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IT’S time for the people of Tuam- eraney and Scariff to phone a friend and show off their general knowl- edge. And all in a good cause.

On Thursday last, the 50/50 joint effort of the Scariff Community Council and the Tuamgraney De- velopment Association was unveiled as details were announced of the coming “Who Wants To Be A Thou- sandaire?’ fundraiser.

The two groups are jointly organis- ing the night to raise money for com- munity projects in both areas.

Damien Heaney, spokesperson for the organisers of the fun night out said it’s hoped that the event will raise in the region of €20,000 for worthwhile projects.

The Palace Marketing group have been brought on board to stage the event, which will be just like the real SAVa eveerce

“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.

The organisers are expecting up to ten rounds on the night, which is Fri- day April 20 at Scariff Community College from 8pm.

A huge amount of organisation is going 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.

‘Even the launch was a joint ef- fort between the two communities,” said Damien. “We had Niall Malone and Diarmuid Nash, world champion handball players, draw the first tick- et. They both play with Tuamgraney handball club Niall is living in Tua- mgraney while Diarmuid 1s living in Scariff.”

Local businesses have also rowed in behind the event, with Centra in Scariff, Finsa Forest Products and Sports World Netting coming in as the three main sponsors. The prize money for the night 1s being gener- ously put up by Queally’s Supervalue in Killaloe.

And the real winners from the clash of knowledge will be the two local

communities.

Scariff organisers are aiming to raise cash to install play equipment in their riverside park development, which has been improving every year and Tumgraney will be using the cash for the continued develop- ment and upgrading of their memo- rial park.

Tickets are €10 each and are avail- able from any of the 30 people in- volved in promoting the night or from the community council or de- velopment association members.

PREMIER Group has received an award for the respect it demonstrates for the work-life balance among its staff as part of the 50 Best Compa- nies to Work For in Ireland scheme.

This is the third consecutive year the mid-west recruitment company has been named as one of the 50 best companies to work for in Ireland.

The company, the pioneer of spe- cialised recruitment in_ Ireland, serves the mid-west region, including Clare, Shannon and Limerick from its office on Henry Street in Limer- ick, where it employs 16 people.

Work life balance means putting in place a range of flexible working arrangements which help workers to combine employment with other responsibilities and choices in their Tere

The awards are decided according to a detailed assessment by the Great Place to Work Institute Ireland fol- lowing an independently conducted survey of staff.

Mr Micheal Martin, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employ- ment, made the announcement, prior to an awards ceremony in the Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Dublin, attended by over 600 guests.

Minister Martin congratulated Premier Group on its achievement: Your organisation 1s one of fifty who have demonstrated exceptional com- mitment to attitudes and policies that make your organisation a great place to work. By promoting best practice

in the workplace, you are helping to make Ireland a better place in which to work and live.”

Maria Ryan, Regional Director of Premier Group, who manages the Limerick office, said: “We encour- age staff to balance their work and personal lives by offering tangible benefits such as gym memberships, contributions towards childcare, flexible working arrangements and holiday and gift vouchers. We work hard to attract the best staff and we want them to enjoy coming to work in a pleasant environment. We are delighted to be chosen from thou- sands of applicants to be among the top 50 companies for the third year uebevepestoam

She added, “Our consultants are our best asset, due to their unfailing dedication to delivering on behalf of clients and candidates and their high level of qualification and extensive industry specific experience and this award recognises their outstanding contributions. We pride ourselves on working to standards which define best practice recruitment service in Ireland.”

The Best Companies study sets out to identify and recognise the finest employers — and therefore the most satisfied workforces — in Ireland and throughout the European Union. The Irish study is the largest annual labour force survey undertaken in this country. This year more than 100 Irish companies were surveyed with a total workforce of more than 90,000.

TWO Polish brothers stole 67 bottles of perfume and aftershave after they saw someone else stealing one bot- tle in the duty free shop at Shannon Airport.

Thomaz (25) and Bartosz (24) Legan both pleaded guilty to stealing €3,953.61 worth of cosmetics at the duty free shop on Thursday, March 8 last. The duo initially appeared in court that day and spent a week in custody.

Inspector Kevin Moynihan told Shannon District Court last Thurs- day that the two men were seen tak- ing aftershave and cosmetics and placing them in their suitcases in the duty free shop.

There were 67 bottles of perfume and aftershave in total.

