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HALF of Clare’s primary school children are in overcrowded class- rooms.

As many as 71 per cent of pupils in the greater Ennis and Shannon area are being taught in classes larger than the approved number.

Declan Kelleher, the INTO District Representative, released the figures for the first time at a public meeting on the class-size situation. He stated that 36.3 per cent of primary pupils

in the two areas were in classes of 30 to 34.

Seven per cent were in classes of 35 and some 27.4 per cent were in classes of up to 29 pupils.

“This was a clear indictment of how primary education resourc- ing has been neglected for so long by so many governments,” said Mr Kelleher. “Outside of the Ennis and Shannon areas, there were also plenty of examples of large classes and, in many instances, pupils were in smaller schools in multi-classes,

where not alone is the pupil trying to cope with an overcrowded class- room, but she or he is also trying to cope with two, three or even four dif- ferent classes within the same class- room,” he added.

“The overall primary system re- mains the least funded of all sec- tors within education, with primary class size 1n Ireland being the second worst in the entire EU.”

“The Department of Children are currently examining a proposal to introduce after-school care into pri-

mary schools but at a ratio of one adult supervisor to 15 pupils. How come it is acceptable, therefore, to have the child in an overcrowded class of 30 pupils during the school CF haan t(omr- 0s) .Co16

Sean McMahon, Principal of Mul- lagh National School and incoming INTO executive representative for Clare, said there were hundreds of pupils in overcrowded classrooms in west and north Clare and these schools also had full-time teaching principals.

Class size is both an urban and rural issue according to the teachers and parents who attended the meeting in the Oakwood Arms in Shannon on Thursday. Principal of Bansha Na- tional School, Martina Sexton, told the meeting that her school had 54 pupils, with just two teachers look- ing after all eight classes.

The Department of Education and Science had turned down their ap- peal for an additional teacher.

In many instances highlighted, there were pupils with special education needs in overcrowded classrooms, or rooms with multiple classes, who frequently required one-on-one at- Kone te

Pupils whose first language was not English also have to cope with the large class sizes.

THE Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh has said that it irritates him when people suggest that bishops and priests are out of touch with life today.

He insisted that priests were very much in touch as a result of continu- ous dealings with families in diffi- culty.

‘I think the one area where we find

it difficult is to be 1n touch with the daily lives of young people, that 1s a difficulty.

“I would say to priests regularly that it is not just us that are finding life difficult at times in this era — that despite all the material progress, parents are finding it quite difficult CNM DO New DOM DB KOR

‘Also, whether it 1s young couples coping with pressures of mortgages, very long hours or work or it 1s cou- ples coping with teenage children.”

Dr Walsh went on, “I think that we have made great progress, financial- ly, economically, socially – in many ways in recent years.

“But I often think that, for some people, the Celtic Tiger hasn’t touched them and they are finding life difficult. I think of the ones who are successful 1n economic terms, very often they are under so much pressure they can’t enjoy the fruits.

“The way our society has devel- oped, there are an awful lot of people

who are under pressure.

‘Probably, we as priests tend to see more of it. We are more 1n touch with people who are suffering. Whether it is people suffering from poverty or tragedy, priests are very much in- volved in tragic events.”

He added: “We had so many priests that somehow in the 1950s, ’60s, °70s and ’80s that we didn’t encour- age lay people to get involved in the running of the Church. I suppose that if somebody has been doing that

all their lives, it 1s not easy if you come to 70, you tend to feel that you still have to do that. I would accept that we didn’t encourage lay people to take their responsibility.

Dr Walsh’s Lenten Letter sends out a call on lay people to get involved in the running of the Church.

He states: “It is not a question of helping the priest, it 1s a question of lay people and the priest working together, sharing their responsibili- on

IT IS just days away from one of the largest annual days of celebration in the town of Kilrush – St Patrick’s Day. This year like others, the day would not be complete without the traditional parade through the town.

Once again the Kilrush Chamber of Commerce will be organising the event on the day – March 17.

“It is our hope that we can continue to build on the huge success of the past, in creating a parade that en- compasses and celebrates all aspects of our west Clare community that is enjoyable and interesting for all the

family,” said newly elected president of the Chamber of Commerce Karen WW toe-bee

The optional theme for this year’s parade is ‘Are you right there Michael?’ allowing participants to let their imaginations run wild as they decide on costumes and floats.

