The Clare People Archive

TWO Clare secondary schools received a significant boost last week with the news that the Department of Education and Science has approved building extensions in Ennis and Killaloe.

Clare VEC will receive grant funding to carry out the works at Ennis Community College and St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe.

Making the announcement on Thursday, Clare VEC CEO, George O’Callaghan said the new facilities are needed to cope with a projected increased in the number of students attending both schools. He said a Department of Education report had predicted that enrolment at Ennis Community College would rise to 740 students in the near future, while enrolment at St Anne’s is expected to increase to 750.

There are currently 500 students enrolled at Ennis Community College. Clare VEC will receive a devolved grant for the projects – a 2813sq/m extension in Ennis and a 1800sq/m extension in Killaloe.

There will be two separate tendering processes for each school while Mr O’Callaghan added that the process of seeking planning permission for both projects would begin “immediately”. He said, “They [the de- partment] have indicated that they want people walking in the doors by 2014.” Mr O’Callaghan said preliminary discussions had already taken place with the department. He said the department had indicated a preference for a new standalone building at Ennis Community College. He said the building would also alleviate pressure on Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, an Aonad that currently operates within Ennis Community College.

Mr O’Callaghan was speaking at the October meeting of Clare VEC where he said it would be “remiss” of the committee not to accept the funding. Committee member Michael Corley proposed that the VEC accept the department’s offer. Seconding the motion, committee chairman Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) welcomed the annoucement. He said an extension for St Anne’s is “long overdue”.

A GOVERNMENT-backed steering group to create an international hub for humanitarian aid at Shannon Airport will be put in place in the coming weeks. The Clare People understands that Labour’s Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan O’Sullivan, will appoint the top-level steering group in the coming weeks to push the creation of the international aid hub, which will act as a logistic base for aid organisation responding to major aid crisis’s around the world.

The hub is expected to create a number of jobs in the Shannon area and also work as a cornerstone for creating larger logistics-based operations in Shannon. The aid hub was a large part of the election manifesto of Clare TD Michael McNamara, who has made contact with a number of people at the United Nations in relation to the development.

“This is part of the Clare County Development Plan and I understand that Jan O’Sullivan is in the process of setting up a steering group involving all the main state operators and Clare County Council,” he said.

It is, however, unclear what form the humanitarian aid hub will take should it be granted the go ahead. Earlier this year, the Atlantic Way group officially registered the not-for-profit company ‘Global Aid Shannon’

The company was launched after a year of behind-the-scenes negotiations between Atlantic Way and a partner organisation in Jacksonville in Florida. However, it is unclear whether this private company will be used or whether a government agency will take the lead in delivering the proposed aid hub.

“If we can get the humanitarian aid hub up and running in Shannon, that will be very positive news. There is a company proposed to do that but there is no certainty that it will be a private company that will do it,” continued McNamara.

“While there is a lot of land around Shannon in private ownership, there is also a lot of land owned by Shannon Development and no decision has been made yet as to whether it would be a private company or whether existing state assets could be utilised for this. Ultimately, this has to be government driven, but whether there can be some sort of public/private partnership or not, I have an open mind.”

A PLAN to offer free flights from Shannon Airport at certain times of the year may not be completely grounded, despite comments from the Department of Transport over the weekend that the project is a nonstarter.

West Clare councillor Gabriel Keating (FG), who proposed the ambitious new scheme, says that he has no doubt that something will come out of the proposal. The Kilrush councillor yesterday put out the call to Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary, saying that the deal could be an ideal fit for Shannon and the low fares airline. The idea involved making some flights between Shannon Airport and some UK airports free between March 19 and April 16, and September 17 and October 15, each year to promote visitors to Clare and the beginning and end of the tourist season. The promotion would also act as a major marketing opportunity for Shannon Airport and the airline involved in offering the free flights.

“We have been doing the same thing with our marketing budget for years now and the time has come for us to think outside of the box and that is what this idea is all about,” said Cllr Keating.

“If people came and they stayed for four nights in Clare what impact would that have on the local tourism market? It would be a massive boost both for the county and for Shannon Airport.

“I have no doubt that someone like Michael O’Leary would see the potential in an idea like this. You have to spend money to make money and we have been spending our marketing budget sending people to promote Shannon to every corner of the world but I think there is an option to spend it in a different way.

