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FIVE hundred and fifty workers at Shannon airport have until next Monday to decide whether they wish to accept a voluntary redundancy deal at the airport.

Letters sent out to workers by the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) stated that the workers had until April 23 to sign “an irrevocable agreement of exit” if they wish to take the redundancy deal.

In order for the €36 million sur-

vival plan to work, the SAA requires 200 workers or more to leave.

Information sessions on pensions and the tax implications for indi- viduals will continue at the airport WDA (e1o).@

Those with 24 or more years of ex- perience who opt to leave the SAA will receive over €100,000 while the 350 workers who remain will receive a payment of €16,000.

The deal is expected to save the SAA €10 million per annum.

In the new revamped Shannon air- port, international retail organisa-

tion HMS Host has secured the con- tract to operate five retail outlets at Shannon.

The company already serves 70 airports around the world, including Cork airport.

The arrival of HMS Host into Shan- non also increases the chances of Shannon having the first Starbucks coffee shop 1n county Clare.

A Starbucks operating under li- cense from HMS Host opened in Cork airport last year. Most of the Irish outlets of the popular Ameri- can coffee chain are in Dublin.

HMS Host has already advertised for senior managerial positions in- cluding Business Controller, Finan- cial Administrator, Food and Bev- erage Manager and is hoping to be trading in Shannon airport this com- ing summer.

The deal for a restructured Shan- non earlier this month secured the overwhelming endorsement of the unions at the airport where 84% of SIPTU voted in favour of the plan.

Talks on the deal commenced al- most two years ago and the slow progress has prevented the Shannon

Airport Authority (SAA) from lodg- ing a business plan with Government in order to become an independent entity.

In January, workers at Shannon overwhelmingly voted down a pre- vious survival plan valued at €34 million.

However, marathon negotiations under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) last month at the airport resulted in the SAA agreeing to provide an addi- tional €2 million to a revised sur- ane Nm) E- bee

SK YCOURT management has decid- ed to defer planned parking charges, which had been expected to be re- introduced in July.

The announcement is the latest move on the ongoing twist into pay parking. Barriers were placed at the entrance to the surface carpark last year. Following representations by local traders – who argued that they were an inconvenience to shoppers – these barriers were removed last Oc- tober. SkyCourt management pointed out at the time that parking for the first two hours would continue to be free of charge, until July 1.

However, SkyCourt has now stated that parking charges for the first two hours has been deferred and Sky- Court is working on significant plans which will improve shopping choice ANNO MIE DUCA

“Until such time as these develop- ments are advanced further, we have decided to defer the introduction of the planned parking charges on July Ist,’ said SkyCourt Manager, Pat ea

The existing pay-and-display system will continue to operate. The first two hours are free, in both the surface and multi-storey car parks. Customers who park for longer than two hours will continue to be liable for a charge

of <1 per hour. Meanwhile, SkyCourt has _§an- nounced that three new businesses will open at the shopping mall. Two of the three are restaurants and the third is a traditional Chinese medi- cine shop, Herbmedic, which has just opened its doors. The restaurants are Apache pizza and the Royal Dorbar Indian restau- rant. Apache will open in mid-May, and will employ eight people, while the Indian restaurant will open in June, also with a staff of eight. Mr Kelly said that the shopping cen- tre is currently engaged in negotia- tions regarding other shops and out- lets and he expects a number of other significant announcements shortly. The franchisee of Apache is Paki- stan-born Jimmy Ajmal who came to Ireland in [997 to study at the Shan- non School of Hotel Management. When he graduated in 2001, he joined the hotel industry and worked for five years with the Lynch Hotel Group at Breatfy House Hotel in Castlebar and the West County Hotel in Ennis. The 50-seat Royal Dorbar restau- rant will specialise in Indian ethnic foods. Director Anowar Haq Iqbal already operates a very successful sister restaurant at the Cornmarket in Limerick. It will be located upstairs between Supermacs and Shannon Gahan

THE issue of diminished respon- sibility 1s a central part of the case and it will be up to the jury to decide if Patrick O’Dwyer suffered from a mental disorder when he killed his sister, according to the prosecution. Outlining the facts of the case, sen- ior counsel for the prosecution, John Edwards told the jury of six men and six women that Marguerite O’ Dwyer was a 17-year-old Leaving Certifi- cate student at the Convent of Mercy, Ennistymon, and her brother Patrick was a 19-year-old apprentice butcher

in the town.