The parade will be judged under three categories, including musical entertainment; the St Patrick’s Day theme and the children’s category.

There are also three overall prizes including Best Junior Category, Best Senior Category and Best Overall Parade Character.

Those who venture out for a day

of festivities can look forward to a live music in the Square from 2pm to 4pm.

For those who still have some en- ergy left the Four Courts Céili Band will also be playing in Kilrush Youth Centre from 4pm to 7pm.

“It’s a guaranteed fun day for all the family. We look forward to see- ing you all on the day,’ said Ms Whelan.

The assembly for the parade is at 2pm at the Millennium Park (oppo- site Glynn’s Mill), Francis St, Kil- Mets oF

Meanwhile the Miltown Malbay St Patrick’s Day parade will be held

at 2.45pm on the same day from the GAA pitch.

The theme for this year’s parade 1s “Cultures of Europe” and as always there is huge interest and a great days entertainment guaranteed for all the Je Deen ens

This is the 10th parade in succes- sion in Miltown. There will be prizes for best float, best walking group and an adjudicators prize. There will also be a raffle to help defray the running costs of the parade with excellent prizes of “dinner for four in local well known restaurants” and the well known usual third prize of “a year’s supply of toilet rolls”!

THE ADARE 10k road race organ- ised by West Limerick Athletic Club was held in dreadful weather condi- tions over the weekend. Despite this, over 200 athletes went to the starting line.

There were outstanding perform- ances from a number Clare athletes. Loretta Duggan, St Mary’s, last years title holder came home in a very good third position in the senior ladies with last years runner-up taking the title in 41.48mins. Marian Burke, St Mary’s, was fourth, Siobhan Lennon, Ennis Track, fifth, and Deirdre Daly, Ennis Track, was sixth. The team t1- tle went to St Mary’s.

Jason Fahy, Olympic Harriers, made a big return after being out with a shoulder injury to finish sec- ond with victory going to Cian Mur- phy, Iveragh, in 32.29mins.

GSE Te eka elroy E verre Koe corded a great victory in the masters

ladies O45 with another Clare ath- lete, Maura Falsey, Kilmurry Ibrick- ane/North Clare, second.

In the masters men O50 Michael Harvey, Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare, ran a fine race to finish second with victory going to Gerard Mul- lane, Bilboa.

Clare athletes were well represent- ed in this very big field. The heavy rain at the start made running con- ditions very difficult. Paul Buckley, Ferbane, County Offaly, led the big field out over the first 5k with Cian Murphy, Iveragh, and Jason Fahy in close contact. This was always going to a battle of the fittest in these test- ing conditions.

Brian Murphy, Marian, along with Thomas Walsh and James Murphy, Tulla, were running very well and coming through the field as it entered into the final three miles. At the four mile mark Cian Murphy was mak- ing his presence felt as he began to take over the lead with Fahy right

on his shoulder. Over the final mile the Kerry man pulled away on the slight uphill stretch to claim victory in 32.29mins. Fahy ran very well to take second in 32.39mins with third place going to Paul Buckley in 32.44mins. Brian Murphy, Marian, finished 11th in 34.04mins.

The O50 title went to Gerard Mul- lane, Bilboa, in 36.49mins. A close second was Michael Harvey, Kil- murry Ibrickane/North Clare, in 37.28mins. Third was Dermot Mo- ran, St Mary’s, in 43.24mins.

The Clare ladies were very much to the fore with Tracy Roche, Dooneen, last years runner-up, going into bat- tle with Loretta Duggan, St Mary’s, last years title holder Catherine Con- way, Limerick.

Over the first two miles these three were well in control at the front with Marian Burke, St Mary’s, running her first 1Ok road race, leading the next chasing group that included Siobhan Lennon and Deirdre Daly,

Ennis Track, with St Mary’s packing well for the team contest with Hillary Cunningham also in the top 20.

The final 5k of this race developed into a great contest. Tracy Roche be- gan to take a slight lead on Loretta Duggan with Catherine Conway coming under pressure in third spot. Over the final mile it was anybodys race. Roche, with the wind at her back, upped the tempo and crossed the finishing line to take the title in 41.48mins with Catherine Conway coming with late burst to take second spot in 42.34mins.

