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INCREASING fears for the safety of mothers and unborn children in Clare have prompted the establishment of a new group to campaign for the crea- tion of a standalone maternity facility in Clare.

Birth Choice Clare have already collected some 4,000 signatures sup- porting their plans to create a mid- wife-led, community-based, women- orientated new facility in Ennis.

The proposed facility is a reac- tion to the growing number of births

which take place at the side of the road because Clare mothers cannot reach hospitals in Limerick and Gal- NAB UID OS lon

“We cannot get proper statistics for side-of-the-road births, they are all documented as giving birth at their destination hospital, but we do know that they are happening in Clare,” said Lesley-Anne Hill of Birth Choice Clare. ““We have heard an- ecdotal stories of babies being born by the road in Bunratty. It is a major problem, especially for people in the west and north of the county.”

The proposed facility would not employ any doctors, with midwives overseeing all deliveries and compli- cated pregnancies being referred to an obstetrician. It would also contain staff to assist with home births and domino scheme pregnancies.

“Between 80 and 90 per cent of women have perfectly normal healthy pregnancies. The World Health Or- ganisation has said that midwives are the best and most qualified people to deal with normal pregnancies,” con- tinued Ms Hill.

“This is about the effective use of

resources. If a woman is likely to have a problem pregnancy, they can be referred to an obstetrician.

“Our next step is to produce a more detailed submission where we will outline issues such as cost, location and size. It may or may not be on the site of Ennis General Hospital.”

A survey conducted last year found that babies born in Munster had an increased chance of being born on the way to hospital with Clare and Cork singled out as the worst counties.

“You get a lot of babies born at the side of the road in Clare,” said Krysia

Lynch of the Homebirth Association of Ireland. “It can be a very dangerous situation for both mother and baby. They don’t have any scissors to cut cord and no rope to tie it up with.

“It can cause a situation when fa- thers end up speeding to get to the hospital. They’re breaking the speed limits and their wife is beside them, usually not able to wear a seat belt.

“I have heard of situations where women are literally crossing their legs, sitting on the baby trying to keep them from coming before they get to the hospital.”

AN ENNIS man taking a High Court case against Clare County Council over a contentious planning decision has secured planning permission for a €7.5 million housing development near Inagh.

Last year, Bernard Madigan in- stituted High Court judicial review proceedings against the council af- ter it refused planning permission to Mr Madigan and Mary Keane for 31 homes outside Inagh in April.

The case has been adjourned a number of times and 1s due back be- fore the High Court next week. The estimated cost to the council of the proceedings is €30,000.

Last April, the council refused the planning application on three erounds: that the proposed develop- ment would be premature due to the existing deficiency in the provision of sewage facilities; that the location of the site on the edge of Inagh failed to integrate and respect the existing character of the surrounding area and the proposal would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard.

The pair re-lodged plans for 31 homes on the same site after institut- ing the legal proceedings.

A letter lodged by consultants for

the two, states that the revised ap- plication was submitted following a pre-planning meeting with the coun- cil on July 27, 2006.

The consultants stated: “The scheme has been modified to take into account the council’s recom- mendations.

“This application is being made on consideration of the recent an- nouncement by the Department of the Environment approving the Serv- iced Land Initiative (SLI) for the ex- pansion of the Inagh Main Sewerage Scheme.

“My clients are showing good faith to the area by developing a site with consequential benefit to the townland of Ballyduffbeg where the council operates its central waste facility.”

The lands are zoned for housing and the couple has secured plan- ning permission for eight detached homes, 14 semi-detached homes and nine terraced homes.

The council has granted for the plan having regard to the zoning of the land, the intended use of the pro- posed land, the pattern of develop- ment in the area, concluding that it would not seriously injure the ameni- ties of the area and be in accordance with the proper planning and devel- opment of the area.

AS STAFF at Parteen National School were getting to grips with fit- ting to their recently delivered new pre-fab classroom, there was more good news deliver for the school.

Education Minister, Mary Hanafin, has approved another prefabricat- ed classroom for the school which should be ready by the time the next influx of pupils arrives in Septem- ber.

The local school has seen numbers swell in recent years, as Parteen and Arnacrusha underwent a_ building boom and young families bought homes to move into the area. As part of the long-term plan to expand facil- ities, a prefab classroom was brought on site two weeks ago and was last week being fitted out for teachers and pupils to use. Local councillor, Cathal Crowe, brought a deputation from the school’s Board of Manage- ment to a meeting with Minister Wil-

lie O’Dea two weeks ago.