The two were staying on their own in the family home at Shrohill, En- nistymon, on November 29, 2004.

Their sister Louise was in Galway — where she was a university student — and their parents were on a week- long holiday in Gran Canaria.

Mr Edwards said that at 2.40pm on November 30, Patrick O’ Dwyer walked into Ennistymon garda sta- tion and said he had killed his sister.

Mr Edwards said gardai went to the O’Dwyer home and found a body in the sitting room.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cas-

sidy carried out a post-mortem ex- amination on the deceased’s body and found she died from blunt force trauma to the head, as a result of six blows.

“This type of injury would cause rapid death and it was irrecoverable,” he said.

He said Marguerite had sustained at least 90 stab wounds to the head, trunk, legs and body. Many of the wounds were sustained after the young girl had been immobilised and possibly dead.

Mr Edwards said the accused ad- mitted causing the injuries from

which his sister died.

‘Marguerite O’Dwyer was hit over the head viciously with a hammer on a number of occasions. Stab wounds were perpetrated on her body with a scissors. There were 90 odd stab wounds. It’s the State’s case that if you hit somebody over the head re- peatedly with a hammer, the natural probable consequences of that is that you are going to kill the person or seriously injure. It’s the State’s case that Patrick O’ Dwyer intended to kill her,’ he said.

“You may hear evidence that will seek to rebut that. It 1s the prosecu- tion’s case that this was murder and nothing else. What is likely to be a central issue in this case 1s whether or not the accused was a person of diminished responsibility. Up until recently, there was no case in Irish law of diminished responsibility. If a defence of diminished responsibil- ity is canvassed, that will be a matter for you to consider. I understand that it will be canvassed. You have to be satisfied that Patrick O’Dwyer com- mitted the act alleged and you have to be satisfied at the time he suffered from a mental disorder.”

“The issue for you is to decide whether this is a crime of murder or a crime of manslaughter,” said Mr Edwards.

A MAJOR new tourism plan for the Shannon Region is to be unveiled later this month. Shannon Develop- ment, the regional tourism authority will unveil its new tourism market- ing plans at a seminar it 1s hosting for members of the Shannon region tour- ism industry.

The seminar will be held at the South Court Hotel, Limerick on Thursday, April 26.

“The performance of the tourism sector 1n 2006 has been good and we want to build on this in 2007 and the coming years and let the industry know our exciting new plans,” said John King, Heritage and Tourism D1- rector, Shannon Development.

Shannon Development is due to an- nounce its detailed 2007-2008 region- al tourism plans at the seminar. The plan will highlight key challenges facing global tourism and how that will impact on the tourism industry in the Shannon region. Part of the pres- entation will involve an overview of the plans for the promotion and devel- opment of the industry by Shannon Development Tourism over the com- ing year.

Shaun Quinn, CEO Failte Ireland and Paul O’ Toole, CEO Tourism Ire- land will also give detailed presenta- tions covering the key activities of both agencies for 2007. In addition to the key note speakers, the main execu- tives from all agencies will be present at the events to discuss specific issues

such as training, international promo- tion, and product development. The seminar is free and open to all. Reg- istration for the event is at 9.00am for a 9.30am start and will continue until lpm.

Commenting on the seminar, John King, Heritage and Tourism Director, Shannon Development, said “Tourism is now the largest indigenous Irish In- dustry, accounting for over €450 mil- lion of direct tourism expenditure in this region alone, and will be central to the future economic development of the west. I would strongly encour- age tourism industry members to at- tend this event to get a full briefing on the activities of the tourism agencies, and use the forum to raise issues spe- cific to their business or sector.”

in Glor from April 23 to 26. This is Wil- liams’ third play and was commis- sioned and originally produced by Galway’s Druid Theatre Company in 1999.

The story is set in a rural post of- fice in west Clare where the old tel- ephone exchange has just been dis- connected.

It tells the story of the postmaster Jim and his wife Katherine, who were enthusiastic amateur ballroom dancers in their youth and their three

children who are now left the fam- ily nest.

