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POLITICAL graffiti artists have tar- geted some 50 General Election post- ers in the north Clare area in an act of political ‘jamming’.

The effected posters, which are di- vided indiscriminately across all po- litical parties and candidates, feature a pair of false cartoon eyes stuck on the candidates’ faces, as well as the words “Obey Me’ embossed on their Ke)Ko store OMOmonvne

Jamming is a form of graffiti in which the artist targets public adver- tisements or political posters in order to express a political or moral point.

The posters are located in the Lahi- nch, Ennistymon and Inagh areas but

a number can also be seen on the In- agh Road in Ennis.

The process of jamming has become more commonplace in Irish elections in recent years. The most high-pro- file recent example of jamming took place in Cork City during the 2002 local election.

On that occasion, brown paper en- velopes were attached to hundreds of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael election posters in the centre of Cork City on the night before the election.

A Cork-based anarchist organisation later claimed responsibility for this stunt which was part of its ‘anti-elec- tion’ campaign. To date, no-one has claimed responsibility for the north Clare jamming.

According to the Head of Psychol- ogy at the University of Limerick, Tony Cassidy, the graffiti is actually a positive sign.

“It does represent some disillusion- ment with the state of politics in the area, but it is actually a quite positive thing that people are willing to put that much time and effort into mak- ing a political statement,’ said Dr Cassidy. “It shows a level of disillu- sionment with the system, but it also shows that the people involved have a will to make their voices heard. It is quite a positive thing in that respect.”

Meanwhile, Fine Gael candidate Pat Breen has described as “politically motivated” the destruction of his bill- board in the outskirts of Kilrush just

hours after it was erected.

The €60, eight-by-four-foot bill- board, which was erected on Saturday evening, was discovered on Sunday in an adjacent field.

The board, which was promoting Fine Gael’s commitment to accident and emergency services in Ennis with a picture of Breen’s head, had been de- faced with the TD’s mouth cut away.

Deputy Breen told

MEP Sean O Neachtain was in En- nistymon on Friday to meet with the staff and students of Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon. The Galway-based MEP was in town to examine the European Studies projects of some 40 students of the school.

O Neachtain is the latest in a series of MEPs to have visited the school in recent years, with Dana and Brian Crowley also paying a visit.

“At the start of the year, we re- ally didn’t know all that much about European studies or how the EU worked. At first we were introduced into the basics of how the parliament is divided and how there is so much

peace between the counties now,” said Hannah O’Brien, from Lahinch.

‘But we were also introduced to the cultural side of it and were allowed to decide what topic we wanted to take on for ourselves.”

The projects ranged from politi- cal issues such as immigration and economic matters to more cultural topics.

“My topic focused on the develop- ment of film in three countries — France, Italy and Spain,” continued Hannah.

“We were given loads of choice as long as it had some connection with the EU. Some people chose more politically-orientated subjects, like for example the inclusion of Turkey

in the EU. If you were good at mu- sic, you could branch off into that or horse riding, whatever, as long as you looked at the cultures of the different countries.

‘“T looked at the beginnings of film, and how things like religion and war effected them. I also looked at the progression to modern day and how European film is now standing up to big Hollywood films.”

Sean O Neachtain was elected as a MEP for the north and west region in 2004. He currently sits on commit- tees for fisheries, transport and tour- ism and is a substitute on the com- mittee on the budget.

“I guess I wouldn’t have known who Sean Neachtain was this time last

year,’ Hannah continued. “Now we know what he looks like at least. No, we also know a lot more about the work he does and how it all works. We all definitely have a better idea of it now than we had coming into the year. I see how Ireland has benefited so much in term of funding and how the EU has promoted so much over there.”

DOONBEG will play host to Irish and international musicians over the June bank holiday weekend when the eight International Jazz Festival comes to town.

The popular annual event attracts as many as 2,000 visitors to Doon- beg with its mix of swing, dixie and jazz and this year’s programme will suit all tastes with performers from Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, England, Guatemala, and Ireland.

Committee member, Philippa Sea- grist, said that the festival has gone from strength to strength over the years.

‘It has been a slow process but we

are getting a good reputation. The festival is not about heavy jazz but a lively jazz mix. We are just final- ising the last details now and we’re hoping for lovely weather like the last Whit weekend,” she said.

Philippa added that all the events are free despite the “miniature” budget and most will take place nightly in local bars before a hoped for “spill” of the crowd onto the streets for the final day.

The festival will officially open in The Igoe Inn on Friday night and there will also be a Saturday after- noon jazz ‘jam’ session.

