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NETWORK Ireland’s National Pres- ident, Una Murphy, will be the VIP guest at the Clare Branch monthly meeting, which will be held at 8pm on Wednesday at The Temple Gate hotel in Ennis.

Una Murphy is the Commercial Lending Manager with AIB Mayo. She has made “Professionalism In Business” a theme for the network in her year as National President and will share her insights on this subject with those attending the Ennis meet- ing.

On the same evening Jill Hincks, Managing Director of Passion for Creative will speak on the subject of ‘How to Succeed in Business — Get Your Ducks All In a Row.” Jill will hand out a free copy of her book to each attendee.

Network Clare President, Pamela Clancy said she is delighted that the National President and Jill Hincks are attending the meeting in Ennis, ‘We are really pleased to have the na- tional president, Una Murphy come to Clare and share her vast experi- ence of professionalism in business and on the same evening to have a second speaker of Jill’s calibre who has over 25 years national brand agency experience in London and Manchester, has created award-win- ning campaigns for such clients as M&S, B&Q, Argos and Homebase and who specialises in retail psy- chology and brand strategy. Many women in business use creativity “to get their ducks in a row’ on a daily basis and we are looking forward to hearing Jill’s input on this topic,” she said.

Network Ireland is a progressive dynamic organisation for women in business, the professions, industry, trades, government departments and the arts. It was formed in Dublin in 1983. The organisation has developed both a quality reputation and a qual- ity distribution system for ideas and information. Today it has branches in Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Laoise, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Tipperary North, Tipperary South and Waterford. Networking is increasingly important in growing successful companies.

Members in Clare represent a di- verse range of business interests. These include Orla Holland of Inte- rio, Quin Road Business Park, En- nis, Eileen Clair, Therapist, Kilkee, Pamela Clancy of Clancy Solicitors in Ennis, and Alice O’Carroll of Clare supported Employment Serv- ices. Other members include Mary Hanley from BillPost, Kilrush, Re- becca Brew of Crotty’s Pub Kilrush and Ana Marques of Lion Oak Serv- ices. Sarah Malone of Innfluential Marketing has been a Clare Member, as well as Madeline McAleer of Clare Focus, Brid Vaughan of BlathInis and Grainne McCormack of Choco- lat. Lisa Walshe from Houlihan and Co. Solicitors and Mary Corry from Elsevier Ltd. Shannon.

The Clare Network extends a warm welcome to anyone interested in finding out more at the Templegate Hotel in Ennis on Wednesday 23rd September at 8pm.

UL extension plans come under fire

AN TAOISEACH Brian Cowen will make his first trip to the county town as leader of the country on Monday next.

The Fianna Fail leader was criti- cised during the local election cam- paign for not stopping in Ennis as part of his tour of the county, favour- ing Shannon and Kilmaley instead.

He denied at the time that he avoid- ed the county town as he did not want to engage lobby groups on the closure of 24-accident and emergen- cy services at the hospital.

“The schedule has been fixed and there is no problem meeting people as I go around. And I think it is im- portant to point out, regarding Ennis Hospital, the ward block construc- tion is going to take place (later in the year) we hope. I would be ex- pecting that it would be taking place then,” he said at the time.

More than three months on and Mr Cowen has agreed to a walk around in Ennis.

The Taoiseach will begin his sec- ond official visit to Clare in Shannon, where he has accepted an invitation from Shannon Chamber President, Jan Barrett, to speak at his annual lunch for the business community.

Announcing the event, Chamber President Jan Barrett said, “The chamber is delighted to get an op- portunity to directly represent its members’ interests in these chal- lenging times to An Taoiseach, and

to support the case for the passing of the second referendum on the Lisbon sbi iAee

After lunch, Mr Cowen will begin his visit to Ennis by launching the CCTV (Close Circuit Television) service at Ennis Garda Station. With “big brother” watching over him he will then walk through the winding streets of the town from 2.45pm be- fore meeting the party faithful in a local hotel.

Mr Cowen will then travel west to Lissycasey to the new water plant.

Derma deta oD NNTca CoM AOU Beh ( ome Kirush for the official opening of a community creche.

The childcare facility, Cuan Samh, serves the Adult and Community Learning Centre on Cooraclare Road. The ceremony is timed for 5pm. The purpose-built unit replaces earlier childcare facilities housed in a pre- fabricated building at the centre.

Objections to Shannon mast

Doolin ferries row puts the wind up council

MORE than three hundred people took part in a street protest in En- nis in opposition to a proposal by An Bord Snip Nua to end the Rural Transport Programme.

Members and supporters of Clare Accessible Transport (CAT), who were participating in a nation-wide day of action against the proposal, claim that any funding cuts would have a detrimental impact on rural communities throughout Clare.

Addressing a crowd in Ennis town centre on Friday, Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tony Mulcahy under- lined the valuable contribution made by CAT to communities across the County.