The play explores the connections, dreams and love between family members and promises to be a real treat for local audiences.

Bernie Harten, Ennis Players PRO said the group were eager to show- case the work of a local writer.

“It was a play our director Mike Scanlon had read recently and he felt it was something we could do. It’s a really sad story but a nice story at the same time. We decided to do it fora change because we haven’t done that many local authors”.

The Way You Look Tonight is di- rected by Mike Scanlon, who di- rected Ennis Players first ever All- Ireland winning production, Alan Ayckbourn’s Round and Round the

Garden in 1995.

The lead roles of Jim and Kather- ine are played by established per- formers Geraldine Greene and Hugh Gallagher. For Geraldine in _par- ticular, the role of Catherine posed a unique acting challenge, as Bernie explained.

“All plays are different in their own way. This one is quite difficult for Geraldine as her character is an invalid so she can’t move around the stage. In her mind, Catherine keeps remembering her youth when she was ballroom dancer. There are flashbacks back to when Jim and Catherine were young so that was another challenge”’.

The past number of years has been a roller-coaster ride for Ennis Play- ers, having represented Ireland at

the International Festival of Drama in Monaco with Geraldine Greene’s production of

THE issue of farming pensions was back on the discussion table last week as the IFA called on an all-par- ty agreement on pensions for exclud- ed PRSI contributors ahead of the election. Following the publication of the report and recommendations from the Human Rights Commission on State pension eligibility for eld- erly self-employed people, the farm organisation called for an all-party agreement to implement the recom- mendations of the Commission.

“It has been a clearly unfair system

whereby a group of self-employed people were obliged to make PRSI contributions from 1988 onwards, but were ineligible to draw down a pension if they were aged 56 or over when compulsory social insurance was extended to the self-employed,” said IFA President, Padriag Walshe.

“While a limited concession was introduced in 1999 when people with over five years’ contributions were eranted a half pension, the remain- ing group have been excluded.”

“T strongly welcome the recommen- dation of the Human Rights Com- mission that a pension at a reduced

rate should be paid to those elderly people who contributed PRSI on the expectation of receiving a pension but were denied by reason only of their advanced age.

“Farmers make up the single larg- est group of self-employed, and IFA has highlighted this anomaly in eve- ry pre-budget submission in recent years. We have sought a 75 per cent pension for those in the 56-61 age bracket in 1988, and a 50 per cent pension for those aged 61—66 at that nnealee

“Bearing in mind that the group who have received no pension to-

date despite paying PRSI are now 80 years of age or over, I expect that both the Government and the oppo- sition parties will come out quickly in support of the recommendations of the Human Rights Commission to pay a pension at a reduced rate; also I propose that the pension be back- dated at least to 1999 when the half pension was introduced for some of the over 56 category”.

“The Commission’s report 1s very thorough, and a particular acknowl- edgment must go to the elderly Don- egal couple who brought the issue to the Commission.”

THE Doonbeg Drama Group has made it to the finals of the All-Ire- land Drama competition.

The group will take to the boards on Monday next, April 16, in New Ross for the final showdown. Their performance of ‘Atta’ Boy Mr Syng’ has already earned them numerous plaudits.

The group has competed in five fes- tivals in Doonbeg, Charleville, Ross- more, Scariff and Claregalway, with one win, three second placings and one third placing.

Mark May took best actor and Ann Marie Doyle best actress at two fes- tivals. Mary J Egan was best actress at another. Mort McInerney got best producer at two festivals while the production also picked up awards for best presentation, best lighting, best sound and most entertaining play.

Remaining cast members, Rita McInerney and Declan Hayes were nominated at festivals in the best supporting actress and actor catego- ries.

“Everyone is very excited about getting to the finals and we will be putting everything into the show,” a spokesman for the drama group Sr HOn

Audiences in Clare will have an- other chance to see the performance this week when it is staged in Doon- beg hall on Thursday night. Doors open at 7.30pm and curtain up is at 8.30pm. There will be tickets at the door.

The festival, which is run under the auspices of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland, is one of the pre- mier events of its kind in Europe. 1953, it is one of the most enduring festivals in Ireland and is a major cultural event.

