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PUMPS which would help solve the drought being experienced by Killa- loe residents have yet to be hooked up because there are technical prob- lems with the power supply needed.

Local councillors were told that after years of difficultites in getting water suppies to either end of the town and to homes up Convent Hill, new pumps have been bought which would bring water as required.

But the positioning of the pumps

was incorrect for linking them up to the necessary power supply, Sean Lenihan of the council’s engineering department told Killaloe council- lors.

Cllr. Tony O’Brien expressed con- cern that there are “a number of new housing developments coming on-stream in Killaloe and we are brining them on without address- ing what is a major deficiency in our infrastructure. People living in the town have no water. It is incumbent on Clare Councty Council to supply

water and the council needs to pro- vide the pumps which were prom- ised in 2005”.

The engineer told councillors that it is “just a logistical problem with getting the electricity connected up. We have to take some responsibil- ity in that the location given to the ESB may have been slightly in error. They are looking at it and coming back to us”.

Meanwhile, the members of the Killaloe area council were told at a meeting last week that the authori-

ties are to look again at the timing of the traffic lights in Killaloe.

Councillors complained that there were massive tailbacks and delays over the May and Easter bank holli- day weekends.

Officials told the members that what is needed in the long run to solve the town’s traffic problems is for the new bridge to be built. The problem is the volume of traffic and at the lights, the number of move- ments that have to be catered for, councillors heard.

has learned.

This follows last week’s announce- ment of the sale of the family-owned business to the North South Pig Company, with the loss of between 40 and 60 jobs. A delegation from the IFA met with the Duffy family last week and confirmed that in ex- cess of €400,000 was still owed to farmers.

The factory has refused to issue any form of payment to farmers, even though they are currently still trad- bate

“Many of these pig producers are family-farm operators, who are reli- ant on this money to remain in busi- ness,’ said IFA pig committee chair- man, Michael Maguire, who called on the AIB to mediate with the Duffys on behalf of the farmers.

“The most alarming aspect for these farmers is that bank cheques have not been issued for three to four weeks, despite reassurances that they would.

“Considering the asset value of the plant and surrounding land is valued 71 He eos ONO B(O)e mmr Te(G Mm Hs (omme-Celmm Oer-lmmre| high percentage of these pig produc- ers are AIB customers, the onus is on AJB to bring about a satisfactory solution to this issue.”

Meanwhile, it is now believed that North South Pig Company will con- tinue to use the facility as a slaugh- terhouse but will discontinue all de- boning and other processing work.

This would mostly likely mean job losses in the region of 60 people, as opposed to the 80 jobs reported in the national media last week.

Dutffy’s was the first company in the Gort area to start employing Brazilian workers who immigrated from the town of Anapolis. It is also likely that the majority of job losses will come from the Brazilian com- munity.

Plant owner Sean Duffy began Gort’s connection with Brazil after a trip to South America some 10 years ago, when he brought back three skilled workers.

In recent years, the population of Gort has climbed to more than 2,400 people, including some 600 Brazil- TE DaWDOObSOUESS eeDOT ASE

TWO units of the fire brigade were called to assist the crew of a Health Service Executive ambulance in Clare in the early hours of Saturday morning after smoke began to blow from its engine.

The HSE has denied, however, that the safety of a patient travelling in the ambulance at the time was in any way compromised by the incident or that the ambulance was “burned out”’ as had been reported on local radio.

The incident occurred near Bunrat- ty at around 3.20am as the Limerick City-based ambulance was. trans-

porting a patient from Shannon to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. The patient was not in any danger and the call was not an emergency.

According to a spokesperson for the Regional Fire Control Centre in Lim- erick, they received a call at 3.24am reporting a vehicle on fire on the in- bound lane of the Ennis to Limerick dual-carriageway near Bunratty.

Two units of the fire brigade from Shannon responded to the incident and were at the scene within min- utes. While originally reported as a vehicle on fire, no fire was found on arrival by the fire service.

The HSE has confirmed that one of its ambulances was involved in the incident but that safety of the patient or the two-person crew was never oyna one yeeb isle em

‘There was an oil leak in the engine and the oil splashed on to the engine manifold creating smoke.

‘The ambulance crew pulled over immediately and, in accordance with procedure, they notified the Regional Ambulance Control Centre in Lim- erick of the matter.”

