The Clare People Archive

TALKS between the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and unions on the €30 million “survival plan” for Shannon Airport are to commence at the Labour Relations Commission this Wednesday.

The two sides have been given a two-month deadline in which to resolve issues by the Labour Court, which urged the parties last month, to engage “genuinely and meaningfully” in negotiations.

The talks process commenced last Summer. But there have been no discussions on the substantive issues over the past nine months.

Throughout, SIPTU has maintained its opposition to plans by the DAA to cut the workforce of 520 through 200 voluntary redundancies and by outsourcing a number of areas of work at Shannon, including exiting completely from catering.

Ahead of the talks at the LRC, Clare Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) told the Seanad that the board and management at Shannon, needed to engage more with staff on the issue of outsourcing.

He said that the management had been suggesting, through the board, that outsourcing was the the only solution for catering.

“I disagree. I am not a business expert, but having discussed the matter with a number of people who have an interest in this area, it is clear there is a viable business in the catering section and the management and the board must be more open to ideas on how that business might be part of a restructured operation,” he said.

“Given that there can be no mandatory redundancies the board will have to work with the hand of cards it is dealt.

“I hope that happens without delay. There is a need to look at all the alternatives in this area.”

As part of the “survival plan”, the DAA is offering sums of up to €10,000 for the 300 or so workers that opt to remain, costing the DAA €2 to €3 million. The payments are being made in recognition of changing work practices.

The voluntary redundancy package gives staff with over 24 years experience a €10,000 pay-off, while it also entitles workers to their company pensions at 55.

The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, said he acknowledged the efforts going on at Shannon.

“I welcome the fact that the Labour Relations Commission is meeting with people there, which I hope reaches a positive conclusion for all the stakeholders in order that we can move on.

“That will be an important contribution to the success of Shannon Airport,” he said.

THE Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, has confirmed that Shannon Airport will not have its €70 million debt cleared by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) when it becomes independent.

The Minister said there was no question of either Shannon or Cork escaping debt.

Mr Cullen’s view, expressed in the Seanad, runs contrary to that expressed by former Transport Minister, Seamus Brennan in July 2004.

Mr Brennan, also speaking in the Seanad, said that under the terms of the restructuring, both airports would commence operations debt free.

Minister Cullen said his job was to ensure that both airports were “set off” with the strongest possible commercial mandate for future development.

“That is the only agenda that the Government and I wish to pursue. Therefore each authority is required to prepare a comprehensive business plan and obtain our approval for these plans before any assets can be transferred.

“The Commissioner for Aviation Regulation made clear that he will not allow a charging regime at Dublin Airport to cover the costs of Cork or any other airport.

“That is the law within which we must operate.”

Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) said the inability of Dublin Airport Authority to “spin off” assets into the two separate companies had created a problem.

“There is no point dwelling on the reason this was allowed to occur or whether better or different advice should have been obtained,” he said.

“The intent at the time was to ensure the airports had sufficient capacity to manage their business, expand their market, generate increased numbers of passengers and provide better facilities for customers.

“A review of the progress achieved in realising the aims set down in the legislation is required. Policy could then be examined in light of the outcome.

“It is possible, for example, that the spin-off of assets to three individual companies will prove unnecessary.

“I propose such a review on the basis of the position at which we have arrived as opposed to the original aim.

“Given the substantial progress achieved to date, perhaps the establishment of three independent, statutorily constituted companies operating under the provisions of company law is no longer required.

“It is this proposal that is causing the problem.

“The airports are working well in the current hiatus.

“While I am not an expert in this area, I suggest that the Dublin Airport Authority be restructured to act as an umbrella encompassing all the State airports,” he said.

THE trial of a man accused of murdering Ennis taxi driver Liam Moloney last year will not go ahead today, as had been scheduled.

Anthony Kelly (53), of Emlagh na Muck, Emlagh More, Waterville, Kerry, is charged with murdering Mr Moloney, at Portlecka, Ruan, on February 11, 2005. The 56-year-old father-of-four was found dead in Ruan almost 15 months ago.

