The Clare People Archive

DOCTORS who have been called to attend to the injured on a north Clare road have written to Clare County Council to have the road surface mended before anyone else is hurt.

The adjourned meeting of Clare County Council heard that a Baly- vaughan road which was recently re- paired after work was done to install amenities has been the scene of ac- cidents which have caused injury to people and damage to cars.

One cyclist had to be treated for in- juries at the scene by a local GP af- ter coming off his bike and a driver whose jeep overturned also had to have medical attention.

Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) tabled a motion asking what criteria the council uses to select contractors for water and sewerage schemes.

The finishing of the job in terms of reinstating road surfaces often leaves a lot to be desired, he said. “If you travel this road to Ballyvaughan you take your life in your hands,” he told

the meeting. “Why isn’t there more pressure put on individual contrac- tors to finish the job properly?”

Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) said that that the work on the road “was done in a prime tourist location. The state this road was left in for the summer won’t send visitors back with any good impression of the area.”

Cllr Tony O’Brien said the situation was “not confined to north Clare. We need a policy on what we look for in finishing roads after such work and we heed a strategy which involves

penalties. These people can’t just walk away from a job.”

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald called for contractors who don’t do the job properly to be “fined, not put in to do another job for us.”

Mayor Madeleine ‘Taylor-Quinn (FG) said that the timing of the work “was terrible. It was done at the height of the tourist season when the roads into that area are at their busi- est.’ A number of councillors said they had seen letters from local GPs outlining the dangers of a badly sur-

faced road and the accidents they had been asked to attend in recent weeks on that stretch of road.

In reply to Cllr Lafferty’s motion, the Director of Services had outlined the full procedure used in selecting a contractor. A contractor is obliged to carry out “temporary restoration” during the course of the contract. A sum of money is provided in the con- tract for the final repairs to the road and this money can be spent by et- ther the council or the contractor to get the work done.

THE Progressive Democrats may just live to fight another day in Clare de- spite the announcement by the party top brass last month that it would be winding up all operations.

Clare party members attended a meeting of the western branch of the party in Limerick last week in which anger was expressed at the decision of the parliamentary section of the party to unilaterally announce that

the PDs would be disbanding.

‘We had more than 100 people at the meeting last week from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary and the vast majority of the people were very un- happy at how this whole matter was handled. There was a lot of members who felt very aggrieved at how the parliamentary party had handled the whole incident,’ said Tadhg Kearney, former national executive member of the PD’s.

“The room expressed very strong

views about how this whole situation was managed. To be honest there was a lot of anger among local represent- atives about how this situation could be allowed to happen.”

The meeting was attended by party leader Ciaran Cannon who faced questions about procedural errors in how the decision to wind down the part was announced.

“They have moved way beyond their remit in making this decision. Putting it bluntly, this was not their

decision to make,’ continued Mr Kearney. “We have more councillors right now than the Green Party and yet they have decided to call it a day. There was a lot of anger in the meet- ing, in fact that is an understatement. We had more than 100 committed members who said unanimously that they want the party to continue.

“A lot of people have made this party their home. For a lot of people out there the PDs is their political church. We don’t want to give this up

without a fight. At the moment is it unclear what is going to happen.

“There may be too much damage done for us to continue on as the PD, the decision may even be made to continue on but under a different name. We are just gong to have to wait and see.”

All members of the Progressive Democrats will meet on November 8 to vote on a motion put forward by the national executive recommend- ing that the party be wound up.

ADDITIONAL resources are _ be- ing pumped in to fight the spread of drugs in Clare, as major drug dealers are being targeted.

Resources at the disposal of the Clare Garda Divisional drugs unit have increased in recent weeks, as a major focus on stamping out the availability of drugs across the coun- ty gets underway.

Gardai are concerned about young people experimenting with soft drugs and then progressing to harder drugs which have a lethal effect on their TaVene

Superintendent John Scanlan said a major crackdown has got underway and is poised to continue.

“We have seen a significant in- crease in the number of arrests of drug dealers in the Clare division,” said Supt Scanlan.

“We have put significant additional personnel into the drugs squad in En- nis. We are very conscious there is a problem,” he said.

“We are conscious about young people who have not yet caught on to drugs getting involved,’ added Supt Scanlan.

“We have made significant seizures. There is going to be zero tolerance,’

he said.

“We would appeal to anyone with any information on people involved in drugs to contact us in the strictest of confidence,” he said.

“Drugs cause deaths. Parents in particular wouldn’t want to believe that drugs wouldn’t invade their lives. That day is gone. Drugs prevail in all elements of society,” he added.

