The Clare People Archive

EOGHAN O’Sullivan of the Shan- non based UCB Group Schwarz Pharma Ltd was presented with the Excellence Award at the prestigious Engineers Ireland MEETA Awards ceremony last week.

The MEETA Awards, sponsored by PMI Software LTD, rewards ingenu- ity shown by employees in mainte- nance and asset management in pro- viding value to their companies.

Maintenance is a critical factor in an organisation’s ability to compete by increasing the availability of plant and equipment, improving produc- tion processes, producing additional capacity and ensuring resource man-

agement efficiency.

Engineers Ireland is one of the larg- est and oldest representative bodies in Ireland, with a membership which now totals over 23,000 covering all disciplines of the engineering pro- fession. MEETA 1s the national so- ciety within Engineers Ireland which represents the Irish maintenance and asset management community at na- tional and international level.

THE Hibernian insurance group’s Clare branch in Ennis 1s going green, following the decision to award a two year green energy supply contract to competitive electricity provider En- eae

In addition to enhanced environ- mental sustainability, the new supply deal will also reduce Hibernian’s en- Cea Ya OED ICE

The deal covers thirty sites nation- wide and the electricity requirement of 8.8 GWh (Gigawatt Hours) is the equivalent of supplying almost 1,900 homes.

The new green energy deal is an important element of Hibernian’s commitment towards _ sustainable practices and will represent an annu- al reduction of around 4,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the at- mosphere each year.

Commenting on the deal, Sheila Kelly, Manager of Hibernian’s Ennis branch said: “As well as looking out for the needs of our customers, Hi- bernian is also committed to looking out for the environment, by making our Operations as efficient and en- vironmentally friendly as possible, both in Clare and our other nation- wide branches.”

“Over the past year, Hibernian has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint and this deal with Energia is one more example of that commitment. It’s also an example of the benefit of shopping around as Hibernian has been able to reduce its energy costs while also removing 4,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum,’ said Ms Khe

Energia offers an energy efficiency programme to its customers which, if fully embraced, can reduce energy consumption by up to 20%.

Energia Sales and Marketing Di- rector Gary Ryan said they were working with companies and public sector organisations throughout the country to deliver cost effective en- ergy solutions that deliver real value iKo)upesleystente

Energia has a 25% market share of the business electricity market on an all—island basis with 40,000 custom- ase

The company also supplies one third of all gas consumed in Ireland by the country’s largest industrial and commercial gas users.

THE Diocese of Killaloe made its largest ever annual payout to vic- tims of clerical sex abuse last year, accounts published last night reveal. The Diocesan accounts for 2007 con- firmed that €619,717 was paid to vic- tims, bringing to over €1.4 million that has been paid out since 2003.

In a statement, the Bishop Willie Walsh pointed out: “The ongoing fallout from the tragedy of sexual abuse by a small number of clergy in

the distant past continues to demand time and resources for healing and reconciliation. €619,717 has been paid in 2007 for this purpose.”

The accounts show that the diocese funded the payout from the €1.5 mil- lion sale of six acres of land at the Dr Walsh’s Ennis residence in 2001.

The 2007 payout is the largest an- nual payment that the diocese has made and is three times the amount paid out in 2006.

The diocese paid out in €191,401 in 2006 and payments of €285,000,

€130,000 and €265,000 to victims of sex abuse by the diocese in 2005, 2004 and 2003 respectively.

The accounts also show that the diocese secured a net surplus of €165,517 last year. This follows the diocese’s income increasing by 24% to €1.043 million. The dio- cese increased its income from its investments in 2007 by 50% – from €290,000 to €437,000.

Dr Walsh also said that “a large portion of our income was derived through dividends from monies in-

vested over the years by the diocese Kom aUb ues mp LEMA\(O)u om

“The recent months of turmoil in financial markets will significantly reduce this particular income stream for 2009. The diocese will therefore have to depend more heavily on the income from parishes to meet its commitments in this climate,’ he SrHCGe

The accounts also show that the di- ocese’s salary bill showed a dramatic increase of 31% going from €141,793 to €186,167.

IF variety is the spice of life, then biodiversity is the very fabric of life and the Clare Biodiversity group of the county council is celebrating the Banners rich heritage of plants and animals with a new website.