“I have no doubt that something will come from this idea. As an elected councillor it is my job to come up with ideas that might help promote the county. Ideas like this will lead to tourists and investment and that leads to jobs.”

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said over the weekend that the government was “unlikely” to support the proposal saying that it might infringe on EU competition law.

WORLDWIDE business consultants Booz & Company have now emerged as major players in shaping Shannon’s future – their findings and recommendations to government will be key to whether a blueprint to semi-privatise the airport for between 15 and 35 years becomes a reality.

This radical plan is contained in the proposal put to government by the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) in August.

The SAA board, which is chaired by local businessman Brian O’Connell, tabled its vision for the future on foot of a request for submissions by Minister Varadkar on the break-up of the three state- owned airports – Dublin, Shannon and Cork.

The plan sets out in bold terms that going forward, profit is the bottom line for Shannon, with semiprivatisation option put forward as a way of achieving this objective in the changed economic landscape.

“It is not sustainable for any business to continue in a loss-making mode,” said SAA chairman Brian O’Connell after the proposal was submitted to the Department of Transport.

“Every business, including Shannon Airport, must re-configure itself and re-engineer its future in the light of the dramatically changed economic landscape. It is clear that the ways and means we have organised and managed business in the past have to change, to take into account the reality of present and future market challenges.

“As a board, we are very mindful that Shannon Airport is and should continue to be a powerful driver of the current and future economic vitality in the whole west of Ireland region, if it is adequately capitalised and superbly managed.

“We considered a wide range of options which could optimise and maximise the commercial potential of Shannon Airport. We analysed present international trends and examined locations similar to Shannon around the world, which are operating successfully. It is for the Minister to consider the views of the board as submitted and to deliberate thereafter,” added O’Connell, who is also managing director of Westpark Shannon.

In July, the publication of the DAA annual report revealed a 37 per cent decrease in passenger traffic at Shannon during 2010, contributing to losses at the airport of between € 7m and € 10m for the year. The extent of these losses is believed to have scuppered any prospect of a government move to separate Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports.

This is despite the DAA annual report has saying: “following restructuring, Cork Airport Authority and Shannon Airport Authority will act as fully independent and legally autonomous airport authorities for Cork and Shannon airports respectively.”

In 2003, the then Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, announced the Government’s intention to restructure State-run airports, with the 2004 State Airports Act proposing that the Dublin Airport Authority would cease to own Shannon and Cork airports.

However, four years later, Minister Brennan’s successor in the transport portfolio, Noel Dempsey, announced the deferral until 2011 of a decision on the restructuring given the very difficult circumstances in the aviation sector.

“It was the unanimous views of the Dublin, Cork and Shannon airport authorities at the time that given the very difficult circumstance for the aviation sector, the climate was not right for separation,” Minister Varadkar has revealed this week.

A TEAM of consultants have been charged with responsibility for deciding whether Shannon Airport’s links with the Dublin Airport Authority should be severed to allow private business take over the dayto-day operation of Clare’s international airport.

The move was heralded by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar on Friday when he announced the beginning of a “study of options” for the future ownership and direction of the airport.

This will be carried out by Booz & Company – a leading global management consulting firm, that helps businesses and governments and has branches in 39 countries worldwide, with its Irish operation headquartered in Dublin.

Booz & Company are to report back to Minister Varadkar by the end of year after “consulting as widely as possible with the stakeholders in Shannon” ahead of a proposal being put to government that will chart a new future for the 75-year-old airport.

“Some months ago I asked the boards of the three authorities (Dublin, Shannon, Cork) for their views again on separation,” Minister Varadkar revealed in launching the new consultation process on the future of the three state airports.

The most radical of the proposals submitted to Minister Varadkar in August is for Shannon to breakaway from the DAA by way of the State entering into a lease agreement with private business for a period of between 15 to 35 years.

“Given the current business environment and the recent trends in the aviation sector I was not surprised to hear back that there was no support for separation, as originally envisaged, that is as three independent State companies.

“However, the present half-way house arrangement, in place since 2004, whereby Cork and Shannon have their own boards but have limited autonomy from the Dublin Airport Authority, cannot continue indefinitely. Nor can the situation continue whereby losses at Cork and Shannon are absorbed by the remaining profitable parts of the DAA Group.

“I have decided therefore to seek wide ranging advice on all possible options for the future ownership and operation of Cork and Shannon Airports, so that I can propose informed recommendations to Government,” added Minister Varadkar.