The cocaine-related deaths of two west Clare men – as revealed in this newspaper two weeks ago – led to grave concerns about the availability of drugs.

It prompted gardai to issue a tough warning on the availability of toxic

forms of cocaine.

“We are still seizing significant quantities of cocaine, which is a wor- ry. Our advice for anyone thinking of experimenting with cocaine is not to,’ said a garda source.

“Cocaine is generally cut with other substances. People who pre- pare cocaine are unscrupulous as to what substances they use to bulk it,” he said.

“The speed at which people get into trouble with cocaine is frighten- ing. We are amazed at this. People are more likely to get into financial bother, followed by addiction prob- lems,” added the source.

THE increased availability of co- caine and heroin across Clare is a major concern for gardai tackling the spread of drugs.

Gardai have voiced the concerns in the wake of what they describe as a significant seizure of heroin in Ennis last week. More than €5,000 worth of the drug was seized during the search of an apartment, as part of a major garda operation last Wednes- day night.

A 28-year-old man was questioned and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide if charges are to be brought.

Two weeks ago, a kilo of cannabis was seized during the search of a car on the outskirts of Ennis. It was part of an operation that also involved the search of a house in Ennis.

Gardai say that the availability of significant quantities of heroin in- dicate that there 1s a demand for it in Clare and they have pledged to

tackle this. The numbers of seizures of drugs in the county has increased significantly over the past few years. This is due to an increase in detec- tion rates, allied to the increased de- mand for drugs.

Gardai are concerned that the in- creased use of drugs is connected to violent incidents and crime such as eluted tN lone

“T am concerned about that. One would have to be concerned when people get addicted to drugs. They are desperate for money,” said Supt

John Scanlan.

Although cannabis remains the most popular drug in the county, gardai have noticed that cocaine, heroin and ecstacy are freely avail- able.

“It gets publicity on the back of a prominent death, but it is a continu- ous thing. Cannabis still tends to be the drug of choice. The problem with cannabis is that young people thing it is not addictive. This myth that can- nabis isn’t harmful has been blown out of the water,’ he added.

A BALLOT of workers at Aer Lingus which would mandate their union, SIPTU, to take industrial action over plans to outsource jobs is expected to take at least two weeks.

As 280 workers at Shannon con- template their future, the union is sending ballot papers to each and every member in a bid to get a large

turn-out and a strong mandate for ac- tion.

Unions SIPTU and IMPACT have both pledged to fight the plan which would see the axing and outsourcing of 1,500 jobs nationwide.

Meanwhile, preliminary contact on the plan is believed to have been made between Aer Lingus manage- ment and SIPTU but both sides have agreed on a media black-out on any

talks for the present.

It’s expected that union members will overwhelmingly mandate their representatives to declare industrial action if talks fail to reach a resolu- tion on the plan which aims to save the company €74 million.

Management wants the bulk of that saving – €50 million – to come from a reduction in staff costs.

SIPTU’s Tony Carroll said that a

written agreement exists between the company and the unions barring all outsourcing until after 2010. The detail of this agreement is now being examined, he said.

“It was agreed in 2006 as part of the charter of fundamental rights for workers in Aer Lingus at the time of the privatisation,’ he said.

Meanwhile, IMPACT spokeswom- an, Christina Carney said that the

proposals are not acceptable. “Not for the first time, Aer Lingus have turned to their workers and asked them to carry the burden. But at this time, the company have set out proposals which could see Irish jobs shipped to the US during a period of ACTS (Oe

‘To export jobs during a recession is unacceptable and we will fight any attempt to do that.”

BUSINESS representatives in Shan- non and Ennis have expressed seri- ous concern for the staff at Aer Lin- gus who may lose their jobs and for the fall-out that this would cause in the region.

The President of Shannon Cham- ber of Commerce, Ian Barrett has warned that any further dilution of Aer Lingus services from Shannon could have dire consequences for trade and business activity in the re- gion.

Ian Barrett said that business had already suffered from the withdraw- al of the Shannon Heathrow service.

Barrett, who also works for Shan- non based company Avocent, said “we have noticed a significant reduc- tion in the amount of business travel and the number of Chief Executives coming through Shannon since the end of the Heathrow service’.

“We would be hoping that there would be no further reduction in services. Reports that transatlantic services are at risk are worrying. A development like that could possibly have a significant adverse affect on Foreign Direct Investment”.

“We would be hoping that Aer Lin- gus would be planning on maintain- ing or increasing their services from Shannon”, the chamber president added.

