Category: Uncategorized

A €5,200 TRIP by Ennis Town Council mem- bers and officials to a famous wine-growing region in the south of France last Summer has run into controversy.

Two councillors say the three day trip by five councillors and three officials to St. Paul de Fenouillet, at the invitation of the local mayor last July, was bad value.

During their time there, the Ennis delega- tion would have been able to visit St Paul de Fenouillet’s famous vineyards. In common with previous trips by the Town Council overseas, this one was accompanied by little or no publicity.

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn who didn’t go on the trip said this week: ‘I was elected to put in place policies for the town council and monitor the work of the execu- tive.

“The trip would not have assisted me in my duties as a councillor. I don’t think it is rel- evant.

‘The general public has become very cyni- cal over the work of central and local gov- ernment and a trip such as this would make the public even more cynical, where money needs to be spent on local services.”

Cllr Donal O’Bearra (GP) said, “From my experience of overseas trips for the Council, nothing is implemented by the Council that has been viewed abroad.”

Councillor O’Bearra travelled abroad with the council on a number of overseas trips in- cluding Bruges and St. Paul de Fenouillet, but opted not to go on this year’s trip.

“The people of St Paul de Fenouillet have been very, very good to the council and I went there with an open mind before as to the value of the trip. But all the evidence suggests that it 1s just a junket.”

Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon (Ind) said that the twinning arrangement with St Paul de Fenouillet “has provided an amount of benefits for Ennis”.

Ennis Town Clerk, Eddie Power said, “The cost of the trip was €5,200. The Council has a budget of €24,000 for town-twinning and associated expenses.

“The Twinning arrangement continues to be an opportunity to promote Ennis as a place to visit. This is particuarly relevant in the context of additional low cost airlines fly- ing the Shannon to Girona route, as the St. Paul de Fenouillet region is easily accessible through Girona.”

IRISH singer songwriting legend Paddy Ca- sey will be in Ennistymon later this month to play a special charity concert in aid of the towns new Steiner Primary School.

The hugely popular artist will appear in the Falls Hotel on Friday October 21 to per- form a once-off intimate gig.

All proceeds from the event will to to- wards the newly established Mol An Oige Steiner School which opened it’s doors for the first time in September.

The school, which 1s the first of its kind in the area, was set up and continues to run on a completely voluntary basis by local people.

“It promises to be a really great night,” said Roisin who is one of the people respon- sible for setting up the concert.

“We are really delighted to have Paddy play. He is an excellent live act and was voted the best performer at the Oxygen Fes- tival last year.”

‘Paddy has supported REM, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morisette and Katie Melua so we are looking forward to a great night at the Falls, which will be an excellent, intimate venue for someone of his calibre,” she continued.

The Mol An Oige school is located across from the childcare unit in Data Display in Ennistymon.

At present 12 children are enrolled in the school which is taught by Inagh teacher Una Ni Ghairbhith who is a qualified primary school teacher who has two years of experi- ence in using the Steiner method.

The Steiner method is a system of active learning, which is designed to help children learn through a variety of traditional and non-traditional methods.

For example, a maths class in a Steiner school can include rhyme, a variety of dif- ferent games, or even children using the movements of their own bodies to learn.

Playing support to Paddy Casey on the night will be two Clare bands; Bondeko and The Filth.

Bondeko are a eclectic world music band featuring saxophone, drums, guitar, key- boards and powerful male harmonies.

The Filth will bring an element of rock and ska to the concert which will have something to suit everyone’s tastes.

Tickets for the concert cost €20 and are available in Ennis from the Little Silver Mines and Custy’s music shop.

They are also for sale locally in Ennisty- mon at the Sugan chair restaurant, Crosbies craft shop, Unglerts and the Falls Hotel it- self.

Only 700 tickets are available for the unique event to early booking is a must.

THREE members of the travelling commu- nity who were involved in an altercation out- side Ennis swimming pool, have each been fined €600.

Before Ennis District Court were Chris- topher McDonagh (30), 1 Davit Terrace, Cloughleigh, Ennis; 38-year-old Bernard Mc- Donagh, | Ashline, Ennis; and Christopher Mongan (27), with an address in Clondalkin, Dublin, arising out of an incident on June 26, 2003.

Garda Val McCormack told the court that Bernard and Christopher McDonagh had been in the gym part of the pool when a car,

in which Christopher Mongan was travelling, pulled in to the car park.