SIXMILEBRIDGE’S ambitions to be crowned kings of the Irish language have come to an end.

The ‘Bridge lost out in the semi-finals of TG4’s ‘An G-Team’, which is a project aimed at reviving the Irish language across the country. A team from TG4 has travelled to towns and villages across the country in recent weeks as various areas competed against each other.

The people of Sixmilebridge had put in a huge effort in their attempts to win the overall prize of € 40,000.

However, they were defeated at the semi-final stage and the Glen of Aherlow will now go on to contest the final against Donabate from Dublin.

The ‘Bridge did well in the early stages of the competition and their new website promoting the use of Irish caught the attention of the adjudicators. As a result of their efforts, there has been a renewed interest in the Irish language in the area.

While they did well in the latest challenge, in which they were tasked with producing an hour-long radio programme, they were not chosen as one of the finalists.

During the radio show, they presented their own news and interviews, including an interview with Presidential hopeful Michael D Higgins.

Rita Costello read the news in Irish, assisted by reporters PJ Fitzpatrick and Eimear Murphy.

“Overall, it was very good. We were delighted with how it went. We couldn’t have done anything much better. We are waiting for feedback. They were very complimentary about the standard of Irish. The others (competitors) were very strong,” said the co-ordinator of the committee in Sixmilebridge, Brendan Walsh.

“There is a huge new interest in Irish. The big change is that there is a bit of Irish spoken in the pubs at night,” said Brendan.

“The big thing it did was connect community groups in the village,” he added.

“People have identified other people in the village who speak Irish. There was a core group of between 30 and 40.

“There are families who speak Irish in the ‘Bridge and nobody knew that,” he said.

Irish language classes take place every Monday, from 7pm to 9pm, in the old courthouse in Sixmilebridge, while a comhrá group meets at the Mill Bar every Friday at 9pm.

The village will feature prominently when TG4 broadcasts the G-Team initiative in January over 10 weeks.

THE newly appointed director of Glór has said that Irish music will still play a key part in the future of the venue. Gemma Carcaterra was last week appointed as the new director of the centre, succeeding Katie Verling who has been suffering from ill health. Gemma, who was born in the UK but now lives in Clare, also hopes to have a large focus on local groups getting involved in hosting events in Glór.

“We have a great team here in Glór, with lots of strengths and lots of experience. The building here is amazing and is a unique selling point for Glór but there is also such a wealth of local groups and organisations that we can work with. We are looking to promote Glór as a venue for the county as well as locally here in Ennis,” said Gemma.

“Glór was built for the traditional arts and traditional music and that will be taken into account but it will be right across the board from music to theatre, children’s events, community arts and film. Glór has a great foundation. These are difficult times in the arts and everyone needs to look at streamlining but Glór is in a very good place to come through this recession in a strong position and grow after that. I have big shoes to fill and I will do my best to continue on the good work already done by Katie and Patricia.”

Later this year, Glór will celebrate its tenth birthday and a number of events are being planned to mark the occasion.

“We do turn 10 this November which shows longevity of the organisation. We will be celebrating the birthday throughout the month through a number of events and the programme that we have already planned,” continued Gemma. “I’m really looking forward to meeting all the local artists, musicians and organisations.”

A trained artist and designer, Gemma has worked with a wide variety of organisations including museums, galleries and design companies over the last 15 years. One of the highlights of her career to date was being part of the team who designed and delivered a number of exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich in London. She has been living in Clare since 2007 and worked with Daghdha Dance Company until earlier this year.

CLARE’S fastest growing primary school is still awaiting permanent accreditation from the Department of Education, despite being in operation for the last six years.

The Mol an Óige school in Ennistymon will become Ireland’s second Department of Educationrecognised Steiner school if it is granted permanent official recognition later this year.

The school has been operation with year-to-year accreditation for the last three years, which has hampered its efforts to make plans for the future, including for the purchase of a permanent school building.

INTO national president, Noreen Flynn, paid a visit to the school last week to show her support and to officially launch the new school website.

“We have recognition on a provisional basis which is extended year by year. We have had inspectors in from the department and a report has been done up and we are now coming to the end of the recognition process with the Department,” said principal Una Ní Gháirbhith.

“We are very hopeful that permanent recognition would be awarded at some stage this year. The big difference that that would make to us is that we could start looking at having our own school building because, at present, we are at a rented site in rented prefabs. The permanent building is the final piece in the jigsaw.”