Barrett said that developments such as the new CityJet route from Shan- non to Paris were welcome, but that Heathrow remained the “centre of fey svaleel mars Aare

“If you’re in business then Hea- throw remained the main hub. The Paris route has been a positive devel- opment.”

Ennis Chamber of Commerce CEO, Rita McInerney, said that the Cham- ber “is very dissapointed with what is going on in terms of the staff who

have given so much to the company and because Shannon is bearing the brunt of these cuts.”

She added that it is “very worrying from a business prospective what is to happen to the transatlantic serv- ice.

It is so vital to the international businesses based here. The air- port has been left with such a skel- eton staff and so little back-up that if something goes wrong a service could be cancelled and that could lead to it being withdrawn down the line. The airport is doing sterling work trying to get new routes and services into Shannon and they don’t jaCeXox MMOD Ecer-T ROO TOM ODO bl omie

THERE were calls last night for Clare County Council to fully sup- port Aer Lingus staff at Shannon ~ bu ola

The issue was raised during the monthly meeting of the council when councillor John Crowe asked that the members write to the Minster for Transport demanding that he ensure there would be no further reduction of transatlantic services from Shan- noe

“A lot has happened at Shannon

since I tabled this motion and none of it for the good of this region,’ he said, referring to the Aer Lingus plan to outsource most of the positions at the airport.

“There are 280 jobs to be lost there and these jobs cannot be lost to Shan- non’, he said and asked “where are the 22 airlines the minister said were waiting on the runways to come to Shannon under Open Skies? If there is any further decline in transatlan- tic services at Shannon, it will the death-knell,”’ he said.

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Labour) said

that the “council as a body must sup- port workers at Aer Lingus. Only for Ryanair, there would be nothing left at Shannon. There are families who grew up in Shannon who are looking at leaving their homes.”

Cllr Brian Meaney said that it was the first time that the council had had an opportunity “to discuss what is a near fatal blow to Shannon Airport. This chamber needs to send a strong signal to the relevant departments and to the management of Aer Lingus in relation to the proposals on outsourc- ing. We have to deal with the pos-

sible consequences of so many jobs being lost. We have to look at this in terms of contingency plans.” Meanwhile, Deputy Pat Breen (FG) told a Dail debate on the situ- ation that, “the Aer Lingus workers at Shannon are the sacrificial lambs who are bearing the brunt of the Government’s failure to act last year to secure the Shannon to Heathrow service. Shannon bore the brunt of the crisis arising from the attacks in New York on September 11. Every time Aer Lingus gets ‘flu, unfortu- nately Shannon appears to get pneu-

monia.”

Minister of State, Tony Kileen(FF) saidhehasmadecontact with Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and Min- ister for Transport Noel Dempsey re- garding the airline’s cost cutting plan. “Meanwhile, I have referred to Ms Mary Coughlan TD, Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in relation to the Aer Lingus workers’ future job pros- pects. I have also asked Minister for Labour Affairs Billy Kelleher TD to ensure that all of the worker’s statu- tory entitlements are delivered on.”

CALLS have been made for the hugely successful duty-free compa- ny, Aer Rianta International, (ARI) to plough back some of its profits to market Shannon Airport, where the duty-free concept was born.

As the airport faces the loss of 280 Aer Lingus jobs, a former senior management figure with ARI has said it’s payback time for the com- pany, which made pre-tax profits of €291 million in the 12 months to the end of 2007.

This was a huge increase on the €17.5 million filed with the compa- nies office for the previous year.

The company, which is based at Shannon Airport, paid ©230 million in dividends last year to its parent group, the Dublin Airport Authority and repaid €98 million to the DAA. Sales from ARI’s duty free shops in Russia, the Middle East, Europe and North America rose by 58 per cent to €69 million.

The Commonwealth of Independ- ent States – Russia and it’s former territories – accounted for €64.8 million of ARI’s turnover and their next biggest revenue contributor, the Middle East, generated sales of €2.4 million. Europe brought in €1.6 mil- lion of sales and North America was last in line with sales of €214,000.

Now a former senior management

figure, who was closely involved in setting up much of ARI’s business, has called for some of the money to be ploughed back into marketing the airport where the duty-free concept Veh o0) 60

He believes that “between 10 and 20 per cent” of ARI’s profits should be used to help Shannon in these troubled times.

There was no-one from the DAA available to comment on the proposal but it is understood that the authority would not see any compunction on ARI to contribute to any Shannon airport marketing drive.

