The Clare People Archive

THE thought of taking on a group of five- to 12-year-olds every day, if only for a few hours, would put the fear of God into many a brave soul, while representing the masses as the leader of a workers’ union would bring most of us out in a cold sweat.

Declan Kelleher has taken on both roles in his life, and after more than 35 years involved still speaks about both with an enthusiasm that is contagious. And the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) will be hoping that his enthusiasm turns into an epidemic as it tries to encour- age new members into the union this year.

The Kilnaboy native will have this task, with many more, thrust upon him tomorrow when he takes over as the union’s president for the next year. The Corofin NS principal is well known for his work with the un- ion in the county, which he maintains could not be achieved without the support of his wife, family, teaching staff and management.

This commitment will now see him at the head of a 36,000 member un- ion that represents both the north of Ireland and the Republic, at a time when the INTO in the north is start- ing to work closely with the Ulster Teachers Union.

While taking on the role as presi- dent of the INTO, Mr Kelleher ex- plains that he misses teaching: “I ab- solutely love teaching. I think it has probably been the greatest privilege in my life to have been trusted by parents to teach their children.

“You are never doing the same thing from year to year. It is abso- lutely brilliant because you never meet the same children. You are meeting a new group every year and they are absolutely brimful of talent, and your job is to draw out the talent and potential.

‘And don’t tell me there is any bet- ter job in Ireland or the world than to face a challenge like that.”

With the roots of the INTO of- ten considered to be in Kildysart, Where a strong teacher’s represen- tation body was formed as early as 1868, Declan’s own history saw him

involved in student and teachers un- ions at an early age. He was part of the first students representative body set up in St Flannan’s College, Ennis during his final year.

As a member of the students union in St Patrick’s College, Dublin he was one of the demonstrators who sat sat in front of the Mercedes of Min- ister for Education Padraig Faulkner, demanding a degree course for the college.

Declan joined the INTO in 1972 and has missed just one conference since. He came back to his native county in 1978 and taught in Ennis National before becoming principal in Corofin in 1979. He immediately became aware of the issues facing schools in the county.

“When I came back to Clare what struck me immediately was_ that town schools has a certain amount of learning support for weaker students,

where as rural schools had absolutely none,’ he says. “You couldn’t defend it by any standards – that you have something available to larger schools that wasn’t available to children in smaller schools.”

Issues such as class sizes and spe- cial education needs will be high on his agenda during Mr Kelleher’s presidency.

‘There has been a lot of improve- ment in special education access in ordinary national schools for chil- dren with special needs and disabili- ties,” he says.

“It was something that was very important because children should be able to grow up and go to school in their own local community if that is what their parents so choose. And certainly that is something which has improved hugely in recent times.

“What is improving very slowly is the actual infrastructure of the

schools whereby rooms are large enough to accommodate all the di- versity you need, not to talk of class size, which is a major problem in Clare. One in every two children in Clare is in an over-crowded class- room, which is a startling statistic,” he continues.

“Village schools anywhere in the Ennis area, right down to Shannon and over triangularly towards Tulla and Sixmilebridge, all of that area is expanding rapidly at the moment and we have a huge increase in popula- tion. Then we see the government reneging on its commitment of class sizes again this year.”

He said the union was very annoyed with government partners, particu- larly the Green Party, who gave firm commitments on class sizes, but the largest criticism went to Fianna Fail and politicians who stood on plat- forms making commitments to class

sizes that were soon forgotten.

A number of schools in Clare have also felt the brunt of the reduction in the school building project including Ennis NS and Barefield, according to the president-elect.

“The reason for the slowdown is simply there is a huge expansion go- ing on in the east coast in terms of population,” Declan says.

“There are 30 emergency schools being created in the east coast and I wouldn’t argue against that – they are necessary – but they should have been created through a supplemen- NAVA OL ULO tole

‘What has actually happened is that the money that was out there for oth- er schools has now been diverted to those schools, and schools that have been waiting patiently in the queue for eight to ten years have been told wait longer. I think that is totally un- justifiable.”

The whole area of resoursing schools is a major issue facing Mr Kelleher, as is primary school prin- cipals and the amount of auxiliary services available to them.

Schools with less than 177 students do not get an administrative princi- pal; instead the principal must do all of the administrative work over 22 assigned days per year. In the north of Ireland, principals are assigned two days per week.