The new Clare Biodiversity web- site, 1s a central information point for biodiversity in Clare, linking up other organisations working in biodi- versity, biodiversity events, projects and competition, and gives useful information on how to help the en- vironment.

Biodiversity is the variety of all life on earth from the largest whale to the smallest micro-organism, includ- ing human beings, along the way. The website incudes information on how we can help stop the decline of biodiversity, with good advice about avoiding insecticides and herbicides in the garden, having a compost heap, recycling, using public trans- port, walking or cycling to save on fuel, turning off sockets to save en- ergy, feeding birds in the winter and buying local and/or organic foods.

The website, which is also as Gaeilge, has information about the various biodiversity initiatives and projects in Clare as well as sections on habitats, competitions, video clips, action plans, news and events, biodiversity areas, and links to other organisations involved with environ- mental concerns.

The site is designed as a tool for schools, groups, individuals and families who want to know more about taking care of the rich variety of life in the county.

The new site can be found at www. clarebiodiversity.ie

Among the projects which the Bio- diversity group has carried out in Clare are the mapping of habitats in the county and a survey of the Clare wetlands.

Approximately a third of County Clare has been mapped on a field-by- field basis and put into digital format and a desktop survey to accumulate all the information available on the wetlands of County Clare was car- ried out in 2008. This information is now accessible in digital map for- jeatelm

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has dashed hopes that the Govern- ment may abandon its new air travel tax stating that the air sector already has preferential treatment.

In response to a series of Dail ques- tions on the new €10 tax, the minis- ter said he has tried to be as fair as possible in looking at areas for ad- ditional tax revenues. He said that fuel used by commercial airlines was

completely exempt from tax, so it al- ready had considerable preferential treatment. He said the new air travel tax will come into force from March 30 next year

“Ireland is not unique in regard to applying a tax on air travel. A number of countries within the EU apply similar taxes including the UK, France and the Netherlands, as do Australia and New Zealand. The proposed rates for the Irish air travel tax are not unreasonable both for

shorter and longer journeys, when compared to rates in other countries.

“It should be recognised that tour- ists will only be subject to the tax on their return journey. The additional €10 or €2 in the context of a much larger purchasing decision involv- ing travel, hotel expenditures etc. shouldn’t have much of an effect on tourist numbers.

“I appreciate the airline industry continues to go through a difficult period. However, this difficult trad-

ing period has, in addition to weak world economic activity, been largely driven by a massive spike in oil pric- es. Oil prices have now halved from the all-time high prices experienced earlier in the year.”

On his recent visit to Shannon, Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary described the new air travel tax “as an amazingly stupid and re- gressive measure’.

“By all means have €10 taxes in Dublin, but you are not going to

be able to support traffic at Knock, Shannon and Kerry with €10 flat tax particularly during winter. We don’t Oppose a visitor tax over the short term in principle, somewhere some- how we all are going to have to pay a little bit more tax.”

However, Mr O’Leary said that it 1s fundamentally wrong that a person flying business class paying €3,000 – €4,000 paying €10 tax and an or- dinary Joe paying the same out of Shannon.

THREE Kilrush Town councillors gave up their conference money to ensure that the cost of applying for a parking permit in Kilrush did not increase by 100 per cent.

The decision followed a suggestion from the father of Cllr Jack Fennell (Ind) that the council consider giving up the conference fund and the may- oral bonus to spare the rate payers a three per cent hike and those paying parking permits an increase in ad- ministration costs of €10.

While the rate increase of thee per cent was passed, former mayors and chairpersons Cllr Fennell, Cllr Stephen O’Gorman (FF) and Tom Clyne (Ind) agreed to give back their conference allocation for the remain- ing six months of this council to re- tain the parking permit cost at €10.

“-€18,000 allocated to this council is going to seminars and conferences around the country. They should be eliminated for a period of two years. The ratepayers are paying for that. I have never seen a report back from one of those conferences,” said Cllr Fennell.

‘I propose the mayors give up their bonuses for a year or two,” he added, claiming that it would save the coun- cil between €3,000 and €3,500.

“T agree,’ said Cllr O’Gorman.

