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A RULING in the case of a Lisdoonvarna-based nXe)re group, accused of employing non-nationals without valid work permits in two of its ho- tels, will be made tomorrow (Wednesday).

In the first case of its kind in Clare last month, Ennis District Court heard from members of the Garda immi- eration bureau that 14 people, ranging in ages from 21 to 39, were employed at the Imperial and Hydro Hotels in Lisdoon- varna, without valid work permits, in September 2004.

The accused were William

O’Sullivan (manager of The Hydro), Geraldine Whyte (manageress of The Imperial), Marcus White, and The Hy- dro and Imperial hotels. The five accused denied a total of 36 charges against them.

The White Hotel Group ac- countant, Robert Hurley, told the court that people with- out work permits would not knowingly be employed. He said directions came from on high.

After hearing evidence over two days, Judge Joseph Man- gan dismissed the charges against Mr O’Sullivan and Ms Whyte, saying there was no evidence that either were

officers of the two defendant companies.

Defending solicitor Eugene O’Kelly said there was no evidence that Marcus White actively consented to the em- ployment of such people.

Inspector Michael Gal- lagher said two non-nationals were discovered “physically working” at one of the hotels.

Judge Mangan queried Whether there was evidence that Marcus White was direc- tor of both companies when the searches took place.

He adjourned the case to give the State the opportunity to prove he was director on WerLI@EcT oR

SPEAKING in the Dail in 1947, Fine Gael leader James Dillon famously forecast that rab- bits would over-run the runways in Rineanna.

Fianna Fail folk scoffed at the very sugges- tion — it would never happen, they roared, for Shannon was a wonder of their world, a Fianna Fail airport.

They were the great defenders of Shannon Airport — defence that manifested itself on many occasions down the years. It’s as if there was a wall around Rineanna to keep at bay in- fidels who were out to undermine the jewel of

Irish aviation.

In the fifties, the Government of President Harry Truman wanted to annul an agreement that ensured Shannon had to be used as a stopo- ver for transatlantic traffic into Ireland. Fianna Fail said no.

The stopover threat was there again in the early seventies and the Shannon Airport Action Committee circled the wagons to great affect.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Clare’s first political citizen, Dr. Paddy Hillery, fa- mously told a delegation of airport activists in the Old Ground Hotel that the party would al- ways safeguard Shannon Airport.

Fianna Fail were true to this principal in

Paddy Hillery’s time, but not in our time of the ‘90s and early millennium. All because, under Fianna Fail’s watch, Shannon Airport has been dealt two of the biggest blows in its eight-dec- ade history.

The great Fianna Fail defenders have let their suard down — the great Shannon Wall around the sacred cow that was the airport has come tumbling down. The former hub of the aviation world is not a jewel in the Fianna Fail crown anymore.

And all this in the space of a dozen years. Minister for Transport Maire Geoghegan Quinn said in October 1992 that the compul- sory stopover was not “up for negotiation” and

‘“wouldn’t be back on the political agenda”’.

Eight months later, her successor, Brian Co- wen, showed how empty this promise was when he abolished the compulsory stopover.

Now comes the decision to end the bi-lateral agreement that allowed one-for-one transatlan- tic flights into Shannon and Dublin.

And again, it happened under Fianna Fail’s watch. That wall has come tumbling down al- right — the night and day watchmen that were Fianna Fail activists defending the stopover in their own control tower are not what they used to be.

Now, they can only hope that rabbits don’t over-run Rineanna’s runways.

THE mother of Lorna Mahony has expressed her frustration at delays in the process of ex- traditing David Naughton. Last week Geral- dine Mahony travelled to London to be at Bow Street Magistrates for an extradition hearing. However, the application could not be proc- essed as the necessary paperwork was not be- fore the court by the Irish authorities.

“This was his fourth appearance in court in relation to the extradition and they are still waiting on paperwork from Ireland,’ Mrs Ma- hony said. “The magistrate seemed puzzled by the delay and said he would contact the Irish judge who issued the order.”

She continued, “The whole thing is very frustrating. One section doesn’t appear to know what the other side is doing. We are two

years after the girls’ deaths and we are no fur- ther down the process. We have to fight for any information from the authorities.