Having formed with just 11 pupils in 2005, Mol an Óige now boasts 120 pupils with five classroom teachers and six auxiliary staff members.

“There have been a lot of cutbacks in education in recent times and we did take the opportunity to discuss with Noreen how cutbacks are affecting the school, and the future cutbacks which may be coming down the line,” continued Una.

“These cutback are really going to make a difference to schools all over the country. The problem is that more and more children are coming into the primary school system and, instead of increasing the number of teachers, they are looking at upping the pupil/teacher even more and cutting back in other areas.

“Li ke ever yone else in the countr y, we are just waiting to see how these new cuts will affect t he school. Increasing the st udent /teacher ratio by one st udent doesn’t seem li ke a lot but, when you consider the par ttime teachers and resource teachers who are also counted, it can quickly have a ver y big impact on schools.”

To view the new Mol an Óige website, visit www.steinermolanoigens. org.

THIRTY businesses and community groups exhibited at the launch of Clare Supported Employments’ 10year celebrations at the Temple Gate Hotel last Monday.

The event, which was supported by ACIST Skillnet, provided an op portunity for the public to learn more about local community groups and businesses and hear at first hand from employers who have successfully recruited through CSES and candidates/employees who have used the service to secure employment.

To mark the week of celebrations, the Clare Adult Guidance Service, Jobs Club and Patrick Mercie, Business Coach, held a series of workshops on career coaching, interview preparation, manual handling and training and education opportunities for adults. In addition, the service held open information sessions across the county. On Wednesday, CSES raised € 1,105 for Clare Crusaders at a fun table quiz at the Temple Gate Hotel.

CSES has built a strong reputation with Clare employers over the last decade. Team Leader Alice O’Carroll explained, “We have placed 26 people in employment in 2011 to the end of September. This is two more than the same time in 2010.”

Despite the current climate, placements have remained consistent since 2009. The service placed 34 people in 2009, plus an extra 19 people in short-term self-employment; 33 people were placed in 2010; and CSES expect to meet or exceed this figure in 2011.

Eilish Hatchett, with her husband Andrew, is currently setting up her business, The Pastry People, with the help of Clare Supported Employment Service.

In 2000, Eilish was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. A qualified chef, Eilish was 27 years old and had only just come back from Australia with Andrew. “I never thought I’d be diagnosed with MS, yet I wouldn’t be here today trying to start a new business if every moment before hadn’t happened exactly as it did,” says Eilish.

For further information on Clare Supported Employment Service, call 065 6844007 or email info@claresu pportedemployment.ie

CLARE looks set to have a tangible link to the next president of Ireland as a number of opinion polls place Michael D Higgins and Sean Gallagher in a two horse race for a seven year residency of Áras an Uachtaráin.

The current front runner, Sean Gallagher was officially nominated for president after he was given the backing by Clare County Council in September. More importantly for the Gallagher campaign was the backing of Clare County Council at a council meeting on June 20.

At this meeting, which was also addressed by fellow candidates David Norris and Mary Davis, as well as unsuccessful candidates Pat Jones and Ennis man Dermot Mulqueen, the councillors showed their intention to vote for Gallagher – even though they were not constitutionally allowed to support him at that time.

This proved a major boost for the Gallagher campaign and helped to make him a realistic candidate.

Newmarket native and current second favourite according to the polls, Michael D Higgins, also has impeccable Clare connections having spent much of his youth in the county and attended St Flannan’s Secondary School in Ennis. Higgins lived in Ballycar with his aunt and uncle for years during his youth and worked in Shannon before moving to Galway to attend university.

Should he be elected after Thursday’s poll, Mr Higgins will continue a long tradition of Clare presidents follow Michael Hillary and Eamon deValera who was first elected in Clare East in 1918 before representing the Clare constituency from 1922 until 1959.

Whoever is elected President this week, they will be a card carrying supporter of the Cliffs of Moher after the north Clare tourist centre confirmed that all seven candidates have officially pledged to back the final stages of the Cliffs bid to become one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

“We very much welcome the support of all of the Presidential candidates for the Cliffs of Moher. It is the only Irish entry in this world wide competition and has done tremendously well to make the shortlist from the initial 440 sites that competed,” said the Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes (FF).

“We have been mounting a very strong campaign to secure one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature for Ireland and I am delighted that the next President has given full backing to the Cliffs of Moher.”