“Tt’s alleged the McDonaghs came from the pool, went to their car, took weapons, includ- ing slash hooks and sticks, and went to hit the car in which the Mongans were travelling,” said Gda McCormack.

He said it was alleged by the McDonaghs that the Mongans also had weapons in their car. Gardai searched the pool area, but didn’t find any implements or weapons. He said there were allegations that the accused shout- ed abuse at each other and took their shirts off.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a fine of

AN exciting new exhibition of paintings by Christopher Banahan will open this Saturday in the Rus- sell Gallery in New Quay.

The exhibition, which 1s entitled ‘Recent Paintings’, will be opened by the Galway Arts Officer James Harrold and will run until Novem- ber 12.

‘Recent Paintings’ will feature a selection of paintings undertaken from when Banahan first started exhibiting in Ireland about 10 years ago up until the present day and a series of landscape painting influenced by the artists move to the Galway Bay last year.

A recurring theme in his paint- ings is the destructive force that nature can have upon both natural and man-made surfaces.

This can be seen not only in his earlier, Pompei influenced frag- mented frescos, but also in his Iconic Gold leaf Madonna’s and Deities, his contemplative portraits of children and his present Burren inspired ethereal landscapes and flowers.

Indeed his most recent works explore many themes especially relevant in the Burren such as the ways by which natural erosion re- flects the vulnerability and fragil- ity of life.

Christopher Banahan regularly shows at the Hallward Gallery in Dublin and has been extensively exhibiting in galleries throughout the country. Indeed Mr Banahan has taken part in successful exhi- bitions around the world including the Boston University, Irish Insti- tute for European Affairs in Lou- vain and the Academia Britannica in Rome.

Earlier this year he was also se- lected to represent Ireland in the “Contemporary Art From Ireland” exhibition at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

His work has also been included in many private and corporate col- lections including Microsoft, AIB, the Arts Council of Ireland, Ball- inglen Foundation Mayo, Con- temporary Art Society of Great Britain and the Office of Public Works in Dublin.

MINISTER for State, Tim O’ Malley told the Dail that he has been informed by the Garda au- thorities that a special operation is in place in Kilrush to assist local Gardai in their efforts to prevent and detect acts of criminality in the locality.

He was responding to a call from Deputy Pat Breen to put in place a strategic plan to deal with the anti- social problems in Kilrush that have people living in fear.

“Resources from throughout the Clare division have been, and will continue to be, utilised in this op- eration. Within the past week, one individual has been charged with four acts of criminal damage to cars in the town and is in custody,” Minister O’Malley told the Fine Gael Deputy.

“The Minister for Justice is fur- ther informed that one additional sergeant and two additional Gardai were recently deployed to Kilrush to augment resources. The present special operation will be continual-

ly reviewed and additional resourc- es will be deployed if the necessity arises,’ he added.

In a Dail speech on the issue, Deputy Pat Breen said that as a re- sult of anti-social behaviour in Kil- rush, “elderly people now fear for their safety and worry about their property, while parents are fearful when their children are out”.

“There has been some success by local Gardai in making arrests on this specific issue but this will not be the end of the matter. This is- sue has been allowed to fester, as

have countless similar ones in oth- er towns and villages, where small groups, usually of juveniles, run riot at night and cause thousands of euro of damage. This must be stopped.”

Calling on the Minister to draw up a strategic plan to tackle the problems in Kilrush, Deputy Breen said that such a plan would use the resources of a special Garda unit to assist local efforts in dealing with the ongoing and escalating acts of vandalism and anti-social behav- iour in Kilrush.

DETAILS of new government regulations concerning the transporting of all farm animals is currently being circu- lated to representatives of farming groups, transporters, operators of assembly centres, livestock marts, the horse industry, dog breeders and national welfare bodies by the Department of Agriculture.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Cough- lan is hoping to get the opinions of the concerned parties on the new regulations which are due to come into effect in January of 2007. Minister Coughlan announced the details of the consultation paper on the protection of ani- mals during transport in Dublin last week.

The paper states that all transporters of animals, even those including farmers transporting their own animals, irrespective of the distance travelled must comply with general conditions concerning animal welfare, mode of transport and loading and unloading facilities.