The festival will have many high- lights this year including Edith van den Heuvel and Dany Schwickerath

with songs from The American Songbook, as well as modern jazz tunes from Horace Silver and Th- elonious Monk.

Manu and his Latino House is a showcase of international musi- cians who have joined with Manu Ramirez from Guatemala to make an exciting Latin-Dance fusion with Afro- Caribbean influences. They have appeared at the Gaiety Theatre Latin Club, The Temple Bar Music Centre, Half Moon Club and the Cork Jazz Festival.

The Portobello Jazzband from London will bring the flavour of New Orleans to west Clare with their six piece Dixie Band.

Flying the Irish flag will be The

Jazzberries a Dublin based duo who have been entertaining their audiences since 2002, playing jazz standards and swing as well as mod- ern tunes with a jazz twist.

The East Coast Jazz Band from Arklow are an exciting five-piece band playing popular jazz, bossa and blues and have appeared at the Cork Jazz Festival for the last 10 Nerd ase

Local band Skazz will be enter- taining with their unique mix of jazz, reggae and ska, fresh from be- ing voted ‘Best Band’ at Cork’s Bal- lydehob Jazz Festival. Limerick’s David Irwin Trio and Spilt Ends will also make highly anticipated appearances.

FORGET the general election, it’s the European Union that has been cap- turing the imagination of students in north Clare over the past few weeks.

Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna and Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon have taken part in a number of exciting interna- tional events all centered around Eu- rope Day and the 50th anniversary of the EU.

First came Dublin, and a mock sit- ting of the European Council featur- ing the fifth-year students from Mary Immaculate.

The students, who were the only

ones from Clare chosen to take part, were asked to represent the Europe- an Commission on the day and pre- sented a report on global warming and terrorism.

Thirteen students from Mary Im- maculate were then joined by 12 more from Scoil Mhuire for a Eu- ropean trip to take part in the Euro Schola programme.

The students, along with teach- ers Marian O’Callaghan, Mary O’Flaherty and Helen Cleary, joined 650 students from every corner of Europe who took over the EU Parlia- ment in Strasbourg for a day.

“We found the discussion very good, especially in term of the dif-

ferent languages,’ said Marian O’Callaghan from Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna.

‘Each student received a certificate and this was the first time that they were printed in Irish. Later in the af- ternoon, there was a mini quiz with questions in all different languages.

‘The students had to go around and try and communicate with people from other countries to find out what the questions meant.

‘There was an Irish question so we were very much in demand from the 0) ates mi AUCOCo LAS

“Fifth-year student, Daniel Col- lin, then addressed the parliament in Irish, which was a very proud mo-

ment for all of us.”

Ennistymon’s Aisling Geraghty was also given the chance to address the Parliament.

“We went over as acting MEPs for the day. We were broken into dif- ferent groups, discussing different topics. The group I was in was En- vironment, Energy and Transport,’ she said.

“IT was chosen as president of my committee and had to report back to the parliament in the evening. It was scary, but it was a brilliant experience as well. I was asked questions from the house and it was really exciting. It would give you a real insight and wake you up to that sort of career.”

THE Kilrush Family Resource Cen- tre will hold a day-long conference on all aspects of family health from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, May 26.

All interested parties can attend the free event, which will involve half- hour talks about everything from nutrition to sexually transmitted in- fections.

Development worker Viv Rooney outlined the speakers and topics lined up for the day.

“A representative from the HSE who is going to talk about healthy eating and cessation of smoking will attend. There will be a breast checker and someone from the Marie Keat- ing Foundation talking about cancer awareness. Staff from the Red Rib- bon Project will be there to address sexual health. We have two women from the Shannon Youth Service looking at relationships and STIs Koren

There will also be a public health nurse giving an update on their ac-

tivities in Clare, a spokesperson from Clare Haven will talk about the ef- fects of domestic violence as well as speakers on family planning, repro- ductive health and complimentary health.

Ms Rooney said that this is the big- gest event of its type staged by the family resource centre and it has been in the planning stages since January.

“This event is part of our three year plan because we wanted to do something around the area of health awareness and promotion. We all

talked about it and decided a confer- ence would be a good way to do it. It will be a great day – very interest- ing. There are lots of different talks and we will change topics quickly so that we can cover a snippet of every- den eetoaa

Numbers are not strictly limited but booking is needed, ideally before Spm on Tuesday, May 22 (today), so that lunch can be provided for every- one on the day. For information con- tact Kilrush Family Resource Centre on 065 9052173.