‘Families need to know what is going on. If we had a trial date or were kept in the loop, that would improve things. It is over two years since Lorna and Stacey left Stacey’s house on that Friday night, and we are still waiting for answers as to what happened.”

Mrs Mahony added, “It gets harder. Every- one is struggling because it hurts too much. It seems so senseless and we have no idea what happened. The inquest was formally opened in June 2004, but was adjourned because of the criminal proceedings.”

Extradition proceedings have been adjourned to December 6. Mrs Mahony said, “I would hope that by then, the Irish authorities would have the proper paperwork in place”.

THE writing has been in the sky for the stopo- ver since before Shannon Airport opened for business in 1945. When the solo transatlantic pioneer, Charles Lindbergh, was brought 1n to map out where Ireland should have its succes- sor to the Foynes flying boat base, he became the first in a long line of experts to predict that Shannon would not last long as a gateway. Within a year of Shannon’s take-off, Min- ister Sean Lemass was reporting to the gov- ernment that “two of the three” US airlines flying into Shannon were even then making

a case for Dublin. But it wasn’t until the Irish national airline began to meddle that the shift towards Dublin really began.

Aer Lingus was to the fore in defending the Shannon transatlantic gateway for decades, and a key element of its strategy was to oper- ate the feeder service between Shannon and Dublin by the astute tactic of having two air- lines — one for Atlantic crossings and another for internal and east-bound flights.

But when mass movements arrived in the shape of the jumbo jet, Aer Lingus decided to simply change the flight number and carry on to Dublin with a “Shannon stop” in between.

American airlines naturally demanded the same two-stop access to Dublin which was conceded in 1972, with TWA going into Dub- lin and Pan American withdrawing from the Irish market.

In the cycles of good and bad years for air travel and US tourism in Ireland, the calls for Shannon change continued through the 1970s and 1980s, but it was not until Aer Lingus lent its voice and the powerful leverage of the Dublin business lobby, that the tide really turned against Shannon from 1990.

The Shannon status battle would have been a complete rout, but for the Fianna Fail revolt

in Clare which saved daily direct connections to New York from Shannon when all seemed lost. Since the even split of US flights between Dublin and Shannon from 1993, Dublin’s share has steadily climbed at the expense of Shannon.

Furthermore, US tourism is sticking closer to the capital and not spreading around the country as in the past, while American busi- ness investment has concentrated on Dublin. Official figures show that the Mid-West has been the biggest loser in both tourism and jobs in overseas industry and services since ee

: “T know that there were all sorts of rumours circulating about my health, but I’m glad to be able to say that they have no foun- CR IB(eyNe

“It was not very pleasant, but being so long in po- litical life, you have to grow a thick skin and that is sadly the more unseemly side of politics. I just prefer to stay away from that kind of approach to politics.”

On reports that she was not working on the ground in the constituency, Minister de Valera said, “Maybe you put that down to political mischief making; after all, conventions are afoot and elections are down for 2007. You will always have rumours like that circu- lating.

“T don’t put too much emphasis on reports like that and I have been working as hard as I can.”

Minister de Valera said that her decision to retire from politics was “a leap of faith to try to have a sec- ond career”’.

The 50-year old stated that she had been thinking about retiring from politics “for quite some time’, but declined to state for how long.

Asked how her retirement would affect Fianna Fail’s election prospects in Clare in the next General Election, Minister de Valera said: ““No one is indis- pensable and Fianna Fail is lucky that they have some potential candidates who already have tremendous experience.

“It will be up to the Fianna Fail organisation when the convention comes on January 9 and depending on the choice, I will be only too happy to support those particularly candidates.”

Minister de Valera said that her record in Clare was for others to judge.

‘“T have worked very hard. If you go into public life, although there is a some sense of cynicism, working and knowing the system from the inside, certaintly to be re-elected you have to work very hard, you re- ally do.

“It is a tough existence, it means that you have less time for family, friends and hobbies. That is the choice you make and you make that willingly and I will have been in political life for 30 years by the time the next election comes around, so it is time to move on.”

Minister de Valera described her decision as a ‘life-changing one” and said that she now hopes to complete her PhD in psychology and also write a po- litical memoir.

In relation to her PhD, Minister de Valera said, “It is not possible to carry those particular interests along with a political life. I have had marvellous opportu- nities in my political life, serving as a front bench spokesperson, vice-president of Fianna Fail, a Minis- ter at the cabinet table and now a Junior Minister.