Loreta Duggan was a very close third in 42.39mins and they were followed home by Marian Burke, St Mary’s, with fifth, Siobhan Lennon, and sixth, Deirdre Daly.

St Mary’s packed well to capture the team title with Loretta Duggan, Marian Burke and Hillary Cunning- ham clocking a total of 39points. Second were Limerick Country Club on 59points.

SPORT is cruel. A Harty Cup medal is one of the most prestigious prize on offer in the game, but typically a hurler will only get one shot at win- UND OreaK@) alse

For this year’s St. Flannan’s side that chance materialised on Sun- day against De La Salle, but cruelly they were denied by a combination of atrocious weather conditions and some suspect refereeing decisions.

There is no question of sour grapes among the St. Flannan’s camp, but they would be well within their rights to query some of Seamus Roche’s de- cisions and why the fixture was ful- filled in the first place.

The weather was like something out of the old testament and by the end of an hour’s hurling both goal- mouths were flooded. In fact it was impossible to decipher, such was the muck, where the respective sidelines were.

“You couldn’t but praise the lads

or fault any of them for the effort they put in,’ explained joint-manager John O’Connor in the aftermath of the defeat.

“The lads were terrific especially in the second half and once we got into that three-point lead Donal (Cahir) turned to me and said if we could get one more score we would go on to win it. But that score never came and De La Salle came back at us.

“Their second goal, which brought them level, really killed us. In a match like that, in those conditions, a goal is almost mentally worth four or five points and after that all the momentum was with De La Salle.”

The circumstances that led to Stephen Power’s second goal were more than suspect. St Flannan’s led by three points in the 49th minute when Power dropped a long-range free into the Flannan’s goalmouth. The sliothar dropped among a forest of hurls before becoming completely submerged in a flooded goalmouth. Then, and inexplicably, Seamus Ro-

che penalised St. Flannan’s ‘keeper Donal Tuohy for lying on the ball. Stephen Power rammed the 21-yard free home and a critical turning point had been reached.

“Most referees, especially in those conditions, would have _ stopped play and given a throw-in,’ adds O’Connot.

‘The referee was very harsh. How the hell he figured that it was a ’21 is beyond me. The ball had literally disappeared into a puddle of water. There was nothing that Donal (Tuo- hy) could have done especially with the goalmouth so crowded. That goal absolutely killed us.”

Such a talking point should never have materialised since the game should never have gone ahead. A sug- gestion that O’Connor agrees with.

‘The referee said to us at half time that if the conditions got any worse he was going to call it off. Even if he had called it off when we were three points up we wouldn’t have minded. Both sets of players deserved better. You just couldn’t hurl in those cond1- tions. Tactics went comepletely out the window and De La Salle, for ex- ample, only scored once from play. Look it’s not sour grapes. The con- ditions were the same for both sides, but it would also have been fairer to both sides if the game had been called off.”

St. Flannan’s now await the loser of the Leinster final between Castle- comer and Kilkenny CBS before they know who they face in an All- Ireland quarter-final in three weeks time.

A SHANNON-BASED pharmaceu- tical company yesterday announced plans to relocate part of its enterprise to a business park it strenuously op- posed in the planning process.

Yesterday, as part of its €70 mil- lion expansion plan, German-owned Schwarz Pharma announced that it is relocating part of its operation to the adjoining Westpark Business Park in Shannon.

However, the pharmaceutical com-

pany’s opposition to the business park prompted An Bord Pleanala to hold an oral hearing into planned €150 million development in 2002.

The promoters behind the business park claimed that the appeal was vexatious and argued to the board that the motivation was related to ne- gotiations over office space.

The board ruled that the appeal had substance, but granted permission for the development.

More recently, Westpark Devel- opments objected to three separate

planning applications at the Schwarz Pharma site, though the council granted permission for the propos- AES

However, yesterday, at a ceremony in Shannon, Schwarz Pharma con- firmed that it is to expand its op- erations into Westpark, occupying a new 110,000 sq ft building over five levels and will accommodate qual- ity control, IT services, employees amenities and a research and quality CH Ker