DUBLIN’S RDS belonged to the transition-year students of Gort Community School last week. Some 20 students and two teachers from the school made the long trek to the capital to take part in the National Young Social Innovators Showcase.

The journey was well worth it, how- ever, as the school saw off competi- tion from almost 400 other schools to win their category and come sec- ond in the overall competition.

The students presented a project based on the work they have been doing in highlighting issues around HIV and AIDS over the past year.

“Each school had a stand, the kids would man the stand and students

from other schools and judges would come and visit the stand. It is like a Young Scientist competition for so- cial issues,’ said teacher, Carmel Neylon.

“We thought that we were getting on well because the judges kept com- ing back for a second and third look. They especially liked the links that we made with outside partnership eroups, people like Aids West, Aids Partnership Africa and all the vari- ous projects that the students have undertaken on an ongoing basis, things like World Aids Day.

“We are also now selling pins with all the profits going to AIDS chari- ties. They organised workshops for other students in the school to make them aware of HIV/AIDS, to make

them and the wider community aware and got politicians involved as well.”

The project grabbed national head- lines last year when a photo-shoot was organised featuring almost 100 students spelling out the word HIV.

“It has really opened their eyes. They would have known of HIV/ AIDS, they probably would have known how people become infected but they would not have known the huge numbers of people who die in different countries every day. This is partly because there is a stigma at- tached to it and that is why it is not being tackled properly,’ continued Cr Turtoe

“The wider community was a big focus. It wouldn’t have been as effec-

tive if we had started it just here in the school. One the biggest achieve- ments of the project is the creation of a mural, which will be put up in the community as a long-term reminder of the project.”

Meanwhile, the school’s debating team reached the final of the Concern National Debating Championships for the second year in succession last week. The team — which included Kate O’Connor, Emma _ Fogarty, Danielle Cuffe and James Mahon — was coached by Sr de Lourdes Fahy and Caroline Meagher and lost out narrowly in the grand final.

THE Annual Financial Statement for Clare County Council for 2006 shows a positive operating result of om ceueeELetF

The report shows that the result, taken together with the reduction of corporate loan repayments of €0.9 million, reduced the cumulative rev- enue deficit of the council to €2.9 million.

The reduction of the corporate loan is an accounting adjustment required to reflect the principal repaid on the loan since it was drawn down in late 2003.

The council had additional income of €7.2 million which arose primari- ly from the roads and infrastructure area where additional allocations of €4.5 million were received in the year.

Income received from planning applications came in €0.7 million

above budget.

Income from the council’s waste management facility was down €0.75 million as compared to figures anticipated at the council’s half-year report for 2006.

Fire certificate income contributed an additional €0.2 million and water and waste water connection fees con- tributed €0.5 million.

In addition to these figures, €47.9 million was received in respect of rates local government fund and LOTT AIA Yael t-Nuexer

Expenditure on roads was €5.9 mil- lion above the budgeted level. This can be explained due to increased Central Management Charge alloca- tion of €0.5 million and increased county road maintenance of €0.55 million. Expenditure on the water services programme was greater than budget by €0.4 million. This was driven mainly by additional expendi- ture on operational and maintenance

of water and waste water plants and networks.

Development incentives and con- trol expenditure was €0.9 million above budget. Increased numbers of planning applications is reflected in additional income of €0.7 million and also in additional operating ex- penditure of €0.2 million.

In 2006, the gross value of the council’s fixed assets increased by €150.5 million. This related prima- rily to an increase in local authority water and wastewater assets arising from the 2004 takeover of Shannon Town services from Shannon Devel- opment.

The balance sheet also includes an increase in local authority housing stock, Beechpark machinery yard and plant acquisitions. Road projects accounted for 50 per cent of expendi- ture on capital projects, with €6/7 million spent in 2006. The major el- ement in this was the Ennis bypass.

THE Baha’ faith in Shannon is con- tinuing to grow and this was recog- nised in a major conference which NFR K See NO AYA Oo (O DOM BOoM COWIE

More than 50 participants visited Shannon for the conference, which was a reflection of the increasing popularity of this faith in the area.

A local assembly was initially set up in the town 15 years ago and the inter- est continues to grow. Its membership represents people of varying ages.

Membership of the group comes about through word of mouth, as ad- vertising is not allowed. One of the

main rules is that alcohol is not al- lowed to Baha’1 members. Members must also abide by a fast between the hours of sunrise and sunset, during 19 days in March.