“Following that meeting both Min- ister O’Dea and I made the case to Minister Hanafin that Parteen Na- tional School was in urgent need of additional classroom accommoda- tion,’ Cllr Crowe said.

“IT am very aware that the school has an high enrolment. due to the extensive development that has tak- en place. This community is one of the major growth areas in south east Clare and it is vital that the school

is in the best possible position to ca- ter for all the children in the catch- ment area. If the locality continues to grow Parteen may well be in line for a new school building, but the most important thing for now is that an immediate classroom is provided to deal with the short term deficit,” he added.

Cllr Crowe said he would continue to communicate with the board of management to see what the schools needs will be into the future.

THE soon to be introduced new Ear- ly Retirement Scheme (ERS) should significantly change the situation for farmers who apply under the joint management rule with particular ref- erence to the state pension, accord- ing to the IFA Rural Development Chairman, Padraic Divilly.

“A joint management application allowed the spouse of the farmer to apply for the ERS even though they did not own the land. This was par-

ticularly relevant where the farmer was older than his/her spouse and, as a result, secured a greater number of years of payment from the scheme,” said Divilly.

“However, when the older farmer qualified for the state pension that amount of money was deducted from the ERS, thus reducing the value of the EU pension.”

Following discussions on the new scheme, transfers of lands to the younger spouse will be allowed be- fore joining the scheme and, as a

result, the deduction of the state pen- sion from the ERS will not arise.

In the old scheme, such arrange- ments were not possible unless they were done prior to the introduction of the scheme.

The IFA Rural Development chair- man said that in ERSI and ERS2 many farmers felt aggrieved that the state pension had an effect on their EU pension and this change in the new scheme will avoid a repeat of this anomaly.

Divilly called on the Agriculture

Minister Mary Coughlan to intro- duce the new scheme without any further delay.

“The scheme negotiated as part of the partnership agreement last Oc- tober involves an annual pension of up to €15,000, and a more flexible arrangement for transferees with a widening of the age limit to qualify the retiring farmer.

“The new scheme must be imple- mented in a more flexible manner than previous schemes,” Divilly con- cluded.

THE Midwest could be staring down the barrel of a €42 million bill for polluting unless we clean up our act.

A leading renewable energy asso- ciation has claimed that the Midwest is living beyond its means, in terms of its impact on the environment.

Renewable Energy Skills (RES) has based the claim on figures from the European Environment Agency showing that Ireland currently has a carbon footprint of 5.0 global hec-

tares per person, more than double the global average.

The ecological footprint or carbon footprint is an environmental ac- counting tool that measures the land area required to support an individ- ual, business, community or nation, providing for its needs and absorb- ing its wastes.

It is quantified by calculating the land area required to produce the re- sources needed and dispose safely of wastes produced.

Cllr Johnny Flynn, Chairperson of RES and Ennis town councillor said

that “energy emissions in Clare are above the Kyoto target by 300,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide.

“This figure could rise to over 490,000 tonnes by 2010 leaving the county to face a bill of over €17 mil- lion in carbon levy.”

Meanwhile, Limerick county and city energy emissions are above the Kyoto target by 409,000 tonnes of CO2. By 2010, Limerick could be 713,000 tonnes over and face a bill of over €25 million in carbon levy.”

Meanwhile, the Limerick Clare Energy Agency, said that a number

of target actions aimed at reducing carbon emissions were included in the recently launched Government White Paper.

“Some of the targets for renewable energy production will be well with- in the abilities of coastal counties such as Limerick and Clare,’ said Pat Stephens, Manger of LCEA.

Mr Stephens, who has worked in building services design and energy management for more than 15 years and in the construction industry for more than 25 years, added, “to achieve our national targets, some

local targets will have to be more ambitious.

‘This includes the provision of bio- mass firing at Moneypoint generat- ing station by 2010 and ten per cent biofuels penetration by 2020.”

Other targets outlined by the Lim- erick Clare Energy Agency include the use of Pure Plant Oil (PPO) in local authority and public bodies ve- hicle fleets, a review of the National Building Regulations in 2008 and the introduction of smart metres for all electricity consumers over next five years.

yesterday that it would be a very different story if the election was not so close.

“I don’t see any point in the PDs pulling out now, not at this stage. We don’t know what has gone on yet, maybe it will come out before the election and maybe it won’t,” he said.