A second ambulance was sent to the scene while the local fire brigade was also notified as a precaution.

The HSE spokesman also con-

firmed that there was no danger to the patient or the crew and that the patient was transported on to Lim- erick in a second ambulance a short time later.

“The ambulance crew remained with the patient at all times and a short time later that patient was transported to the Mid Western Re- gional Hospital in Limerick on board another ambulance.

‘There was no fire and the vehicle was not damaged.”

It had been reported on one radio station that the vehicle was burned out in the incident. However, the HSE denied this.

KILLALOE and O’Briensbridge are the next two areas in east Clare which will benefit from the local authority’s cash for playgrounds scheme.

Clare County Council has set aside ۤ3,000 for the two areas, both of which had applied for grant funding under the scheme.

A meeting of Killaloe area council- lors was told last week that the prob- lems which have dogged the grant- ing of planning permission for play facilities in Parteen and Meelick are Aledo Ob

Planners met with the developers to discuss concerns about public light- ing and other matters.

The councillors were told that both schemes can now move ahead and it’s expected that work should begin be- fore the end of June.

The meeting heard that proposed sites had been identified in both ar- eas. Area engineer, Sean Lenihan, said that there is “strong community support” behind each proposal, with a local group pushing for the facility.

Killaloe councillor, Tony O’Brien, said that the “two projects are com- mendable. It’s great to see _ that communities are willing to be- come involved and undertake these projects”.

Councillors were asked how they wanted the available money divided. Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald said that it

should be given equally to both com- munities.

But, he added, he would “like to see the planners meeting with the developers and getting it right from the start, unlike Meelick and Parteen and one and a half years on, there are still no playgrounds in these areas”.

Community and Enterprise Admin- istrative Officer, Catherine O’Hara, said that the local authority is en- couraging all community groups to ebgage in the pre-planning process.”

She added that the grant, while it assists communities to provide fa- cilities, “never covers the entire cost which is usually more in the region of €120,000. It’s just a contribution towards it”.

Cllr O’Brien asked that should one or other of the groups being unable to draw down the grant, because of something unforseen such as a site falling through, that the money should then go to the remaining eroup and not out of the area.

The planning stumbling blocks holding the Parteen and Meelick fa- cilities back were resolved last week at a meeting organised by local coun- cillor, Pascal Fitzgerald, between planners and members of the two Loy eaveenlAKoieky

Almost €500,000 a year is divided between six electoral areas in the county and nine playground develop- ments are due to be part funded this yeasr from the 2006 grants scheme.

LISDOONVARNA Failte is facing a race against time to secure €1.27 million in Government grant-aid funding towards the provision of a new theatre for the north Clare Ke e0k

Currently, Clare County Council is deciding on the group’s plans to restore the existing Park Pavilion building, which will accommodate a theatre and community uses.

“Grant funding of €1.27 million has been set aside for the realisation of this project. However, we are re-

quired to satisfy the Department of Tourism of the project’s feasibility by June 30,” said architect for the project, John O’Reilly, in a letter to the council.

“To achieve this, we would greatly appreciate the council’s efforts in progressing this application within the two-month decision date dead- line.” The work proposed involves the carrying out of works to a pro- tected structure or a proposed pro- Kee Kore MID MUCOLAU TKO

Mr O’Reilly said that the project was for theatre and community use for such events as the Lisdoonvarna

Matchmaking Festival and it would encourage tourism in an area zoned for tourism development in the Clare County Development Plan 2005.

The Department of Tourism states that Lisdoonvarna will have to pro- vide evidence of matching funding to enable completion of the project and to comply with all conditions set down by the council and the Office of Public Works (OPW).

The letter also states that the pro- moters will have to provide any addi- tional funding required to complete the project. The letter states, “If the above conditions are not met by June

30, the grant will be withdrawn.”

Independent councillor Martin Lafferty said last night that “the res- toration of the theatre will provide a valuable asset for Lisdoonvarna and itis being driven by chairman of Lis- doonvarna Failte, Joe Garrihy.

“The building itself has a rich his- tory. It has a huge hall and massive floorspace and should be of great use to the people in the local area.”

The original grant was made by former Heritage Minister, Sile de Valera. Lisdoonvarna Failte success- fully applied for an extension to the erant approval.