‘When the defendants were arrest-

ed, they readily admitted what they did was wrong and they stated it was a stupid act,’ he said.

Thomaz Legan has two previous convictions in his native Poland.

Defending solicitor Caitriona Car- mody said her clients travelled to Ire- land with perfume they had bought in Poland.

They had intended to sell the per- fume to a contact in Ireland. Howev- er, after arriving here, the two failed to meet that contact.

They were waiting for a flight home when they noticed another person stealing a bottle of perfume from the duty free shop.

“It was an utterly stupid thing to do. They were caught red-handed. They admitted to what they had done,” said Ms Carmody.

Judge Joseph Mangan fined Thomaz €800 and Bartosz €200.

PERMISSION to build 27 new homes in Tuamgraney has been giv- en by Clare County Council.

And in a separate application, a developer is seeking to build 16 new houses at Ardnacrusha.

Permission has been given to Conor Daly to build the 27 homes and for ancillary site works and services at Ballyquinn in Tuam- eae NINE

The permission is ring-fenced by 41 conditions and the planning authority is billing the developer

to the tune of €182,655 for public infrastructure and facilities for the development and a special contribu- tion of €108,872 for the improve- ment of surface water, sewerage and water facilities in the area.

Before building can start, a traffic management plan for the construc- tion phase has to be drawn up and submitted to Clare County Council.

The developer will also be respon- sible for the extension of the public water and sewerage systems to the new homes.

For each tree that is removed, ten have to be planted on the bounda-

ries of the site.

Nine trees will have to be removed to facilitate a new entrance onto Reddan’s Quay Road and the road will have to be upgraded to cater for the houses which will be allowed to access it directly.

Six of the houses on the 1.24 hec- tare site will have direct access to the Wood Road. The road will have to be widened to 5.5 meters and a 1.5 meter footpath constructed.

Meanwhile, an application to build 16 new houses in Ardnacru- Sha has been submitted to the Coun- ty Council by Seamus Danagher of

Springhill Developments.

The development will be at Spring- hill, Blackwater.

A site suitability report has been submitted which shows that there are no valuable archaeological, his- torical or natural sites where the de- velopment is proposed.

There are already other houses built adjacent to the site but the re- port also states that there is a prob- lem with drainage on the site.

It states that precautions will have to be taken against ponding of efflu- ent and contaminating larger water courses with groundwater run-off.

CLARE County Council took in more than €10 million from its con- troversial scheme that targets devel- opers to fund public infrastructure, last year. The figure represents a 57 per cent increase.

In figures to be published at tomor- row’s adjourned meeting of Clare County Council, members will be told that the council raised €10.38 million through the Developer Con- tribution Scheme.

The figures show that the council raised €3.86 million through water charges and €3.48 million through sewerage charges.

The council raised €.17 million in car-parking, €1.18 million in road contributions, €.63 million in amen- ity and €1.11 million in recreational and community.

The council’s Director for Planning, Bernadette Kinsella said, “The lst of Projects of Public Infrastructure and facilities which are to be funded out of Development Contributions collected in 2006 is currently being compiled as part of the preparation of the Annual Financial Statement.”

She said that, “it 1s intended that this list will be available for the April meeting of council”.

She was responding to a motion put down by independent councillor, Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind).

The scale of contributions received is a good barometer of the county’s reese) eORYs

The figure reflects the scale of de- velopment growth going on through- out the county.

The scheme was put in place in the face of much opposition from coun- cillors and the building industry, who ETD sem MAW: UU OU E-N be

The council adopted the new scale of planning contributions in 2003. In the space of 18 months, the cost of water and sewerage connections to new homes almost doubled.

Those hardest hit in the new scheme are householders living in areas serv- iced by the Government-sponsored Serviced Land Initiatives (SLI).

During the first phase of the charg- es, householders in a number of SLIs were asked to pay €5,000 for water and sewerage connections.

The monies accrued from “recrea- tional and amenity” will go towards the implementation of the council’s play policy. This will result in a play- eround, costing between €300,000 and €400,000, in each electoral area.

In the early stages of the scheme, the council came under fire for not spending the money fast enough.

In the first full year, the council raised €10.4 million, but managed to spend only €4.69 million of the overall sum.

DESPITE intense local speculation to the contrary, Dr Eamon Casey did not return to say Mass in the small south Galway village of Shanaglish over the weekend.