“You would Stephen, you have a

job,” said Cllr Collie Sweeney (Ind). Cllr Fennel’s proposal lead to a heated debate in the chamber, a de- bate that ran one and a half hours over its allocated time. Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) accused

members of the council of looking for cheap headlines.

“IT am calling the bluff of people here looking for cheap headlines. Anyone who wants to put up their 2,000 (conference allocation) do it

now,’ he said.

He also asked for members to say if they wanted to give up their gratu- ity for the year, or eliminate the grant for retiring members.

“T don’t want any headlines,” added Cllr Prendeville.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said it would be an ideal situation not to increase the rates as business in the town was bad this Christmas with early sales in most shops.

She suggested that money be taken from the civic office fund. Earlier this year €213,000 was taken from the revenue budget and put into this capital programme.

‘Times were better then and no one could foresee what was to happen,” said Cllr McMahon Jones.

“We could look at taking it out of capital and putting it back into rev- enue and put things on hold for 12 months.”

Cllr Prendeville said, “23 per cent of this budget goes on promoting this town and it 1s very easy to make cheap shots,” he said.

Town Clerk John Corry told the members that the three per cent in- crease in rates was the minimum necessary to maintain the town’s os ATs Gone

CLARE County Council is to carry out upgrade works on two treatment plants to boost sewage capacity in Syavauksy

Senior executive engineer Walter Walshe told last Wednesday’s budget meeting of Clare County Council that work at a site in Clonroadmore, Ennis should be completed by Sep- tember 2009.

The move comes as progress con- tinues to be slow on the long mooted

Ennis Clarecastle main drainage scheme. The project, which would add extra sewage capacity in Ennis, was first proposed in 1995.

The meeting heard that work on the scheme is not expected to begin until 2010. Walter Walshe, senior execu- tive engineer, told the meeting that the process had been delayed in re- cent months pending completion of a cost/benefit analysis report.

‘Hopefully by the end of the year, we can finalise it and send it to the department.”

Cllr Tommy Brennan said the de- lays had negatively impacted on LoynaueassKoE DMO Coa Zed o)oyeeCornmnO me ONNNKS

He said, “There is to be no move- ment on the plant until 2010. What will people do in the meantime? We’ve been reduced to a situation where not even one more house can plug into the main sewer”’.

“Go ahead for this plant was given in 2002. Its high time the department were brought to book on this. How can you pay for something with de- velopment charges, if you can’t let

people develop”, added Cllr Bren- TENOR

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) called for the council executive to give a strong commitment to the Ennis Clarecastle Main drainage scheme.

“Development in the town is mori- bund. Even if we had a full time boom we would not be able to take advantage,” said Cllr Meaney.

Director of services David Timlin said assessments were still being carried out on the Ennis Clarecas- tle main drainage scheme. “There

is a very strong commitment from the executive to the project. We are looking for funding from the depart- ment”, said Mr Timlin.

Clare County Council estimates that it will spend over €22 million on water services for the county next year. That 1s an increase of almost €3 million from the estimated 2008 figure.

Deputy county manager Noreen Fitzgerald expenditure had _ swal- lowed up a large part of the council’s finances in recent years.

DESPITE the Doolin branch of the Irish Coastguard recording it’s high- est ever call-out figures in 2008, it now seem likely that the long await- ed modern facility for the lifeboats 1s at least three years away.

The matter was raised in the Dail last week when Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen said that he “hoped and prayed” that that facilities would be put in place as soon as possible.

“All that we know at the moment is that negotiations are still ongoing with the landowner and these nego- tiations are at a very advanced stage. We also know that the funding has been put aside by the Office of Public Works for the purchase of the site in Doolin in 2009,” said Matty Shan- non of the Doolin Coastguard.

“We are hopeful that it will happen sooner rather than later. Once we get the site the next challenge will be to get financing for a building, which could be another campaign in itself.”

“While an agreement for the pur- chase of a site looks likely to be completed in 2009, no funding 1s currently allocated for the construc- tion of a rescue centre.”

Speaking in Dail Eireann last week Clare TD Pat Breen said that, “this volunteer group 1s operating out of a building that is no bigger than an average garden shed. I hope and pray

that a proper facility will be put in place in the new year. Is it right that they should be forced to battle the poor infrastructure while they go about their life-saving work?”