‘As a PD, I believe we were elected to hold up honesty and integrity in government.

“But at this late stage, I don’t see any advantage in collapsing the Gov- ernment just for the sake of it.”

The Fianna’ Fail/PD coalition looked destined to collapse over the weekend when a meeting of the Pro- gressive Democrats’ high brass was called to discuss revelations con- cerning the personal finances of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Mr Ahern’s then partner, Celia Larkin, is reported to have received £30,000 from Manchester business- man Michael Wall in 1996 towards

the renovation of a property.

This property, which was owned by Mr Wall, was rented to Ahern at a nominal fee.

Tm stcKmoeeoe mer Mbsom\y Eble tence businessman bequeathed the prop- erty to Mr Ahern in his will.

“It’s a difficult position for Mc- Dowell to be in. He is going to be criticised no matter what position he takes on this.

“We should hold a firm position on this. Only for it is so close to the election, it could be a very different StOry.

‘The grassroots members and gen- eral election candidates haven’t been

informed of what information Mc- Dowell has yet.

“This is a decision that will be made at ministerial level.”

Meanwhile, the Green Party yes- terday put pressure on Michael Mc- Dowell to put the information he has about the Taoiseach’s finances into the public domain.

“Michael McDowell also has a re- sponsibility in the national interest to put the information he has into the public domain, so that the statement from Bertie Ahern can be judged in the context of what Michael McDow- ell knows,” said party leader Trevor Sergeant yesterday.

SHANNON company, Peach Re- cruitment, will give local people a run for their money to benefit four charities with their third annual 10k run in the town on Sunday after- noon.

As this is the last time that the company will organise the Peach 10k Shannon run it is hoped that this year’s event will raise over €35,000, to reach an accumulated target of € 100,000.

Derek Barrett, Managing Director of Peach Recruitment, said that the event has been enormously success- ave

“The first time around we raised

€38,000 and over the past two years this event has raised in excess of €65,000 for charity, which is a phe- nomenal achievement for a locally organised event. For many partici- pants, this is the perfect opportunity to contribute to charity work on both a local and national scale. Our ab- solute priority for the run will be to raise as much awareness and money for each nominated charity as possi- ble. People are extremely generous,” he said.

This year’s nominated charities are local branches of Multiple Sclerosis and Children with Special Needs as well as Milford Hospice in Limerick and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin.

The company ensures that money raised locally stays locally.

‘We have supported lots of differ- ent charities but they are all chosen because people have been involved with them in some shape or form. For example, there is funding available for multiple sclerosis but not enough and we’ve specifically asked that the money will be spent on physiothera- py in the Shannon area,’ he added.

Runners can also nominate their own charities and they are asked to register with the company so that an official record can be kept of dona- tions.

Mr Barrett hopes that another eroup or company will keep carry- ing the 10k torch.

“We decided to finish up because we felt that we had dipped into the same well for three years running. We all help with stewarding and or- ganisation and people dig deep. Now someone else has a chance to get in- volved and contribute to charity.”

The Peach 10k Shannon Run will start at 1.30pm from Wolfe Tones GAA Club (where changing facili- ties will be open) and will continue around Shannon town before return- ing to the club for refreshments.

People can print off registration forms from www.peach.ie or call into the office in Peach House for forms and sponsorship cards. For further information telephone O61 362000.

CLARE senator and general elec- tion candidate, Timmy Dooley (FF), yesterday criticised his party leader, Bertie Ahern, over the decision to hold the general election on a Thurs- day.

Senator Dooley, who alongside Tony Mulcahy (FG) and James Breen (Ind) was given a five star rating by the National Youth Council of Ire- land, said he would like to have seen the election take place closer to the weekend to accommodate students

living away at third level institu- tions.

“Personally I am _ disappointed. I haven’t made a big issue out of it but personally I would have liked to have seen the election take place on a Friday or even on a Saturday,’ said Senator Dooley.

“It is a situation creating a balance between the students who want to vote and the people in the cities who would be going down the country for the weekend.”

Dooley was one of only five Clare general election candidates to re-

spond to a survey on young people’s issues conducted by the National Youth Council of Ireland. Each can- didate was rated according to their answers to a series of youth related question and given a Star rating.

Senator Dooley received a maxi- mum five star rating along with Tony Mulcahy and James Breen, while Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) and Brian Meaney (Green) received four Star ratings.