Dr Casey had been expected to take to the alter in Shanaglish for 10am Mass last Sunday, just over a year since he returned from his self imposed exile in the UK in February of 2006,

Dr Casey has been given the official go ahead by the Vatican to return to

saying Mass in public following the completion of an official church in- vestigation into 13 allegations made by Limerick born woman in 2005. Following an investigation, the D1- rector of Public Prosecutions decided in August of last year that Dr Casey had no case to answer in relation to the incidents, which were alleged to have taken place some 30 years ago. Despite been cleared by the DPP, Dr Casey had to wait for the conclusion of the internal church investigation before he returned to active duty. Despite Dr Casey’s no-show, a

large crowd gathered for 10am Mass in Shanaglish on Sunday morning.

Interestingly, the main reading de- livered by local parish priest, Fr Pad- dy Callanan, was that of the Prodigal York

This was followed by a sermon on the topic of forgiveness in which Fr Callanan spoke at length about God’s willingness to forgive.

It is expected that Dr Casey will re- turn to the day-to-day duties of say- ing Mass in the coming weeks, but he is likely to wait for a time in order to avoid excess media attention.

Dr Casey was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and apos- tolic administrator of Kilfenora in alee

Aes OU MRE IHN eres maUllout can woman, Annie Murphy, became public in 1992, Dr Casey resigned as Bishop of Galway and left Ireland to become a missionary in Ecuador be- fore eventually returning to the UK.

THE tremendous talent of pupils at the Scariff Community College was in the spotlight last week, when the school staged a variety night.

The evening showcased student tal- ent, with a hip-hop group, traditional music, sketches, recitations, singing and more.

Organised by the transition year students and the fifth years, the night involved almost 50 students in per- forming and back-stage work.

“A lot of work went into the show and that was obvious. We are very lucky to have so many talented stu- dents and organisers in the college,” a spokeswoman for the Community

College said.

The show was such a success that it’s hoped it could become an an- nual happening. And it was the first of many events which are being held in the newly refurbished school, to which teachers and 265 pupils re- turned to on February 12, after being in temporary accommodation on site for the past 18 months.

The €2.5 million roof replacement and refurbishment was undertaken for health and safety reasons.

“The roof was made of asbestos and had begun to leak,’ said Sean Daly, Principal. “We had buckets in the corridors gathering the rainwa- ter. It called for a complete redesign of the roof.”

Replacing the roof provided the Opportunity to make some other 1m- provements at the school.

The science and home economics rooms have all been refurbished and re-equiped and the floor coverings have also been replaced. And the school has gained an extra car park, when the temporary car park created while the work was ongoing was turned into a permanent one.

The next stage in the school’s de- velopment will be to drain the hurl- ing and camogie pitches, land which was bought through locally raised funds some years ago.

‘“That’s our next big campaign,” said Daly. **The land is not usable for the whole of the winter months, and

we would like to have them available all year round.”

Arrangements are being made for an official rededication and reopen- ing ceremony for the community college in the coming weeks.

There were also other opportunities to view the new facilities. Two infor- mation days were organised, one on March | for third-year students and their parents interested in what tran- sition year has to offer and an open evening on March 8 for prospective new students and their parents.

STORMY weather played havoc with the schoolboys soccer pro- gramme over the weekend. 19 league fixtures and ten cup ties were due to be played, but the stormy conditions forced the cancellation of the major- ity of the bank holiday fixture list. Four games were played on Saturday but none went ahead on Sunday.

All games were cancelled on Mon- day and that meant that five teams will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on the league title.

Connolly and Newtown were due to clash in Kilmaley with the divi- sion two under 12-league title up for grabs.

Both sides have been on fire throughout the campaign with New- town a point clear of Connolly on top of the league.

The side ensured the champion- ship will be decided on the last game of the season by beating Kildysart 4- 1 on Saturday.

That game was one of just four that went ahead on Saturday, with no fix- tures taking place on Sunday.

The race for the under 11 division two title was also set to reach a con- clusion on Monday, with first place Avenue down to take on second place Tulla United.

However, that game at Lees Road was also a victim of the appalling weather conditions.

While the above teams still face nervy winner takes all deciders, there was no such complications for the under 12 division one champions Avenue United.

Avenue wrapped up the title two weeks ago with victory over Mount- shannon and were due to be pre- sented with the silverware, following Monday’s scheduled tie with Ennis stone

Elsewhere in the few fixtures that Survived the weekend weather, Ennis Town edged out Fern Celtic with a 2-0 victory in the under 13 division one. In the same division, Avenue leapfrogged Ennis rivals Turnpike at the top of the league with a 4-1 away victory over Newmarket Celtic.