Managing Director of Westpark

Shannon, Brian O’Connell said, ““We are absolutely thrilled that Schwarz Pharma has chosen to work with BOC Holdings Ltd and have chosen Westpark as the strategic location of choice for their European expansion. Construction on the development will commence this month and is due for completion in late 2008. Managing Director of Schwarz Pharma, Werner Kunz said, “This new building will allow us to add strategic value to our future devel- opment initiatives while freeing-up

valuable growth space in our current production facility. This is a very significant and important decision by Schwarz Pharma and it underlines our confidence in the Shannon region to support our corporate business eva

Minister Tony Killeen TD said, “The decision by Schwarz Pharma to embark on this highly significant ex- pansion is a considerable boost to the Shannon region. The establishment of its R&D operation bodes well for i eTom RULAUD Kone

THE Athletics Association of Ire- land All-Ireland Inter Club Cross Country Championships was held in Sligo Racecourse and hosted by Sli- go AC on an excellent cross country course.

With heavy underfoot conditions a number of athletes found it very tough going and Orla O’Mahoney once again had to settle for that number four spot in the senior ladies.

Seamus Power produced a great ef- fort until the final lap where he was in fourth position and once again that final lap was too much. He jogged home in 12th place.

The junior men’s race was run over a distance of 8,00Q0metres and the star of the show here was John Coughlan, Metro St Bridget’s, son of Eamon Coughlan. He was one of the brightest stars of Irish athletics at the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championship two weeks ago and he captured another big title beating David Flynn, Clonliffe Harriers, and David Rooney, Raheny Shamrocks.

Ennis Track Club were well rep- resented with Brian McGinley pro- ducing a mighty performance and coming home in 22nd position. He has another year in this grade and he was followed home by David Quinn (38), Sean O’Flynn (50) and Stephen McGinley (52). This gave Ennis Track eighth place overall on 162 points, victory going to St Malachys Belfast on 43 points.

Mary Cullen, North Sligo, finalist in the European 3,000 metres indoor championships last week was among the leading contenders for the senior ladies 8,000 metres title.

With one lap to go Fionualla Britton, Sli Chulinn, Wicklow, made a very decisive move and went well clear of the field to take this title. Deir- dre Byrne, Sli Chulinn, was having a great battle with Orla O’ Mahoney, Ennis and Raheny Shamrocks, but the Wicklow girl had too much power on the final uphill stretch to the finish and once again the Clare girl had to settle for fourth position.

With just one month to the World Cross Country Championships in Kenya these championships were always going to be very well con- tested. Last years title holder Garry

Murray, Letterkenny, was going into these championships with a massive amount of training runs of over 100 miles a week along with Mark Ken- neally, Clonliffe Harriers, and after

two big laps these two athletes were at the front.

They took this race out at a blister- ing pace and on the second lap of the six the field of over 150 athletes were well strung out. Peter Mat- thews, Dundrum South Dublin, Joe Sweeney, St Malachy’s and Seamus Power, Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare, were in the next chasing group along with local athlete David Kelly, Sligo, Killian Lonergan, Clonliffe Harriers, and Brian Maher, Kilkenny City Harriers.

Two laps from the finish Murray and Kenneally made another surge on the downhill stretch and opened a big gap on Sweeney with Power working hard. He was well in con- tention with two laps remaining with Brian Maher having a very big race as he had moved into the the top six along with Kelly.

Over the final lap the Letterkenny man Murray showed his class when he went well clear. With 5Ometres of a gap he crossed the finishing line in fine style with Kenneally taking the silver medal and Sweeney running a big last lap to take the bronze medal ahead of Kelly and a surprise fifth Brian Maher.

The fast pace over the early laps took its toll on Seamus Power and he was feeling the full effects over the last lap. He was putting in a big ef- forts and he looked dead on his feet. Many onlookers thought he would not finish, but he never gives up and finished in 12th place.

The junior ladies race over 6,000 metres was a classic with Dundrum South Dublin athletes dominating this race from start to finish with victory going to Rebecca French- O’Carroll, second was Suzanne Huet and third was Bryony Triston.

Our own 17-year-old and Clare jun- ior cross-country champion Claire Madigan, St John’s, finished in eighth position.

WHAT goes up must come down. After the high of victory over Kerry in the under 21 grade, the low of a 13 point drubbing at the hands of a rampant Monaghan.

