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A LORRY driver who claimed he had not worked since being dis- missed from his job was caught on camera driving a digger on the En- nis by-pass site.

Thomas Lynch claimed before a hearing of the Employment Ap- peals Tribunal in Ennis that he had been dismissed by his boss, haulier Francis Greene, for not delivering a load of cement, which Lynch said

had been cancelled.

Lynch said that he was paid €500 for working up to 80 hours a week and received no overtime.

Greene denied unfairly dismiss- ing Lynch who he said had “left to go and work with his brother.” He denied Lynch had worked up to 80 hours a week. He had agreed a flat rate when Greene was hired, at Greene’s request, the employer Sr nLO

The truck driver claimed that he had not worked since the alleged dismissal.

But after having been shown photographs taken by a private detective of him in the cab of a digging machine on September 15 last, Lynch said he had “worked a few hours” to see what the machine was like. He said he got no pay for the work.

The Tribunal will give its deci- sion on the case in a few weeks.

MEMBERS of the Ennis Tidy Towns Committee received the royal treatment last night when they were guests of hon- our at a celebratory banquet at Knap- pogue Castle.

The event was organised by Shannon Development to acknowledge the tre- mendous achievement of the Ennis Com- mittee in winning this year’s National Sroyenelesislere

“This celebratory event is our way of giving due recognition to all who worked so hard on behalf of Ennis Town. It al- lows us to pay tribute and thank the En- nis Tidy Towns committee members,

communities and individuals for their great support and contribution to the en- hancement and protection of the environ- ment in Ennis,’ said John King, Heritage and Tourism Director, Shannon Develop- ment.

Among those who joined the voluntary committee at the Knappogue Castle cel- ebrations were the Mayors of Ennis and Clare, Management and Staff of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Coun- cil, Ennis Chamber of Commerce, and Ennis Civic Trust.

Entertainment for the evening was pro- vided by the Shannon Castle Entertain- ers who devised a special programme to give the prestigious group a flavour of the

entertainment provided by Shannon Her- itage at Knappogue, Bunratty and Dun- guaire Castles, and the Traditional Irish Evening at Bunratty Folk Park.

“A well protected and well presented environment is a major promotional as- set, and down through the years Tidy Towns Committees have made countless environmental improvements in_ their communities,’ said King.

‘Tourism remains one of our most im- portant indigenous industries. It is Ire- land’s third largest industry and is worth over €5.1 billion to the economy annual- ly. In 2004 a total of 6.4 million overseas visitors came to Ireland, an increase of 3 per cent on the previous year.”

, Mr Ryan said, “A great many business people in West Clare will also be shocked at this outcome.

“Mr Marrinan is a very well respected member of the

community and he provides an essential service in rural West Clare where a lot of eld- erly people living in isolated homes depend on his business to provide them with oil.

“Mr Marrinan has also of- fered to Clare County Coun- cil to relocate his business to alternative locations, but these were turned down by the council.”

Mr Ryan added that Mr Marrinan had spent in excess of €20,000 in trying to meet the requirements of Clare County Council.

However, solicitor for the Council, Mairead Doyle, told Kilrush District Court, “Mr Marrinan has been playing the system”.

At Kilrush District Court in October 2003, Mr Marrinan was fined €1,500 and given a suspended sentence of three months after failing to com- ply with a Council Enforce- ment Notice to remove the unauthorized structure and cease carrying out business at his oil depot, built without

planning permission.

Mr Marrinan appealed the decision to Ennis Cir- cuit Court in February 2004 Where Mr Marrinan was given three months to remove the structure, or face prison.

However, Mr Marrinan failed to remove the unau- thorized structure and Clare County Council initiated a fresh prosecution as the oil depot was still in place, al- though Mr Ryan told last Wednesday’s court that Mr Marrinan had removed the tankers from the depot, ren- dering the facility inoper- able.

Mr Ryan also said that Mr Marrinan had lodged a plan- ning retention application with the council. This was re- fused and an appeal had been lodged by Mr Marrinan with An Bord Pleanala.

After hearing submissions from Mr Ryan and Ms Doyle, Judge Mangan imposed the three-month jail term and made no order for costs.

AFTER decades of talk, graft and no little work the three secondary schools of Ennistymon are finally to unite and form the Ennistymon Community School.