Also on Saturday, Corofin came out all guns blazing to record a 6-1 away victory over Mountshannon Celtic in the under 14 division two. The win keeps alive Corofin’s hopes of catch- ing leaders Fern Celtic at the top of the table.

There was a significant victory for Avenue over the Turnpike as the race for the under 15 league really hots up. Despite being reduced to ten men, Avenue secured the win that keeps the pressure on league leaders Lifford.

IT IS just a matter of time before a major outbreak occurs in the Gort area as a result of poor water quality according to Gort Regional Alliance for Community and the Environment (GRACE).

The warning has come after more than 90,000 people in households to the north of Gort were issued with boil notices last week, following an outbreak of stomach illness thought be cause by cryptosporidium and spread through the drinking water.

More than 40 people were admitted to hospital late last week with similar symptoms including diarrhoea and SiKoyeek-(e) sere: bash eke

“The water in Gort is a disgrace. They are putting two and three times the recommended amount of chlo- rine into the water. Chlorine is car- cinogenic and I would have extreme concerns about the water if they have to put that much into it,” said Niamh Clune of GRACE.

“We are very worried that this could create a serious problem, both in the

short and long-term. The water is al- ways discoloured and Gort is often without water altogether, especially during the summer months.”

A campaign to improve the water supply has been ongoing in Gort for nearly four decades and locals are hopeful that a breakthrough can be made sooner rather than later.

“We are campaigning to get the Re- gional Water Scheme into Gort, but this has been ongoing for 37 years now. It has become a generational quest that gets handed down to sons

and daughters,” continued Dr Clune.

“We have been campaigning for this to be speeded up, but it looks like it will be delayed for another five years Or SO.

“In the meantime we need new pipes to be laid on the Ennis Road and on Crowe Street. Gort 1s con- stantly running out of water and al- though we have received new pumps the pipes themselves are degrading and are prone to breaking and dis- solving away.”

The population of Gort has expand- ed rapidly in recent years putting further pressure on the town’s water supply. Indeed, according to the most recent census figures, the population has ballooned by some 40 per cent in the last eight years. This population increase is believed to have placed even more strain on an already pres- surised water system. With a number of developments nearing completion, the population is predicted to contin- ue to rise over the coming years.

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CONCERNS over the poor state of a section of land in Shannon have prompted a group of locals to set up a campaign to restore it.

The wetland, behind the play- ground and the leisure centre in the town, has been targeted by people who have dumped garden waste and industry waste there, over the years. During this time, its condition has deteriorated and locals want to re- store it to its former condition.

They believe that the dumping has resulted in the original species being Web usrsIKealsrem

The Shannon Town Wetland Group says that the waste being dumped

on the site brings in evasive plants, which may disturb the natural bal- ance. The group was set up last year, under the Clare Biodiversity Project, and its aim is to encourage people from Shannon to support it. A grant of €4,720 has been allocated by the Heritage Council to the group, to help with the restoration process.

Secretary of the group, Edith van Burgh said a major clean-up will take place next month. The Wetland Group has just a few members and locals are being encouraged to get involved in this.

“We want to give the original flora and fauna – many species of birds and insects – of the wetlands a chance. We want to get rid of the pine trees

and to give the original trees – elder and willow trees – a chance. We have started a bit of the preparations. The nesting season is approaching, so we did not want to disturb too much, but there will be a big clean-up in April. It would be good if volunteers got in- volved. It will be a big job. We hope to have it finished before the end of the year,’ she said.

“We will try and keep it clean and make people aware how valuable this piece of land is. There are very interesting species living these, like foxes and snipes and we want to make sure they have a place to live. We also want to keep the landscape and species for the next generation,’ she said.

Ms van Burgh, a native of The Netherlands, is mindful of the 1m- portance of preserving nature. She is a former Biology teacher and taught Environmental Science in her native country, prior to moving to Shannon last year. She is hopeful that the re- percussions of the project will last for a long time to come.

“We want to put up signs that it is against the law and also to explain why we don’t want this happening,” she said.

She is also hoping to encourage the schools in Shannon to get involved in the project.

“T am planning to visit the schools, to highlight the importance of land- scapes,’ she said.