Indeed all those who transport animals for more than 65 km must be officially authorised and undergo official meebuNpuNtes

Indeed the paper also states that persons who transport animals on journeys of over eight hours must use vehicles that have been inspected and approved and must keep de- tailed records of all of their transport operations. Inter- esting these long haul vehicles must also be fitted with a satellite based navigation system.

THE IFA national treasurer and candidate in the upcom- ing presidential election Padraig Walshe has called on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche to provide support for the col- lection of surplus waste farm plastic.

Mr Walshe’s comments come just one week after the announcement by the Irish Farm Film Plastic Group (IFFPG) that collection was to be suspended throughout the country because of lack of funds. The IFFPG claim that the purchase of illegal black market plastic by farm- ers is making collecting all the plastic untenable.

‘Farmers in some counties have not received a collec- tion of their waste farm plastic for a number of years,” said Mr Walshe. “We now need a targeted programme to collect the surplus plastic that has built up on farms over the last two years and to allow the collection service

By the terms outlined in the paper the regulations will not apply to journeys that are not undertaken for financial gains. According to the department these safe activities include the transport of animals to and from agricultural shows.

In addition to this the operators of assembly centres must ensure that animals are treated in accordance with technical rules and personnel employed by them must have received training in all of these rules.

At the announcement of the plan the Minister said that the welfare of animals being transported 1s paramount and she invites interested parties to submit views to her Department on the new rules. In particular she said she would welcome observations on any further specific ar- eas that may be considered as not constituting an eco- nomic activity.

Interested parties have been given until October 31 to submit opinions and comments to the department. Submissions should be submitted to the Department of Agriculture and Food, National Beef Assurance Divi- sion (Transport Section), Business Park, Maynooth, Co Gtr cer

The paper available at the Department of Agriculture and Food website in the “What’s New” section at www. agriculture.gov.ie. The proposed regulation applies to the transport of all live animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry and horses.

restart its activities without delay.”

Clare is one of the worst counties hit by the halt in collection with roughly half of the county’s plastic left uncollected. Other counties badly hit are Wexford and Roscommon where little or no plastic has been collected this year and Galway where less than one third of plastic has been collected.

“The Scheme has received strong support from farm- ers since it started in 1997 and has played a key role in protecting the rural environment,’ continued Mr Walshe. ‘* However, it must now carefully examine its business model to provide the funding needed to meet increasing farmer demand for waste collections, which is occurring due to greater farmer participation in REPS and the envi- ronmental requirements of the Single Farm Payment.”

THE people of Bally- vaughan are in for a mu- sical treat this October as the renowned German BASF choir will perform in the St. John the Baptist Church on Tuesday the 25th. The Ballyvaughan concert 1s one of only two dates that the choir will perform at during their short Irish Tour.

The BASF choir was founded in Ludwigshafen in 1892 and recruits its members not only from the BASF factory but from all over the area as a whole. The lay choir boasts some of the regions most gifted voices and is also one of the countries most professional as it employs a full-time pro- fessional conductor.

On the programme will

be songs from musicals and films as well as a number of classical piec- es. During their short stay in Ireland, the 84 strong choir, will also perform in Dublin.

This is the choir’s first visit to Ireland, but in the recent past they have toured in Italy, Hungary, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. They have ap- peared in many television and radio programmes in their native Germany and around Europe.

All proceeds raised from the concert will go to for Ballyvaughan Nation- al School and the Bally- vaughan Christmas Task SLO) KeKomay idee r-Tnemr-LAKesee] OND OTS to stage Ireland’s first out- door Christmas market later this year. Tickets are on sale locally. Admission €12, call: 065 7077377.

THE Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has denied recent claims that the UN Commission on Human Rights is set to in- vestigate whether the Irish Government has allowed US intelligence agencies to transport suspected al Qaeda prisoners through Shan- non Airport.

Speaking in the Dail last week the Min- ister said: “I am aware of a media reports that Martin Scheinin, the UN Commission on Human Rights’ special rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Counter- ing Terrorism, has been contacted by Irish

citizens regarding allegations about the use of Irish airports by the US to transit prisoners who are suspected of terrorist activity.

“Last week my department was contacted by Professor Scheinin’s office to confirm that neither he, nor any other special rapporteur, is currently investigating, or inquiring into this matter. I understand that the British and US Governments have received similar com- munications from Professor Scheinin’s of- fice,’ the Minister added.