“It has been a great experience and I have every 1n- tention of working extremely hard for the remainder of my time as a TD.”

Asked if she was in any way disillusioned with poli- tics, Minister de Valera said, “Disillusioned? No, I have and will continue to have a tremendous interest in politics.”

MACRA na Feirme president, Colm Markey, has called on EU Trade Commissioner Peter Man- delson to resign over his plans to reduce the import tariffs on non- EU farm produce by 46 per cent.

Mr Markey went on to say that it was clear that Mr Mandelson was still taking orders from Tony Blair and is trying to destroy the Oroyssheleyemmn Yau (es lathe: lame me) elen’s Jece)eemysiseunee

“By offering to reduce average tariffs on agricultural imports by 46 per cent in a bid to secure a deal in the WTO talks, Mr Man- delson has exceeded his mandate from the European Commission and has made a disastrous blun- der in the ongoing negotiations,” said Mr Markey. “He is obvious- ly not the right person for this job and should resign immediately.”

The Macra president went on to attack what he described as Mr Mandelson’s ‘cavalier strat- egy and his attempts to maxim- ise market access for European companies involved in industry and services, while at the same time selling out the EU agricul- tural sector.

“It is unbelievable that Mr. Mandelson has offered so much at this stage, while the Ameri- cans are ploughing on regardless with their current policies and planning a new Farm Bill to run from 2007,’ he said.

“Mr. Mandelson’s open door policy will mean a race to the bottom on production standards as the market will ultimately be left to imports. It is absolutely vital that the EU retains its own clean, safe food supply produced under conditions acceptable to SLURS hy Ao 1a

WEST Clare-based senator, Brendan Daly, claimed this week that no stone will be left unturned in Fianna Fail’s efforts to reclaim three seats in Clare in the next general election.

Twenty-four hours after his party colleague, Junior Minister, Sile de Valera announced her retirement from politics, Senator Daly was in defiant form last Friday, declaring, “There is going to be no stone un- turned to get back the three seats, no conceding anything to anyone at this stage.”

Less than a month ago, the former minister caused a surprise in some circles when he said he would be putting his name forward for cand1i- dature for the next general election at the Fianna Fail selection convention on January 9, 2006.

Now, assuming that he gets the green light from the Fianna Fail con- vention, Senator Daly looks to be a strong position to reclaim the Dail seat he lost in 2002 if Fianna Fail manages to hold onto its core vote in Clare in the next election.

Speaking at afunction at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point last Friday — which was also attended by Minister de Valera – Senator Daly

continued, “Personally, it is impor- tant to win three seats. We are going all out for three seats, we have the policies to back it up, the candidates

In ebullient form, the Senator con- tinued, “We don’t know what the con- vention will throw up. At the end of the day when the convention is over

already declared are well-placed, we are going to put up a fight, we are not going to give up easily, we are gonna out ee

and if I am on that ticket, I would be confident of being elected. There is a very big area of west Clare used to having two TDs representing it.

“We have a challenge there to get back the seat we lost the last time, we’ve won and lost it several times. We had two and three-quarter quo- tas last time out and we will be chal- lenging very strong on the basis of the economic performance under the Government, and that we have three candidates who understand the prob- lems of the county. “The quality of life in this county is better than most. If you look at Clare’s economic per- formance, itis better than most coun- ties. Seventy per cent of our kids are going into college, which is much higher than any other county in I[re- land. We want to keep it that way.”

Last time out, Senator Daly lost his Dail seat to James Breen TD who resigned from Fianna Fail in the months prior to the election in order to run as an independent.

Senator Daly was first elected TD in 1973 and held onto his seat until 1992 and regained it in 1997. During his time in the Dail, Senator Daly has served in three Ministries- as Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, the Marine and for Social Welfare.

A MEETING of Burren farmers wishing to know more about the BurrenLife Project will take place in Cassidy’s Pub in Carron this Monday night at 8.30pm. The meeting is designed to allow Bur- ren farmers to learn more about the project and there will be a detailed presentation as-well-as a questions and answers session on the night. There will also be a second presentation and

discussion about the regulations concerning the maintenance and upkeep of the extensive stone walls in the Burren area.