The Doolin branch of the Irish Coastguard responded to 43 call out to date in 2008, 50 per cent more than last year.

“It’s seems that people are more aware of the rescue organisation that are operating around the county and are more aware of people be- ing in the sea. People are becoming more vigilant of the whole situation. We did have a number of situations where people spotted a buoy in the

sea and we were called out. They were rough seas at the time but it’s better to go out and rescue a buoy than if people don’t ring in if there was an emergency.

“This does create a disturbance for the team member because they are being called more often. But as long as people are aware then that is the main thing. What is more im- portant than people being aware of other people in the water is if people were very vigilant of their own safety while in the water.

EAR, nose and throat patients from Clare are to benefit from the newly refurbished ENT ward 2C in the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limer- ick. The newly kitted out ward has set a new standard in patient accom- modation according to the HSE

The original ward, designed in the early 1950’s, to cater for the special needs of the ear, nose and throat service, provided accommodation for 22 patients, the bathroom and toi- let facilities were corridor based and shared by all patients.

Today, the newly re-furbished ward can still accommodate 22 patients, in a mix of four single rooms, four two bedded and two five bedded rooms.

All rooms are equipped with en- suite facilities and every patient’s bed-space is equipped with a plasma television.

The patient beds are new, electric profiling beds providing the ultimate in patient comfort and care.

“It was a major challenge to retain

the required complement of patient accommodation and still provide en- suite facilities without compromising patient space. This was successfully achieved by a clever extension within the ward,” said a HSE spokesperson.

“The ward has been sensitively designed and has an elegant and comfortable feel. The impact of the improvement is immediately expe- rienced on entering the ward. Every detail has been thought through for its aesthetic effect on the final fin- ished ward. Indeed, the importance of providing a therapeutic environ- ment in which both patients and staff can flourish is evident in this new ward.”

The new facility includes a treat- ment facility which 1s equipped with endoscopic and microscopic equip- ment necessary for a Regional Ear, Nose, and Throat Service.

The ENT service provides a com- prehensive region wide service, catering for a population in excess 370,000 and sees patients from as far away as Gort and Tralee.

THE owners of Shannon Town Cen- tre have claimed that a proposed €60 million retail park for the town is ‘opportunistic’ and contrary to the provisions of the South Clare Devel- opment Plan.

Last month, Greenband Investment Ltd lodged plans for bulky house- hold goods, discount food-store and neighbourhood centre to include a small convenience store, pharmacy, bookmakers and _ hairdressers at Smithstown, Shannon.

According to developer and one of the partners in the project, Sean Halpin, the development will create

250 direct jobs, 200 indirect jobs and 180 jobs during the construction phase. The retail warehouse park and neighbourhood centre is the first of two phases of this project, with the second phase to comprise of a resi- dential development and plans for de- velopment are to be shortly lodged.

However, the owners of Shannon Town Centre claim that the proposal in its current form “presents a direct challenge to the Shannon core town centre area”.

In a comprehensive submission to Clare County Council, Shannon Town Centre stated that “the pro- posed location for the discount food- store within the retail park 1s incon-

sistent with zoning”.

The submission stated: “In sum- mary, the proposed development is opportunistic in the contest of the draft local area plan and has cherry picked the matrix to maximise retail and commercial advantages.

“No element of the proposed de- velopment reflects the primary zon- ing objective for ‘residential’ on the lands…Effectively, the applicants have ignored the primary land use zoning indicated in the draft South Clare Development Plan.”

The submission claims that Green- band Ltd has “abandoned the resi- dential, open space and street struc- ture” and “cherry picked the matrix

to maximise retail and commercial advantage, as we predicted would happen and have not awaited the im- plementation and delivery protocols, which we were informed would be required before developments would be considered”.

In a separate submission, the Hick- ey family in Smithstown have voiced their opposition to the proposal, stat- ing: “We feel we would be squeezed into an industrial park for life and have no future in our current homes where we’ve lived for 40 plus years, it would hinder the privacy we are accustomed to.”

A decision is due on the plan next year.