Member of the group in Shannon, Patricia Fallon-Barry said the meet- ing point for Baha’1 members is in peoples’ homes, rather than a church. A group consists of at least nine mem- bers, over the age of 21.

‘We meet 1n each other’s homes and there is a feast every 19 days. We dis- cuss community and social aspects at the local assembly meetings. We have no clergy. Everybody is expected to do everything,” she said.

‘“Baha’l is a new religion, just 150 years old. It is centred around the be- lief that all of the religions are one, with one God,” she said.

Ms Fallon-Barry has been a mem- ber of the Baha’1 group for several years.

SoM orl BLA 0Oe powering and great for “‘self-develop- jneto ela

‘“Baha’l was founded by Bahaullah in Iran in 1844. He would claim to have fulfilment of all previous mes- sengers, she said.

Along with being involved with the Shannon group, she also helps to or- ganise childrens’ classes and study

circles in Ennis.

“We cannot advertise. It is through word of mouth. One of the basic prin- cipals is independent investigation of truth,” she said.

“IT became Baha’i when I was 18 and living in Athlone. It was a public meeting. I read a book and | haven’t looked back since. I can’t imagine be- ing without it,” she added.

‘Worldwide, more and more people are interested in this. It is one thing to become committed to your own religion. It is another to join another religion,’ she said.

“The study circles are a very good educational thing,’ she said.

THE NEW Government policy of going for construction contracts that heap all risk of price over-runs onto the contracting company is going to elbow out medium and small build- ing firms and cost the taxpayer more in the long run, it has been claimed.

President of the Construction In- dustry Federation (CIF), Hank Foga- rty stated that the new public sector construction contracts would push up the price of building public infra- structure in Clare and damage small and medium contracting companies throughout the county.

The CIF president further criticised Government for ignoring the indus- try view on the changes and for aban- doning the principle of partnership that was the hallmark of successful construction contracts throughout the rest of the world.

Fogarty was speaking at a CIF In- ternational Conference titled “New Directions in Construction Procure- ment: International Best Practice’, held in the Davenport Hotel last week.

“In Ireland, a country in a unique period of infrastructure catch-up and one whose long-term sustainable

economic development depends on ST e-Ne BLOr-LBUNTSM sD. GR IBUNTSA-H OCG Moy pas) Uca DAMN ITE frastructure bottlenecks, it is critical that we get the contracting relation- ship right. This is particularly so as we embark on a new and ambitious National Development Plan that will run to 2013. However, any independ- ent examination of the new contracts will show that Government has got it wrong,’ he said.

The CIF president said that the principles of risk recognition, risk sharing and risk management and, more importantly, the principle of partnership had been abandoned by Government in favour of the princi- ple of risk transfer at any cost.

The experience elsewhere is that this type of contract simply leads to confrontation and conflict. He added that the adoption of such a model meant that smaller and medium com- panies, of which there are many in Clare, couldn’t compete for Govern- ment contracts.

‘The industry has asked Govern- ment on a number of occasions to look at the alternatives.

“Unfortunately, this had not been done and the negative consequences will become apparent over the com- ing years,” Mr Fogarty said.

ALLOWING a dangerously defec- tive lorry on the road when it wasn’t road worthy was an “accident wait- ing to happen”, according to a judge.

Patrick Buggy (53), a haulier from Kyle, Stradbally, Laois, was convict- ed of a number of offences, after one of his drivers was stopped at Killula, Newmarket-on-Fergus, on Novem- ber 2 last.

He was convicted of being the owner of a dangerously defective vehicle, of having recording equip- ment which was not functioning cor- rectly and having an unlicensed semi oem

The court was told that two tyres on the tractor unit were completely worn and the diesel tank was not properly in place.

Garda John Ryan told the court that the tachograph was inspected and showed the vehicle had been driven at 120 kilometres per hour, when the maximum speed for this vehicle should have been 90kph.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said the vehicle presented a huge danger on the road, driven at high speed with no threads and the diesel tank was not properly secured.

“To send a truck out on the road with those defects beggars belief that a reasonable person could do that. It’s an accident waiting to happen. This was a dangerously defective truck, driven at high speed. It could have caused a major accident and killed people,’ he added.

“There is carnage on the roads. If there was an accident, I don’t know what could have happened. This ve- hicle wasn’t road worthy. It was so unroadworthy the garda impounded it. I wouldn’t be doing my duty if I didn’t disqualify him,” said the judge.

He imposed fines totalling €2,250 and disqualified Mr Buggy from driving for six months. He fixed re- cognisances in the event of an ap- peal. He issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the driver, who 1s from Lithuania.