Each of the respondents, except for Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, responded ‘yes’ when asked should the vote be

given to 16 and 17 year olds.

‘“T have had the view for a long time that children are more educated now than they were 20 or 30 years ago. With the improvements in technol- ogy and communications they know more about voting and politics than ever before,’ said Dooley.

“I would argue that giving them the vote at an early age would get them more involved and make them more interested in politics. If people were allowed to vote from 16 it would goa long way to tackling the problem of apathy in a lot of voters.”

THE killing of Liam Moloney was “meticulously planned and_ ruth- lessly executed and was followed by a cover-up”.

That was according to the Prosecu- tion Counsel Tom O’Connell, SC, in his closing speech to the jury on Friday.

He said he was “inviting” the jury to bring in a verdict of guilty of mur- der.

“The Prosecution has established beyond all reasonable doubt that An-

thony Kelly killed Liam Moloney, with the intention of killing him.

‘He lured him to his place of death by telling him a lie, that Liam Molo- ney would be introduced to the fic- tional Swedish woman, Anna Fred- erickson,” said Mr O’Connell.

He said the accused believed that Mr Moloney kept money in his flat. After he had killed him, he went straight to the flat and took around €600, before returning to his Kerry home.

“The motive, beyond any doubt, was to enrich himself, by stealing

Mr Moloney’s money after he had killed him,” he said.

He said that the accused later “‘dis- posed of every single item that might connect him with the killing’. These included Mr Moloney’s mobile phone and keys, Mr Kelly’s own clothing, along with an axe head, padlock and meat cleaver.

He said that the burglary was “cen- tral to the case”. He told the jury it was demonstrated during the trial that the accused was “unreliable” and had a history of lying but that he did not have a history of mental

illness.

Defence Counsel Brendan Grehan, SC, in his closing speech, said “there is no other issue in this, other than the issue of diminished responsibil- Aa

He said that if the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act — introduced for the first time last year — had not been in place, his client “would have no op- tion but to plead guilty to murder”.

He said in reality the killing was “brutal” and “a frenzied attack” which were the actions of “some- body out of control”.

He said the jury could conclude that the accused was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the killing and that substantially im- paired his judgement.

“The appropriate verdict is man- slaughter. I invite you to return a ver- dict of manslaughter,” he said.

Mr Justice Paul Carney told the jury that the defendant does not chal- lenge he did what is alleged.

However, he said the question, was he suffering from a mental disorder at the time, is “where the battle- ground is”.

PROPOSALS to develop a cricket eround in Shannon have been given the backing of councillors in the ie)”a0

Last week, a representative of the Munster Cricket Union Executive committee wrote to the town clerk Tomas MacCormaic, regarding the provision of a facility.

In the letter, Chris Thomas said there are more than 200 people of numerous differing communities within Ennis and Shannon, who have a keen interest in playing the game.

He said that the town council has offered the use of a facility at the back of the comprehensive school,

for playing cricket.

“I believe the area is formally iden- tified as RB and zoned for commer- cial/residential use. Unfortunately, in its current status, the area 1s not suit- able for playing the game and those wishing to use the facility do not in- dividually have the resources to pro- pose and undertake the development of same to an appropriate level,’ he Sr HLGe

“We would like to propose the de- velopment of the area into a safe and maintained facility that will serve the purposes of interested groups and the recreational demands of the greater community,’ added Mr Tho- Te TeIse

He said he believed the proposed

development would have a positive impact on the surrounding environ- ment and its current uses and would serve the needs of those who are keen to play cricket, following the success of the Irish cricket team in the recent world cup.

Councillor Tony Mulcahy (FG) said the group “obviously want to put down a more permanent structure in the area. We have to try to accom- modate all sport”.

He said it would be “pointless” to kit out an area which is zoned com- mercial/retail and said that there is a big open green space in the Cuil Cais area, which may be suitable for ule com

Independent

councillor Patricia

McCarthy said the area between Tra- daree Court and Cill Cais would be a suitable area.

“We sometimes forget we had a cricket club here many moons ago,” she said.

Cllr Greg Duff (Labour) said that councillors should be supportive of the proposal. “We should take posi- tive action to show we are welcoming of every community and support,” he said.

Shannon town manager Ger Dol- lard said it was “good to see such a positive proposal which is well thought out. Perhaps there are other locations which could be looked at. The all-weather pitch is not used at the moment,” he said.