thing that really helps the show is that we have the hospitality of the Falls Hotel. It really helps a lot. There are very few shows who have a four -star hotel in the middle of everything. It means a lot, people can take a break to have something to ear or watch a match on TV. It is ereat to have it.”

NORTH Clare community groups will be prohibited from ‘hounding’ Clare County Council for top-up funding should they fall short in capital for developing playgrounds, it was decided at yesterday’s local area meeting of Clare County Council in Ennistymon.

A motion put forward by Cllr Flan Garvey (FF), proposed that Corofin playground would be granted one off top-up funding of €12,000 from the 2008 Playground Grant Scheme (PGS), but that no future proposal for extra funding for playgrounds would be entertained.

The proposal came following a dis- cussion from the council as to which playground should benefit from some €§3,000 available under the PGS for 2007. New playgrounds in Lahinch, Ballyvaughan and Kilmaley all made applications for the funding as well as the Corofin playground which re- ceived some €50,000 last year.

‘“T’m very clear in my conscience that our commitment this year is to Lahinch. I would suggest that we al- locate the €12,000 to Corofin out of next year’s funding,” said Garvey. “If committees know they can come back to us every year if they over- spend then they will be coming back and hounding us year after year.

“As from next year, no-one will

get extra funding should they over- spend.”

An informal decision was made last year to prioritise the Lahinch play- ground, which is being developed in parallel with a major council devel- opment on the village’s promenade.

“T have no problem with Corofin getting more funding we would first need to find out how much it would take to complete the playground in Lahinch. We don’t want to have a half finished playground in Lahinch. There cannot have a finished play- eround without money. We gave a commitment to Lahinch last year, a unanimous commitment from this committee,” said Cllr Richard Nagle (FF).

“The playground committee and local community in Lahinch have en- gaged in a load of fundraising events which have raise some €50,000. Everything is in place to proceed, with a view to the community sup- port and the commitment that we gave last year. I think we should pro- eTere Ma Laem ore Lie

After lengthy discussion it was de- cided that the Lahinch playground would receive the full allocation of this year’s funding, with Corofin to receive an amount of funding from the 2008 budget. Other playgrounds, such as in Ballyvaughan and Kilma- ley will also be considered for fund- ing in 2008.