ESB officials told members of Clare County Council that there is little they can do to prevent further major flooding in Clonlara.

Pat Naughton, Manager of the ESB’s Hydro Stations gave members of the council a detailed explanation last week on how the power com- pany deals with outflow from Lough Derg and the volume of water going through the Ardnacrusha turbines.

Shocked councillors, who had made representations on behalf of house- holders who had to be evacuated from heir homes last Christmas, heard that there is every chance that the flood- ing may happen again.

Rainfall during December and Jan- uary of last year was “exceptionally high” with almost a metre of rain fall- ing, he said.

A major problem in dealing with water levels in the river Shannon, he said, is that the power company is dealing with narrow. channels and large lakes.

“In flood conditions, the ESB has to spill water down the river. If we don’t match inflows with outflows, we are in breach of our statutory duty,’ he said.

While the company make every ef- fort to anticipate what will happen us- ing advance weather forecasts, it can be “unpredictable, with wind and lo- cal rainfall affecting conditions. With

sustained rainfall, the ESB’s influ- ence on flows is marginal,’ he said.

In December and January last, the power company started spilling water as soon as levels rose and continued to do this on an increasing basis as rain became heavier, members were Ke (en

Records show that the Shannon has flooded on a cyclical basis going back to the 1930s, and the floods experi- enced recently are not even the worst that have happened, Mr Naughton Sr HLee

“The power company 1s co-operat- ing with the Office of Public Works in cleaning out the section where the Mulcair meets the Shannon, but there is no way of telling if this will help

the situation,” he added.

Councillor Cathal Crowe said that it seems “the statutory requirements in relation to levels in Lough Derg seem to need revising. Homes three quar- ters of a mile from the Shannon were under water. There were fish in back gardens and slurry and sewerage in contact with fresh water.”

He added that the ESB “needs to re- view its system of communication to warn people about flooding”.

Cllr Paschal Fitzgerald asked why the power company “only told people in the area six hours after the water had been let out”, while Cllr Tony O’Brien said that there should be “a single advisory body dealing with flooding on the Shannon’.

IRISH farming organisation gave a lukewarm response this week to the new Farm Improvement Scheme which is nearing the final stages of preparation in the Department of aNcau(Gullalvuce

Details of the scheme are not avail- able to the public but the organisa- tions were given a sneak preview by the Department of Agriculture last week.

The new Farm Improvement Scheme will replace the Farm Waste Management Scheme and the Dairy Hygiene Scheme which are currently operating. A general grant rate of 40 per cent will be available for most in- vestments, while some mobile equip-

ment will only receive 20 per cent.

Everything that qualifies for grant aid under the current schemes will continue to receive grant aid under the FIS while there will be a few new additions like rubber mats on slats and cubicles, automatic feeding systems for the dairy, computerised calf feeders, outwintering pads, meal bins, meal stores and meal silos.

“While everything that we sought to be included has not been accepted by the Department of Agriculture and Food, we will continue to pur- sue the inclusion of these items in an effort to enhance labour-saving and health and safety on the farm,” said Conor Creedon of the ICMSA.

The IFA have meanwhile called for the scheme to be implemented im-

mediately and have set May I as a deadline for this to take place.

‘The introduction of the FIS is an Opportunity to grant aid for the first time in many years to the moderni- sation of agricultural holdings,” said IFA Rural Development Chairman, Padraic Divilly.

“Grant aid under the new scheme will be 40 per cent with an additional 10 per cent top-up for young farmers less than 35 years of age. The invest- ment limit will be €120,000.”

In relation to the dairy hygiene scheme, a separate €120,000 invest- ment limit will apply with increased investments limits of €25,000 for bulk tanks, €40,000 for milking ma- chines. In addition feeders in the par- lour will be eligible for grant aid.

Divilly expressed serious concern that the Department of Agriculture iS proposing to discontinue grant aid for splash plates slurry tankers from the end of December 2008 with ap- plications having to be lodged by De- cember 2007.

“This 1S unnecessary as many farmers requires small scale invest- ment to meet their slurry spreading requirements”, he said.

‘There was no reason why the new FIS could not be introduced over the next number of weeks. Many farmers are anxiously awaiting this scheme, which will in many cases compli- ment investments which are already been undertaken under the Farm Waste Management Scheme.”