In a historic development for edu- cation in North Clare, plans for the school along with 22 other schools nationwide, were announced by the Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin last Thursday.

The school will be located on a site obtained from the Sisters of Mercy and will have the most up-to-date facilities for science, languages, art, woodwork and construction studies, home economics, IT and engineer- ing. It is envisioned that the school

will cater for some 650 students and will boast a full-sized sports hall.

The final stumbling block in the way of the proposal was overcome last week as a final price for the site was decided upon by the Depart- ment of Education and the Sisters of Mercy. An independent valuator was brought in following a disagreement over the price of the site which is be- ing handed over to the department as part of the Redress Board settle- ments. The announcement has been widely welcomed by the principals of each school who have expressed their hope that the high level of co- operation between the schools will continue until the new Community School is in place.

Hopes are high that the school will

be among the first bundle of schools approved for funding, which could see tenders for contractors being made as early as mid-2006. Alter- natively, it could be as late as 2009 before progress can be made.

While the announcement heralds the beginning of a new and exciting time for education in North Clare it also marks the end of three rich and proud traditions.

“The Christian Brothers have made an enormous contribution to the youth of North Clare through the values expressed by Edmund Rice and these values will live on in the new school,” said Michael Concan- non, Principal of the CBS.

“The young people of the area de- serve first class facilities.”

The site of the Vocational School has been earmarked for the creation of an Adult and Community Centre for North Clare.

It is expected that much of the staff currently employed in the school could be absorbed into this facility.

“Often with things like this peo- ple walk out the door and the place is locked up. Then three years later, when all the windows are broken, someone gets the idea to do it up,” said Enda Byrt, Principal of the Vo- cational School. “When we walk out of here we want someone to be walking back in that same day.”

Of curse with any amalgamation like this the co-operation of all con- oer e mE

“A steering committee of repre- sentatives of management, staff, par- ents and students of all three schools will oversee the change to the new community school and insure that a smooth transaction will take place,” said Seosaimhin Ui Dhomhnallain, Principal of Scoil Mhuire.

In total €555 million was allocat- ed for projects by the Minister for Education and Science last week.

Aside from the 23 post-primary schools, four new primary schools have been announced as-well-as a number of third level projects.

Ennistymon County Councillor and former CBS student Martin Conway (FG) has welcome what he described as a ‘long overdue development’. “The people of En- nistymon and the surrounding area deserve the very best of facilities,” said Cllr Conway. “The three school have done great work over the year with an archaic infrastructure and I appeal to the Department and the Minister to deliver in 2006 rather than in the later bundles.”

AN POST in Clare has been asked to explain reports that hospital leaflets it was con- tracted to distribute in the county never arrived.

The leaflets from the En- nis General Hospital Devel- opment Committee outlined concerns about the future of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital Ennis.

The committee contracted

An Post to deliver 44,000 leaflets, at what group mem- bers described as “consider- able cost.”

But reports have come in to the group of deliveries not happening in a large number of areas.

Their spokesman said, ““we were aware that there are parts of the county that are not covered in the contract, because of different adminis- trative areas in An Post. But

these areas did not include Ennis and West Clare and we are concerned with people re- porting no knowledge of the leaflet.”

The committee have set up a phone number in response to the reports.

They’re asking people to call, or text, to let them know if they have not received a eb ilem

The phone number to text or call is 086 8813232.

IN A WEEK when Ireland celebrated IRA decommissioning, the people of East Clare made it clear to the Minis- ter for the Environment, Dick Roche, that they would not be giving an inch when it came to their boundary row with Limerick.

The minister said he would consider Limerick City Council’s proposal to extend into Clare and Clare County Council’s opposition, and make a de- cision as soon as possible.

The people of East Clare are ada- mant that will not change their iden- tity overnight, however.

“If Limerick city wants to expand, let them take some of County Limer- ick,” said Parteen councillor Pascal Fitzgerald.

The councillor believes that the people of Parteen, Meelick, Westbury and Shannon Banks are being used as pawns by Limerick City Council.

““T believe the main objective of Lim- erick City Corporation is to move out the boundary to take in the university and the industrial estate in Raheen.”

He said the rates from these areas were very attractive and that Parteen and surrounding areas was merely making up numbers for the Limerick authority.