A KILLALOE-BASED – architect looks set to join the general election race in Clare to highlight shortcom- ings in the planning system.

Garry Miley said yesterday: “The time has come I believe, to make a stand. The planning system at the moment is not democratic.”

Some of the faults that Mr Miley pointed out were long delays, inaccu- rate recording of issues discussed at pre-planning consultations, planning applications being invalidated for trivial reasons and inconsistencies in eleLortSloyem eared enerce

In his online blog, Mr Miley said that he was approached by a Dublin based group, including an independ- ent councillor and some of his col-

leagues, that wondered “if I might be interested in running for Dail Eire- ann on a ‘planning’ ticket in the up- coming election”.

Mr Miley said that Clare was an obvious place to run because it was a “four seat constituency with no star performers”.

“It’s my experience that the average people of Clare are more motivated by planning matters than anywhere else in the country, which means there’s a ready-made market for the message,” he said.

He added that it was “doable” to gain a Clare seat because Fine Gael had gained a seat in the last election with just 4,500 first preference votes and some transfers.

“The quota in Clare is, I think, around ten thousand but Fine Gael

managed to pick up their single seat in the last election with only 4,500 first preference votes and a bunch of transfers.

“Now, I can think of at least 4,500 people living in County Clare with a grievance about the planning system. Some decent transfers is all 1t would take.

“Manageable, I think, if you con- sider all the architects, engineers, planners (in private practice) build- ers, homeowners and developers across the county who’d easily pro- vide a match for the big party organi- See B (OD eon

Mr Miley said that he hoped some- one would run on the planning issue.

“If push does come to shove and no one else comes forward I will stand.”

A MAN who bought replicas of ri- fles in a toyshop in Ennis has been convicted of two charges, relating to their possession.

John Hehir (28), of Davit Terrace, Cloughleigh, Ennis, pleaded guilty to two offences, arising out of an in- cident on May 4 last year.

Garda Michelle Holian told Ennis District Court that she received con- fidential information that the accused was in possession of unlicenced air rifles, air guns and ammunition.

She obtained a warrant and went to his house. She found two air rifles, two air handguns and two different types of ammunition.

“They are replicas of rifles. They

are air rifles and are illegal under the Firearms Act. Mr Hehir told me he purchased them in a shop in town,” Sr HCO MO elommee- KOE: B

The accused told the garda he would go to Dromore Woods with friends and would shoot at static tar- gets, like drink cans.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client fully co-operated with ee KOrNE

She said he bought the items in a toy shop and that he used the guns for sport.

“Technically, it is illegal but my cli- ent didn’t mean any harm by it,” she SrHKOE

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a fine of €100. He refused a request to apply the Probation Act.

TWO east Clare organisations have been awarded cash from the De- partment of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs under the Pro- gramme of Grants for Locally Based Community and Voluntary Organi- sations 2006.

The grants of €5,100 for the Scar- iff-based Alpha Project and €1,812 for the East Clare Community Co-op were announced by Minister Tony Kileen, who said that “it 1s impor-

tant that the voluntary effort of lo- cal community groups throughout County Clare is recognised.”

The Alpha Project aims to provide education for adolescents whose needs are not best met by the conven- tional exam-based system.

The 15 participants in the pro- gramme take part in hands-on learn- ing with projects such as building a Yurt – a traditional hut-style shelter – for use as a chemistry lab as there wasn’t room in the project’s accom- modation to practice chemistry.

By doing so, they not only got to study chemistry but learned the nec- essary physics to construct the dwell- ing properly.

A spokeswoman for the project said they are “delighted to get the grant. We don’t as yet get funding from the department so this will be important for buying equipment and training.”

On the list of things likely to be bought with the grant money are sewing machines, and equipment for physics and chemistry.

The project has 15 students and

next year, it’s hoped that 15 younger adolescents will come on board.

Of the first intake of students to eraduate from the alternative learn- ing system, all have gone on to some further form of education or training, including Leaving Cert studies and FETAC courses.

The other east Clare grant went to the East Clare Community Co-op, an umbrella organisation for communi- ty groups based in Scariff. The co-op could not be contacted for comment PLO OUI B DO Blom