Burren Life was launched by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Govern- ment Dick Roche last July. The project aims to take a new partnership approach between con- servationists and the farmers of the Burren and insure that the landscape of the area remains in- tact but that farming 1s also sustainable.

The project is being headed up by Dr Brendan Dunford who was last week appointed to the Irish Heritage Council. Dr Dunford has lived in the Burren for almost 10 years now and wrote his university doctorate on the impact that different farming techniques were having on the area.

He jointly set up the Burrenbeo conservationist organisation and education website a number of years ago before deciding to head up the Burren- Life project earlier this year.

SILE de Valera has represented the Clare con- stituency since 1987. Born in Dublin in 1954, Minister de Valera was educated at Loretto Convent, Dublin and UCD, where she quali- fied as a career guidance teacher.

She was first elected to the Dail for the Dub- lin mid-county constituency, in the Fianna Fail landslide general election of 1977. She was the youngest TD elected that year.

In June 1979, she was elected to the Euro- pean Parliament for a five-year term. Later that year, de Valera was one of the Fianna Fail TDs who criticised the policies of Taoiseach,

Jack Lynch in relation to Northern Ireland and was a prominent supporter of Charles Haughey, who succeeded him as Taoiseach in December 19779.

She held her Dail seat until the 1981 Gen- eral Election, when the constituency bounda- ries were redrawn. She sought re-election in the new constituency of Dublin South. This caused tension within the Fianna Fail party locally, as one of the other candidates, Séa- mus Brennan, was a prominent opponent of Haughey. De Valera polled relatively well at that election, but narrowly lost to Niall An- drews. de Valera contested the constituency again at the February 1982 general election,

but she again failed to get elected, seeing her vote drop.

For the following general election in No- vember 1982, she transferred to Clare, where sitting TD, Bill Loughnane (a fellow sup- porter of Haughey), was standing down. Clare was the constituency that her grandfather, Eamon de Valera, had represented from 1917 until 1959. Again, she narrowly failed to get elected, but she remained living in the con- stituency, and in 1987 she was re-elected. She has been re-elected at every election since.

De Valera resigned the party whip from F1- anna Fail in 1993, due to the removal of the stopover at Shannon Airport. In 1994, the

new leader, Bertie Ahern, appointed her to the front bench. In 1997, she became Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. In 2002, she lost her place at the Cabinet table but became a junior minister. She is currently Minister of State at the Department of Edu- cation & Science, with Special Responsibility for Adult Education, Youth Affairs and Edu- cational Disadvantage.

Last Thursday, Minister de Valera an- nounced her intention to stand down at the end of the current Dail term. She is a niece of Vivion de Valera and 1s a first cousin of the current Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv.

CLARE cattle and sheep farmers were this week warned of a potential outbreak in liver fluke over the winter months. The warning was announced by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food John Browne after a study into the years weather patterns.

A liver fluke forecasting model, based on rain- fall during spring, summer and early autumn, predicts that the disease will be a big problem this year in cattle and sheep in Clare as-well-as other parts of the west, midwest, northwest and southwest of the country during the winter.

This is due to high rainfall during late summer and early autumn creating suitable conditions for the propagation of the snail intermediate host

and infective stages of the liver fluke.

The study was carried out by the Liver Fluke Advisory Group which is made up of members of the Central Veterinary Laboratory, the De- partment of Agriculture and Rural Development (Northern Ireland), Teagasc, Met Eireann, Phar- maceutical industry and the College of Life Sci- ences, University College Dublin.

The group has advised that farmers in high risk areas, such as Clare, should treat sheep im- mediately. They also advised that young cattle should be dosed right away and again after hous- ing while older cattle need only receive treatment after housing.

The timing of treatment after housing depends on the flukicide product being used. Cattle being kept on pasture for the winter should be treated

immediately and this treatment should be repeat- ed at regular intervals according to veterinary advice.

Minister Browne said that the treatment of dairy cows for liver fluke should be carried out at drying off and not during lactation, and also advised that all bought-in cattle and sheep should be kept isolated and treated for liver fluke before joining the main herd or flock.

The Central Veterinary Laboratory and the Regional Veterinary Laboratories can help vet- erinary practitioners and farmers by testing dung and blood samples for evidence of liver fluke eggs, antibodies and associated liver damage as well as monitoring the efficacy of anthelmintic treatment.