The ARI is a company in it’s own right and apart from being based at Shannon has no other direct connec- tion with the airport.

Another company is responsible for running the duty-free shops at Shan- non, Dublin and Cork airports.

However, many supporters of the airport would see the ARI’s success as being at least in part due to the Clare facility being the first home of duty free.

In 1951 the first airport duty-free liquor shop was opened. It started as a ship’s store where airline stewards purchased supplies for re-sale to pas- sengers when the aircraft became ~Npuee) uae

Later, passengers were allowed to buy drink and tobacco at duty-free prices on a restricted basis.

THE proposed outsourcing of cabin crew on Aer Lingus transatlantic flights will not directly affect the number of American tourists who use Shannon Airport, according to a leading tourism spokesman.

This outsourcing, which is part of the massive cost saving plan pro- posed by management last week, would see American based cabin crew employed on the flights with only pilots to be based in Shannon.

According to Lahinch hotelier and local spokesperson for the Irish Ho-

tel federation, Michael Vaughan the proposal may have impacted on the old Aer Lingus model, but will not adversely affect the new low-cost model.

“Aer Lingus has always used the image of being an Irish airline to attract business, especially from America. | think if outsourcing of cabin crew does take place then they really won’t be able to say that any- more,’ he said.

“They have adopted the low cost model and one of the assumptions of this model is that the person re- ally doesn’t mind who brings them to

their destination as long as they can get there for the price they want. In the older model for Aer Lingus this might have been an issue but I’m not sure that if will have an impact Ce) A

Mr Vaughan believes that the worst case scenario for tourism in the re- gion is if no agreement is reached between unions and the airline and a “wind down” of services comes into effect.

“I see this as a HR issue for Aer Lingus. They have to get their cost base right and negotiate with the un- ions. At present we don’t believe that

there is any threat to their transatlan- tic service out of Shannon barring a situation where we cannot come to some agreement. If this is the situa- tion I would assume that there will be some sort of wind down of serv- ices and that would have a damaging effect on the region, there is no doubt about that,’ he continued.

“That said it is quite possible that other airlines would see a possible opportunity in that. I know that Delta and Continental are quite happy with their activity of late and may just see an opportunity for themselves there.

“T am always conscious of the fact

that there are people’s jobs at stake here in Shannon, but in my position I must take a wider view. We have been hostages to fortune in Shannon for so long now. It’s like there has been a sword hanging over us for years now and there is a feeling within the busi- ness community that it is time to get the house in order in Shannon and go forward positively into the future in- stead of going forward with a chip on our shoulder about one thing or the other. In a perverse sort of way this may be a golden opportunity to en- Sure proper services in Shannon for the future.”

VISITORS have different concerns and priorities about their holiday experience in the mid-west than the tourism authorities have, the results of a survey being published today will show.

Conclusions from a summer season survey of nearly 5,500 visitors to the mid-west will be unveiled to mem- bers of the Tourism Learning Net- work at their seminar today.

Advance indications from the sur- vey showed that issues which have concerned the tourism authorities, including pricing and the propor- tion of non-nationals involved in the hospitality industry – did not come out as the top concerns with visitors. Instead tourists said that the warm hospitality from nationals and non nationals was one of the big pluses and there was also general satisfac- tion with food, quality standards, preparation, service and price.

Criticisms which were raised in the survey included hygiene, standards of cleanliness in toilets and grubby or shabby conditions in some accom- modation. Access for disabled peo- ple was also an issue raised by both able-bodied and disabled visitors and information on what’s available to visitors and how to get there was

also an issue with a significant level of dissatisfaction with both promo- tional material and signage.

Ranking as the most extensive in- dependent survey ever carried out in a single region, the exercise was the main 2008 project undertaken by members of the Tourism Learn- ing Network, the Failte Ireland ini- tiative which has been running since 2006. “As a do-it-yourself approach to market research which will be of immediate value, the survey fits in exactly with the aims of the Tourism Learning Network of bringing the development and promotion of lo- cal tourism down to local level” says Tourism Learning Network Director in the Mid-west, Padraig Cleary of May Day Management Consultants.

The verdict and views of visitors will be delivered to the seminar at the Kilmurry Lodge Hotel, Limerick today. In addition to the regional pic- ture to be painted, the survey results have also been packaged for each of the individual operators who partici- Joye Kerem

While the survey will be provid- ing guidelines on the strengths and shortcomings of visitor attractions, accommodation, dining and related visitor services, the seminar has been structured to provide practical guid- ance relevant to the survey findings.