He said: “The McCarthy report advocates the total abolition of the rural transport programme. This rec- ommendation has been made with- out due consideration being given to the considerable effect that such a cut would have on the lives of many thousands of people. CAT has a net- work of routes that facilitate people in remote areas who wish to avail of local services.

These communities will be denied access to such vital services if CAT is denied funding.”

Mayor Mulcahy noted that helping disabled persons and the elderly re- tain their independence was only one aspect of rural transport.

“It is very much a part of the fab- ric of the community, enabling com- munity groups, after school projects,

family resource centres, and the Health Service Executive to provide access to their programmes. I would appeal to Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Eamon O Cuiv to carefully consider this fact before making any decision regard- ing the Rural Transport Programme,’ he concluded.

The Feakle-based CAT service makes 3,000 passenger trips a month all across Clare, employs 21 people and now caters for a broader range of

people than ever.

30 per cent of our passengers are under 25 years of age and we cater for tourists as well,’ a spokeswoman for the service said.

“We get emails from Japan and Italy, lots of places, booking trips. We want to support tourism through sustainable transport.”

On the road for seven years, CAT provides flexible transport for any- one who wishes to join. The service is free to travel pass holders and is

reduced for under 16s.

For many living in isolated parts of the county with no car, the service is their only way of getting to and from doctors appointments, doing their shopping, attending to business and having some social contact in their day.

COSTELLOE Estate Agents has an attractive family home on its books, located at Abbeyville off the Limer- ick Road (opposite the West County Hotel), which has just been further reduced in price to €215,000.

No. 50 Abbeyville is a four bedroom semi-detached property offering 1,292 sq. ft. of internal accommoda- tion. This appealing house comprises an entrance hall, living room, kitch- en/dining room, utility and en suite bedroom all on the ground floor. Up-

Stairs, there are three bedrooms, in- cluding the en-suite master bedroom, together with the family bathroom.

Finishes include a mix of timber, tiled and carpeted floors, a qual- ity fitted kitchen with integrated electrics, fitted wardrobes in the bedrooms, quality tiling in the bath- rooms, painted doors, skirting and architraves and quality coving in the reception and living rooms.

Externally the property features a walled lawn and parking area to the front, with an enclosed south facing rear garden with garden shed.

The house was recently redecorat- ed and is on the market in ‘walk-in’ condition. It will appeal to a family as it offers plenty of space and is very close to all key amenities, including schools, in Ennis town centre. It is also just a few hundred metres from the by-pass interchange on the Lim- erick Road.

For full details, contact Costelloe Estate Agents on 065 6821299.

Gormley being led into water fight

SHERRY Fitzgerald McMahon has a stunning Georgian two-storey house, centrally located in Kilkee’s West End, on its books at a reduced ask- ing price of €575,000. This property, called Bayview House, originally went on the market priced at over €800,000, so the reduction is very significant.

The five-bedroom property offers 246 sq metres (2,652 sq. feet) of ac- commodation including five bed- rooms. It has some very elegant pe- riod features including a fn light over the solid main entrance door, and in-

side there are lofty high ceilings.

On the ground floor is the main liv- ing room, which has a feature fire- place and a bright sunroom to the side. The spacious kitchen is well fitted and off this room is the dining room. There’s a further family room PLM N Oval od e

The high sash windows ensure that lots of natural sunlight filters through the house, making it very bright.

The selling agent said that the prop- erty “could do with some modernisa- tion, but 1s a most attractive house, very well priced, not to be missed”.

THERE was further bad news for Shannon Airport this week with revelations that the airport services provider, Servisair, 1s looking to put staff on short time.

Servisair workers received a letter from the company’s human resources manager in Ireland to say that hours were being reduced “in order to re- main competitive and viable in an ever-challenging environment”’.

Full-time staff are being reduced to a three-day week, while part-time staff will go on a 20-hour week.

Servisair could not be reached for comment on the matter, but a SIPTU representative confirmed that “cer- tain proposals” are being made by management which the union and esexO MELB D OTSA

Servisair staff look after most of the baggage handling operations at Shannon Airport but a spokeswoman for the airport authority said that the

matter is not affecting any operations at the airport.

Meanwhile, the Aer Lingus deci- sion not to use the US Customs Pre- Clearance Facility at Shannon until 2010 for operation reasons has again attracted criticism.

Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey has said that management at Aer Lingus “have questions to answer”.

He said: “It beggars belief that any company operating at a loss in the current climate would not avail of

opportunities to increase revenue and add value to its business. I cannot un- derstand the Aer Lingus decision to snub the US Pre Clearance Facility at Shannon, particularly when other major airlines have jumped at the chance to use the service.”

His party colleague Pat Breen has blasted Aer Lingus for having al- legedly sacked staff over the phone, with a text followed by a phone call and called on the company to im- mediately review its communication

procedures.

The airline sent text messages to telling around 60 staff that a sig- nificant jobs announcement was due, before informing them by telephone that their positions were being termi- nated.

A spokeswoman for the airline said the situation has been taken out of context.

She said the contracts do not affect any Shannon staff and applied only to Dublin and Cork crews.