He said a lot of work had been put

into the area and the proposed bound- ary would split communities and

GAA clubs. Earlier this week, people from East

Clare raised their disapproval on a lo- cal radio programme where Minister

Roche was a guest.

One woman from Cratloe suggested that the change to a Limerick address would result in increased insurance costs, while another man suggested that the extension of the boundary would continue until Shannon Air- port would become part of the Treaty City.

Meanwhile, Limerick Labour Dep- uty Jan O’Sullivan, a native of Clon- lara, said she supports the boundary extension, but believes there should be no incursion into Clare “without ask- ing the people of Clare first.”

Limerick city mayor Diarmuid Cre avaareyle!

THERE will be no more used farm plastic collected by the Irish Farm Film Plastic Group (IFFPG) in Clare this year if funding isn’t made available to the organisation 1m- mediately according to the General Manager of the plastic scheme, Sean Campbell.

Mr Campbell was in Clare last week and met with representative of Clare IFA in an attempt to re- solve the situation. According to Mr Campbell the IFFPG has already exceeded it contractual obligation by 4,000 tonnes of plastic this year and if it continues to collect it will go out of business.

The problem, according to Mr Campbell, is plastic that is being sold to farmers illegally and no levy is being collected on that plastic.

“Roughly about 18,000 tonnes of plastic was bought in Ireland this year and out of that a levy was paid on only 15,000,” said Mr Campbell. “It is being imported illegally and we are taking a double hit, we are not receiving the levy on the plastic but we still have to dispose of it.”

The Chairman of the Clare IFA Seamus Murphy has described the current situation of plastic collection in Clare as ‘alarming’ and ‘unsatis- factory.’

“The collection has been unsatis- factory and it’s a big blow that it has stopped altogether,’ said Mr Mur- phy. “IFA members in the county have plastic still on their farms for up to three years and while paying the levy on the plastic, it is not ac-

ceptable that this plastic is not col- lected yet.”

The IFFPG has collected in ex- cess of 12,500 tonnes of plastic this year even though, according to Mr Campbell, they are only required to collect 8,500 by the Government. Collection stopped nationwide at the end of August leaving farmers in many counties left with uncollected jo E-NLB (en

Clare was one of the worst coun- ties hit with roughly have of the

counties plastic left uncollected. The worst hit counties are Wexford and Roscommon where little or no plastic has been collected and Gal- way where approximately two thirds of all plastic remains on the land. Mr Campbell told the Clare Peo- ple that they will be approaching the Departments of Agriculture and the Environment with a view to receiv- ing a grant to cover the cost of col- lecting the remaining plastic. Fail- ing that he said that they well have to

look at the possibility of increasing the levy or introducing some sort of direct payment from the farmers on top of the levy.

Seamus Murphy said that he will be raising the issue with Oireach- tas members in the county over the coming days and hopes that some solution can be found for this prob- lem so that the farm plastic collec- tion service will be up and running as soon as possible.

A WOMAN has claimed that she was only summonsed to court to face charges, after she made a complaint against a garda on a separate matter.

Mother-of-one Karen Hyland (35), of Dromard, Lahinch Road, Ennis, was before Ennis District Court, ac- cused of obstructing a garda, while she was out for her work Christmas party, at the Queen’s Hotel on December 19 Ee

Garda Denis Lavan told the court that Garda Cathal O’Sullivan arrested a woman shortly before 2am. The ac- cused, Karen Hyland, was attempting to pull the arrested woman – who was her friend – away from the garda and was trying to come between them.

“She said we weren’t taking her friend. They were her words…She was very wound up and aggressive towards Gda O’Sullivan and I. She refused to calm down,” said Gda Lavan.

Defending solicitor Stephen Nicho- las said the woman being arrested was very upset over a personal matter and his client was trying to help the situa- tion. He said she was a ‘calming influ- ence.’

Mr Nicholas said his client did not receive a summons until the follow- ing March, after she made a complaint about Gda Lavan at Ennis Garda Sta- tion, in relation to another matter.

The solicitor said to Gda Lavan, ‘The reason you are bringing this case is you are angry and annoyed. You bear something of a grudge against this defendant.” Gda Lavan denied this, saying he had six months to serve a Summons on an accused.