Last December, the Central Criminal Court fixed today’s date for the trial to commence.

However Mr Kelly’s senior counsel, Brendan Grehan applied to the court last Thursday for an adjournment, pending the preparation of psychiatric reports.

This application was granted by Mr Justice Paul Carney, who adjourned the case to later this month. He will fix a date for the trial then.

According to sources close to the case, the trial is not now likely to go ahead for up to six months.

The case will be mentioned at the Central Criminal Court this morning and it will be formally adjourned.

WHO should pick up the outstanding tab for the Cliffs of Moher interpretive centre was the subject of political wrangling this week.

Suggestions that Shannon Development, Fáilte Ireland, Central Government and money collected from the controversial project’s car park have all been cited in an attempt to pay off the €3.1 million debt.

But county manager Alec Fleming is adamant that the project will clear its own 10 per cent shortfall and maintain the centre’s running cost.

Fianna Fáil Senator Brendan Daly has called on Shannon Development to put up the short fall for the project in line with its tourism remit.

“Shannon Development has a sizable capital budget this year,” added the west Clare Senator.

The senator said that while he appreciated there was a difference of opinion between Shannon Development and the county council when the project began, the two bodies should now work together to make sure the venture is a success.

Meanwhile, north Clare council lor Martin Lafferty (Ind) believes Fáilte Ireland are more than capable of making up the shortfall. The state tourism promotion company underspent by €25 million last years, and the money was returned to the EU.

The council contributed half a million euro from the Planning Development Contribution Scheme in 2005 to the cliffs project. Cllr Lafferty asked why should people building one-off houses have to contribute to the Cliffs of Moher.

Fellow north Clare councillor Ri chard Nagle (FF) said he was sure that fees collected from the carpark would cover the over-spend.

County manager Alec Fleming has revealed that approximately €650,000 is collected every year in the car park. This goes directly into the council budget for the year.

He said he would not over worry about the €3.1 million debt as the project will be run in such a way as to maintain itself and pay the money back.

“This project is not set out to be a commercial project,” he added.

He said the project is to provide proper facilities to keep tourists in the county longer, as the majority of tourists just pass through.

The second reason for investing in such a project is for the county’s citizens.

“Many of the thousands of the people who visit the cliffs on a regular basis are from the county.”

PLANS have been lodged with Clare County Council for a €30 million retail park in Shannon.

Greenbrand Investments and Sean Halpin are proposing to develop a mixed-use park, consisting of a DIY anchor store, garden centre, three retail warehouses, 10 retail units, eight office units and one department store. The proposed development is located at Smithstown with 15,777m in gross floor retail space and 1,336m in office space.

The developers state that the proposal “will promote growth in a sustainable manner by concentrating development in an area adjacent to the town core, which will maximise use of the existing infrastructure”.

The plan “would improve the socio-economic profile of the town in particular the indigenous population, addressing the identified deficiencies in this sector”.

They promised their development would be a significant boost to the local economy and environment in the Shannon region and that it would integrate with the town centre.

“The proposed development is in an optimum location from a retailing perspective and in terms of retail planning policy,” the developers say. “From a planning perspective, impact on the town centre would be positive.

“The proposal will provide a state of the art, modern mixed use development, which will enhance the sustainability of the town in general. This will be to the benefit of the local community, visitors and workers in the town and will accord with the objectives of the Retail Planning Guidelines and the South Clare Economic Corridor Local Area Plan.”

They say their development will provide “a contemporary purpose built retail park of a scale or quality not currently present in the town or county. The proposed development could more than readily accommodate a wider range and choice of goods within one area.”

This proposal has been the subject of a number of discussions with the council over the last 12 months. At the advice of the council, the developers deferred lodging the plan on a number of occasions, to facilitate amendments to the development plan. They claim that the amendments have not progressed in the timescale advised.

“Notwithstanding this, we are satisfied the proposal will complement all council objectives pertaining to the site and surrounding area.”

A decision is expected on the application later in the year.