DUST off the quiz books, unearth family quiz games and get a friend’s phone number ready.

The Who Wants to Be a Thou- sandaire quiz night is all set to go this Friday and Queally’s Super- value in Killaloe are right behind the cause, putting up the cash this week for what promises to be a great night.

While smart competitors stand to walk away with the thousand crisp ones, the real winners from the night will be the communities of Tuamgraney and Scariff, with hopes

high that €20,000 can be raised for projects in the two areas.

The 50/50 joint effort of the Scariff Community Council and the Tuam- eraney Development Association’s organisation on the night will help fund a playground for the riverside park development, which has been improving every year and the contin- ued development and upgrading of the memorial park in Tuamgraney.

The Palace Marketing Group have been brought on board to stage the event, which will be just like the real SUVA deveeree

“It should be a great night out and people will have loads of fun. If

someone doesn’t want to compete personally, they can nominate anoth- er person or we will pick someone for them at random from a panel. But the person who bought the ticket gets the prize money,’ said Damien Heaney, spokesperson for the organisers.

A huge amount of organisation went into the night, with six teams of six working under two co-ordina- tors, Margaret O’Meara, PRO of the Tuamgraney Development Associa- tion and Harry O’Meara, Chairman of the Scariff Community Council.

Local businesses have also rowed in behind the event, with Centra in Scariff, Finsa Forest Products and

Sports World Netting coming in as three of the sponsors.

The organisers are expecting up to ten rounds on the night at Scarf Community College from 8pm.

Tickets are €10 each.

THE Department of Agriculture last week announced a series of last minute events designed to help pre- vent the expected chaos as the dead- line for the applications under the Single Payment and Disadvantaged Area Schemes.

Informal information roadshows will take place nationwide and the help-line number will have extended hours of operations to help farmers deal with the complex application ORO ete

Minister Coughlan confirmed on Friday that personalised Single Pay-

ment Scheme application forms, complete with pre-printed data con- cerning land parcels and start dates have been issued by her Department to all Single Payment Scheme partic- ipants. It was also confirmed that the department will provide an enhanced customer service in the run up to the closing date for the receipt of appli- cation forms on Friday, May 4. This will involve information meetings throughout the country and helplines which will also operate outside of of- fice hours.

“I believe farmers should have the most up-to-date information avail- able to enable them to correctly com-

plete and submit the 2007 SPS ap- plication forms by the closing date. For this reason I have made provision for the information roadshow and in- creased helpline facilities.” she said.

“I am aware that some farmers would prefer to speak directly to ex- perienced staff from my Department prior to the completion of their SPS application forms. In response to this need I have made arrangements for information sessions in 26 locations throughout the country between 16 April and 1 May where my officials will also be available to meet appli- cants.”

This will be achieved through

an extension of the opening hours of the Department’s help lines un- til 10.00pm on weekdays and from 1.00pm to 6.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays commencing _ yesterday, April 16, and continuing until the closing date for the receipt of appli- cations on May 4.

“The additional opening hours of my Department’s helplines and the opportunities being afforded to farm- ers to meet with staff will greatly as- sist them with inquiries about these and related matters,” she said.

Details of information meetings and lo-call numbers will be an- nounced in the coming weeks.

TWO west Clare communities are this week grieving the loss of two young friends who were tragically killed in a road crash at the week- end.

Eoin Glynn (21) from Shanaway, Miltown Malbay and Shane Donnel- lan (17), from Kilmore, Knock, were

killed when the van in which they were travelling left the road, close to Kilmihil, shortly before 5am on Sunday.

Two others, who were also in the van at the time, survived the crash.

Mike Morrissey (20), from Kilmur- ry McMahon is in a Serious condition at Limerick Regional Hospital with internal injuries, while Enda O’ Leary

(24), from Kilmihil, sustained multi- ple fractures to his leg. The accident happened on the main Ennis/Kul- rush road, close to Goldburn Bridge. Their black Volkswagen transporter van veered out of control and hit a hedge, before plunging into a field some distance away. The four young men, who were in the front seat, were not wearing seatbelts and were flung

from the car.

They had earlier socialised at a friend’s 2lst birthday party in Knock. They had returned to a house in Kilmihil before leaving the house and heading in the direction of Kil- rush. Gardai in Kilrush are appeal- ing for witnesses.