Standing in the grey gloom outside the Clare dressing room, the rain pouring down around him, Banner boss Paidi O’Shea picked positives out of an awful day for Clare foot- eye

“It isn’t a major setback. I haven’t seen the rest of the results yet. We’re on four points and there will be a lot of better teams than us on four points around the league. We’d think that there is a good opportunity to get an-

other two points against London and we have games to come against Of- faly and Longford, so nobody knows just yet. We’ll have a look at it and see,’ he said

“We lived on the edge for a while in the first half. We never got going and Monaghan could have punished us further. We were playing catch up after 20 minutes. We can have no complaints, they were completely better than us. We lost a shower of players through injury and any team is going to miss players. Maybe if we had Michael O’Shea a bit earlier it would have given us a bit more. We are missing other players like Alan Malone and Stephen Hickey.”

Meanwhile, his counterpart Sea-

mus McEneaney revealed the way Clare were on their last visit to Ennis was a powerful motivating force for them. ““We were determined to put right what happened when we came here two years ago,” he said.

“We weren’t treated right that day; we weren’t even allowed to warm up on the pitch beforehand. We came down early yesterday, we got here around 10.30am. The lads were re- ally focused that was the most com- plete 74 minutes of football I’ve seen from us this year.

“We came down here with a mis- sion and that was to still be top of the league after the match. Things didn’t go our way before this match either. We didn’t have a place to warm up beforehand so we had to go on a bit of land that the Council owned and then the Guards showed up to move us on. So if we needed anymore mo- tivation that was the final nail. I have waited two years to talk to you guys about what happened, and get that of my chest,” he added.

Clare could do with some similar motivation.

THERE were celebrations in Liscan- nor last week with the news that the Government has promised almost half a million euro of funding to- ward the creation of a state-of-the- art creche facility in the village.

Just under €430,000 has been ear- marked for the creation of the service which could be up and running be- fore the beginning of 2008. The most likely venue for the new facility is on the grounds of Liscannor Primary School but no definite agreement has been reached to date.

Liscannor and the surrounding ar- eas have seen a large growth in popu- lation over the last decade and these creche facilities are now essential for the future growth of the area.

Plans have also been muted to es- tablish an after school service in conjunction with the new creche fa- Teta

“We are hoping that this will al- low us to put on a new building onto the primary building in Liscannor. We are aiming to have 20 preschool places in the new building, but we would also be looking at creating an after school service. The hope at

the moment is to be able to combine three existing rooms at the school to form the after school service,’ said creche organiser, Liz Bonito.

‘There is a huge demand in the area for something like this. We are cur- rently operating in the community centre but this new purpose building will make all the difference.

“We have been fundraising for this the whole time and so many people have been a huge help in getting this off the ground. It is the combined ef- fort of an awful lot of people in Lis- cannot.

“It’s thanks the parents who have

abd Cehncys MBs Mm Oe CoM el buwuss0lMmel Roles (om oy-KI parents, future parents and con- cerned people in the locality.”

The announcement was welcomed by local county councilor Richard Nagle.

“T am really delighted, there has been almost €430,000 allocated for the provision a play school service in Liscannor,’ said Cllr Nagle (FF).

“I made a number of representa- tions on behalf of the group and I am really hopeful that things will be able to progress as quickly as possi- ble from now on. It is a badly needed service for the area.”

FOR the third consecutive year, cus- toms officials at Shannon Airport did not confiscate any goods from pas- sengers arriving in Ireland from the US during the traditional Christmas shopping period.

This is despite an _ estimated 100,000 Irish people travelling to the US, many from Shannon Airport, and spending millions of Euro on Christmas shopping trips in the pe- riod between the start of November and the end of December.

While customs officers carry out random checks at airports as part of their daily duties, passengers stopped at Shannon during November and December did not have any items in excess of their allowance.

Information obtained from the Revenue Commissioners confirmed that the number and value of goods

seized from passengers and pas- sengers’ baggage between Novem- ber | and December 31 at Shannon was “nil”. The number and value of goods released on compromise pen- alties was also “nil”.

The figures revealed that the amount of duty and taxes taken from passen- gers declaring goods on importation was €1,262.66 – made up of €117.15 in duty and €1,145.51 in VAT.

At Dublin Airport, passengers returning from the US during the same period, with “goods lawfully declared”, paid €749 in duty and €3,430 in VAT.

While some items were seized, they were released to their owners follow- ing payment of duties and penalties valued at €1,031.

Passengers are allowed to bring home items worth no more than €175 before they must make a dec- laration.