A MAN who assaulted his girlfriend with the flex of a hairdryer has been jailed for five months. Oliver Boylan (38), a homeless man, who is originally from Dublin, pleaded guilty to assaulting Jennifer McMahon, on April 20, 2004.

Sergeant Frank Naughton told Ennis Circuit Court that Ms McMahon had been locked into her flat on O’Connell Street, Ennis. She told gardai she had been assaulted by her partner.

She said she had been struck in the face a couple of times. He cut the flex of a hairdryer and used that to assault her, said the garda.

He took her mobile phone and keys and left. She couldn’t get out, but eventually managed to alert a passer-by, who contacted gardai.

Sgt Naughton said the accused had been in a relationship with Ms McMahon for five years, prior to this incident. Ms McMahon told the court that for two years she was afraid of going into town, for fear of bumping into Boylan.

Defending barrister Michael Fitzgibbon said his client — who was jailed for two years in March for threatening staff at Ennis General Hospital with an imitation gun — has settled well in jail.

“Bishop Walsh has been to see him on a number of occasions and has offered him work when he serves his sentence, in the line of landscaping,” said the barrister.

Judge Con Murphy accepted that Boylan pleaded guilty and that he was endeavouring to put his life together. He imposed a sentence of five months.

THE county manager has conceded that planners in the county are making last-minute decisions and the situation “is not good enough”.

Alec Fleming said the council needs extra resources to deal with the large number of planning applications. He said the 208 quarries before the planning department for registration is one of the highest in the country and is adding to the strain.

The current permanent administrative and clerical staff complement in the Economic Development and Planning Department is 22, excluding temporary staff. Owing to a national cap on staffing numbers, there are currently no proposals to increase this.

“There is a small amount of leeway for temporary contracts and we are making use of that,” he said.

Director of Services Bernadette Kinsella said that three vacancies within the planning department, including a senior executive and two assistant posts, are likely to be filled within the coming week.

Officials were responding to claims by councillors that the planning staff are refusing to meet with the general public to discuss planning applications due to their work load.

“I am beginning to be won over by the idea that planning is bursting at the seams,” said Cllr Tom Prenderville. He said people are questioning if the planners are “architects of their own misfortune”.

“We now find the planning department is not able to cope with planning applications,” he added.

Cllr Oliver Garry said he is afforded a halfhour meeting every week with the planners but this is not adequate time.

THE lives of thousands of Clare women are being put in jeopardy because of the unwillingness of the Department of Health and BreastCheck Ireland to utilise the mammogram facilities on offer at the Galway Clinic.

This is the opinion of Dr James Sheehan, founder of the Blackrock and Galway Clinics, who claims that the Galway facility could end the nine-month waiting being experienced by women in the west, with some reportedly waiting as much as two years.

“We have offered breast checks in the Galway Clinic for the last two years for as many women as need it – but for some reason we have been turned down,” said Dr Sheehan, who took part in the Burren Law School in Ballyvaughan this weekend.

“We have all the facility needed to offer a high quality service already in place.”

Plans were announced last year for two new BreastCheck facilities to be located at the Victoria University Hospital in Cork and University College Hospital in Galway (UCHG).

It is planned that the Galway facility will have two mobile screening units enabling it to offer tests to the estimated 60,000 women at risk in Clare, Sligo, Roscommon, Donegal, Mayo, Leitrim and parts of Tipperary.

It is projected that these new mammogram services would end the waiting list for screening in the west. However, they are not projected to be up-and-running until 2007 at the earliest.

The Galway Clinic is the first private hospital in the country to offer acute medical care for parents. Dr Sheehan has hit out at the unwillingness of Ennis General Hospital and UCHG to refer patents from Accident and Emergency to the clinic, even though both locations experience overcrowding on an ongoing basis.

“Galway Clinic is the first private hospital to deal with acute illness. My disappointment is that never have any patients from the University College Hospital in Galway, or indeed from Ennis General, been transferred to us for acute care, even though half of them would have health insurance,” continued Dr Sheehan.