Media reports earlier this month suggested that the UN had launched a major investiga- tion into the use of Shannon and other air- ports in the UK, as stop off points for prison- ers being transported to Guantanamo Bay in

Cuba for interrogation.

Last October, a group of mid-west based ac- tivists made a formal complaint to gardai fol- lowing claims that a CIA plane, a corporate- style Gulfstream aircraft with the registration N379P and nicknamed the “Guantanamo Bay Express,” had been used by the US to “effec- tively kidnap so-called high-value targets and transport them around the world.” The plane has been sighted at Shannon on several occa- sions in recent years.

Minister Ahern said that the US Govern- ment had assured him that they had not trans- ported prisoners through Shannon Airport.

“The US authorities have confirmed that they have not done so and that they would not

do so without seeking the permission of the Irish authorities. No request for such authori- sation has been received from the US authori- ties,’ the Minister said.

“This Government has on several occasions made clear to the US authorities that it would be illegal to transit prisoners for rendition purposes through Irish territory without the express permission of the Irish authorities, acting in accordance with Irish and interna- tional law.”

Last August,

THE BOIL notice in place on the Ennis wa- ter supply should be lifted this week.

According to Tom Tiernan, Town Engi- neer, the notice will probably be lifted by Wednesday, because the Council is expect- ing that results of further analysis carried out on the water supply over the weekend will be clear. The news comes following a meeting between Mr. Tiernan and the Health Services Executive (HSE).

He said that the quality of the water at the source of the supply had improved and that no new traces of e-coli had been found. The announcement was made at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council. The boil notice, which has been in place since Sep-

tember 14 has imposed an extra financial burden on 30,000 homes in Ennis and the Surrounding areas. Mr. Tiernan said that he had been assured by the HSE that there had been no evidence linking recent illnesses in the area to the quality of the water supply. Cllr Taiwo Matthew (Ind) challenged Mr. Tiernan’s assertion by claiming that he knew of at least two children from the Ennis area that had been admitted to a Limerick hospi- tal with water borne infections.

Cllr Matthew also claimed that neither child had been asked to fill out forms stating where they lived. This prompted Mr. Tiernan to say that there had been a small number of incidents recorded, but that there were rea- sons to suggest that the illnesses might have been associated with other factors. Ennis

Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon, also claimed he knew of incidents where people had been ill as aresult of drinking the water. Concerns were also raised about the level of effort that had gone into notifying the public that the water was unsafe for consumption, with Cllr Neylon stating that it wasn’t sufficient to just advertise on the local radio station.

Councillors welcomed the news that Min- ister for the Environment, Dick Roche, had approved tender documents for the new En- nis Water Scheme. With the scheme not due for completion until 2007, questions were raised about what measures would be taken to safeguard the quality of water in the inter- im. Mr. Tiernan stated that he had instructed consultants advising the Council to explore all options.

THE Minister for Community, Ru- ral and Gaeltacht Affairs Eamon O Cuiv has called on farmers to face up to the fact that farming as a profes- sion 1S going to continue to decline in the future. Speaking at the Nation Ploughing Championships last week Minister O Cuiv called for radical and broad rural development policies. According to the Agrivision 2015 Report, it 1s estimated that by 2015, there will only be 105,000 farmers in Ireland, of whom only 40,000 will earn their full-time living from farm- ing. This compares to 225,000 farm-

ers in the 197/0’s.

“The recent European Negotiations were a watershed in European Rural Policy with a clear shift from a pre- dominant focus on agricultural in- come support to a new integrated ru- ral development approach with special emphasis on the rural environment and rural economic development out- side the farm gate,” said Minister O Gina

‘For the first time significant funds have been clearly ring-fenced for gen- eral rural development. Because of our unique situation we are very well placed to play a significant lead role in developing the new rural Europe.”

The Department of Community, Ru- ral and Gaeltacht Affairs will shortly be engaging with the wider rural community in relation to this plan and seeking submissions to it. The Min- ister urged people to think outside of the box and to take a full part in the most radical realignment of rural pol- icies that has ever taken place at both European and national level.

Minister O Cuiv added that a ma- jor part of this radical programme for rural renewal is the Government’s Decentralisation Policy, where it was consciously decided to focus decen- tralisation in a special way on smaller towns and rural communities.