Karen Hyland told the court she drank a number of glasses of Guinness in a pub in town, before going to the Queen’s, where she drank a bottle of Bulmer’s. She said her friend was ‘very down in the dumps’ and was crying. She went out to comfort her. “I tried to explain to the guard that she was very upset, to leave her alone. I said I was bringing her home,” she said.

She denied pulling at one garda and denied shouting at another garda.

She said she was involved in a road traffic matter the following March, during which she met Gda Lavan. She told the court on that occasion, Gda Lavan said to her, “You assaulted a garda one night.” She said she replied, “T didn’t.” She then complained about Gda Lavan at Ennis Garda Station and after that she received a summons re- lating to the incident at the Queen’s.

A security employee at the Queen’s, Frank Rocke said Ms Hyland wasn’t highly excited or aggressive and wasn’t abusive to the gardai on the night in question.

Judge Joseph Mangan dismissed the Oe Neo

SOME 200 Macra na Feirme County Officers attend Leader- ship Training Weekend in Ennis last week and showing leader- ship in their community was high on their agenda. Speaking at the training weekend, which took place in the West County Hotel, Macra na Feirme national president Colm Markey said that too many people are adopting a ‘leave it to somebody else’ atti- tude when it came to getting in- volved in clubs or organisations UOMO elo) Dur-busreb

“While people are happy to enjoy the benefits provided by organisations, many are slow to take on positions of responsibil- ity,’ said Mr Markey. “Many vol- untary organisations have been depending on the same people to run them for years.

“The organisations themselves needed to do more to attract peo-

ple into voluntary positions of re- sponsibility,” he continued. “Most organisations have too many long-winded and boring meeting and that needs to change.”

The Clare branch of Macra re- sumed their activities last week- end with a host of activities. On Friday night the members spent an evening at the dogs at the Gal- way Greyhound Track and many were present for the training evening on Saturday evening.

Claire O’Callaghan of Kincora Macra and Mairéad Meehan, Joe Carrig and Pat Carrig (all from the Newmarket Macra) re- ceived Bank of Ireland leadership awards from Colm Markey at the banquet.

On September 23 the Clare Macra will holding the regional bowling competition at Funworld in Limerick. All clubs are asked to participate and contact Fiona Treacy on 061 926970 for more Cle NU hse

HUNDREDS of inoculation doses that can prevent bacterial meningi- tis are to be sent out to Clare doc- tors next month, following the trag- ic death of a County Louth toddler.

After media reports on the death of the two-year-old, anxious par- ents began turning up in droves at GPs’ surgeries only to find the doctors did not have supplies of the booster vaccine.

The little boy died while on holi- day abroad, several days after hav- ing been seen at Our Lady Of Lour-

des hospital in Drogheda.

He developed bacterial meningi- tis, despite having been vaccinated against it as an infant.

The child had been thought to have recovered from Haemophilis influenza group B (HiB) but de- veloped meningitis. Children are vaccinated against the potentially deadly disease as babies and given booster vaccinations later on.

The Department of Health has confirmed that supplies of a boost- er vaccine will be made available to Clare GPs over the coming month.

GPs usually have a limited supply of the vaccine, but not enough to cope on an on-going basis with the OCSTeee Neem e-UI orem ON AUST E-Te-VOIA YA

But the Department came in for serious criticism after it emerged that it threw responsibility for the €10 million funding needed for a vaccination campaign back to the Health Services Executive respon- sible for the Louth area.

Dr Niall O’Cleirigh, spokesman for the Irish College of General Practitioners, said that a November date for the roll-out of the booster

vaccine is not soon enough.

“In the light of a child having died, it is not quick enough. Moves should have been made over the summer to have this programme in place,” he said.

A vaccine against the life-threat- ening strain of meningitis 1s includ- ed in the five-in-one immunisation given to all children.

But two months ago, the National Immunisation Advisory Commit- tee urgently recommended that all children under the age of four should be given a booster vaccine.

Of 50,000 children vaccinated since 1996, 38 have developed the disease, despite being vaccinated.

It is believed that there are 200,000 children in need of the booster shots nation-wide.

The Department of Health con- firmed that booster vaccines will be distributed next month and that further supplies will be available in Deore

The shot will be made available free at GPs surgeries and any par- ent who has concerns is urged to contact their family doctor imme- diately.