“There is a paranoia in the public sector when it comes to anything to do with private health care. Around 52 per cent of the population have private health insurance and are thus unsatisfied with the public health system on offer,” he continued.

“Anything that the state can provide is 20 years behind what can be provided in the private sector. This is not just in health care, it’s all through the system.”

THE mayor of Shannon has warned of a back-up in acute services in the county if the refurbishment work at St Joseph’s Hospital, Ennis is not planned properly.

Councillor Tony Mulcahy has said that he fears no new referrals will be made to the geriatric hospital and nursing home during the face-lift.

While welcoming the much-needed work in the Ennis hospital, he said he fears that proposals to close one unit at a time in the hospital and relocate the patients may diminish the number of beds available to new patients. This in turn will have a knock-on effect for the acute services, as patients will not be able to be moved from mainstream hospital to the specialist units.

The Shannon mayor has suggested that a portocabin be put in place as a temporary relief measure at the 250bed hospital.

“We need to consider how we are going to accommodate these people and where,” said the Fine Gael councillor. “We don’t want to limit the bed numbers further.”

A spokesperson for the HSE Mid West told The Clare People that the Health Service Executive would be maintaining the existing public bed complement during the upgrading and renovations at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

“There will be significant work undertaken at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the current year with the commencement of the complete upgrading of the heating system and water system within the hospital,” she said.

In addition all windows in the hospital will be replaced and each ward will be refurbished and upgraded as part of this programme.

Meanwhile expectant mothers from Ennis and surrounding areas will have to find a new location for their antenatal classes, which took place in a room in St Joseph’s Hospital.

They have until Friday week to find a new location for the classes.

“We were officially informed on April 11 that the Conference Room in St Joseph’s Hospital would no longer be available to us for antenatal classes as of May 12,” a HSE spokesperson said.

“We are currently trying to source a suitable alternative venue for the classes in the Ennis area. Every effort will be made to bring the situation to a satisfactory conclusion for all concerned.”

There is no maternity hospital in Clare, with mothers travelling to Galway and Limerick to have their babies. Home births are also difficult to secure in the county with one private midwife in the west of the county providing the service.

THE problem of unneutered and stray dogs is reaching epidemic proportions in Clare, with new figures revealing that more than 10 per cent of all dogs destroyed in Ireland each year are put down in the county.

With almost 2000 dogs being destroyed in Ennis annually, careless owners are being blamed for not taking the responsibility for neutering their pets.

Clare has a dog population of around 35,000 and, according to Clare Dog Warden Frankie Coote, many owners are not acting responsible towards their pets.

“It is a major major problem in Clare. The fact that we have to put down between 1500 and 1800 dogs in Ennis each year tells it own story.

“This is despite the Clare ISPCA putting €20,000 towards the problem each year,” said Mr Coote.

This reluctance to neuter dogs is leading to an increasing population of strays in the county and an escalation in the problem of dog dumping, as well as attacks on sheep.

“Dog dumping is becoming a major problem. People just bring their dogs to a remote place and dump them there. The dogs either starve to death or start worrying and killing sheep,” continued Mr Coote.

“If it wasn’t for one farmer last week two beautiful Jack Russell pups would have starved to death after they had been dumped on his land, just two miles off the main road.”

While the cost of neutering may well be a contributing factor Mr Coote is at a loss as to how to encourage owners to take responsibility for their own animals.

“All the vets vary a lot in price from €6 up to as much as €150.

“I’m not sure that the cost of it is the main problem. We have tried absolutely everything to get people to do it but nothing works,” he said.

“You can see by the numbers that are being put down that the problem isn’t getting any better.”

Meanwhile, the Dogs Trust is launching a nationwide campaign today designed at drastically increasing the number of dogs being neutered.

The campaign will offer neutering for dogs at only €14 euros per animal for people on means tested benefits.

In 2004 some 25,000 stray and abandoned dogs were collected by local authorities in Ireland, with 16,598 of these healthy animals being destroyed.