Despite his success in being elected to the highest office in the INTO Mr Kelleher has no plans to follow Sena- tor Joe O’ Toole into politics. While he admires those who go into the world of politics, he is happy to re- main a spectator.

He is proud of the many achieve- ments of his profession, especially in welcoming the “new Irish”, say- ing, “I think one of the uncelebrated successes of the Irish primary school system is the way it has absorbed new children over the past number of years.”

His many functions for the year ahead will include the chairing of the first INTO youth conference in April, and a trip to Gambia to see a school built by the INTO credit union.

A POINT may not have been enough to maintain their challenge for a quarter-final place but essentially, it was more about the performance than the result for Clare on Sunday. An alarming second half collapse against Limerick a week previous could have been detrimental to the young side’s confidence but Clare came out fighting from the first minute against the leaders and man- aged to scrape out a result.

After three games in East Clare, this was Clare’s first competitive out- ing in Cusack Park under Mike Mc- Namara and while the Clare manager was contend with the overall result, he also felt that Clare, bouyed on by momentum, could have snatched all three points in the closing minutes.

“We are at home in Ennis and we’d like to win all our home matches and I think it’s vital that we do. It’s the only match we have played in Ennis this year and that in itself I suppose is disappointing. With five minutes to go, I would have been happy with a draw but certainly at full time, we were pushing for a winner. We lost enough chances probably in the first half to put the game out of reach again but we are creating the chanc- es at least which augers well for the jaUiHeN Kone

Ironically, it was the previously freescoring Tipperary side who found it harder to get scores and hit 13 wides to Clare’s six, a contrast to last week in which Clare hit 16. The

only real downside for Clare was their inability to create clearcut goal chances with two Fergal Lynch op- portunities their only sight of goal over the 70 minutes but McNamara still felt that his young side are ma- turing which can only be encourag- ing for the championship.

“Well we had something like 16 wides last weekend and young Mur- ray [Brian Murray, Limerick goal- keeper] was probably the busiest player on the field. Limerick had a puckout almost every minute and a half last weekend which means we are doing something right and he had seven or eight very good saves as well. Again, to win matches and if you are talking about winning championship matches then we have to start creating goal chances which we are not creating so it is an area of concern and hopefully we will work Oona

“On the other end of the scale, we are improving all the time and that’s all we can ask from the lads. We can harp on about the new lads and all that but they are new and they are young and I think we saw another bit of progression today with some of those.”

Killanena’s Mark Flaherty was one of those young players whom McNa- mara picked out for special praise. Flaherty had been impressive against Galway and Laois scoring 4-20 but had an off day against Limerick last weekend when even his frees weren’t going over. He was back to his best on Sunday though with an 100 per

cent freetaking record, converting ten points and was also a threat from open play.

“All the teams who win All-Ire- lands and Munster titles, in general terms they have a free-taker who puts over something like 95 per cent of frees so we must have that if we are going forward and if we hadn’t that, we would have to sit down and make one so it 1s a huge plus yes.”

The league aside, McNamara has been unerring in his continued fo- cus on Clare’s main aim this season, meeting Waterford in the Munster championship on June |. That day is where he feels everything is be- ing geared for and until then, every game is just more preparation for that greater goal.

“We have to keep our eyes focussed on what happens in June and from there on in. We must present our- selves properly in Munster and we haven’t done that for a long number of years now. We must do that for the Clare people and the public and in- deed the Clare jersey.”

Such is it’s importance to McNa- mara, that the championship game has been mentioned in every inter- view he has done this year. Judge- ment will be saved until then but it seems the pieces are slowly coming together.

CLARE’S politicians were more concerned with painting far-away lands saffron and blue than green this St Patrick’s Day.

Travelling between New York and Chicago, the county mayor Cllr Pa- tricia McCarthy (Ind) is highlight- ing the need for direct flights into

the west of Ireland and to forge and maintain links.

Yesterday was a sunny day in the Big Apple with a “wind chill factor” and Clare’s first citizen represented the county in the famous New York St Patrick’s Day parade.

Speaking from New York as she prepared to lead the Clare contin- gent in the 40-minute parade, she

outlined the importance of keeping a strong link with the powerful Irish diaspora. “We are here to let people in Chicago and New York know that we are committed to them and grate- ful for their support,’ she said.

Leading the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York was one of its most sen- ior policemen, Michael Collins who has Clare roots.

Cllr McCarthy also met with the New York speaker, Christina Quinn, of Kilmurry McMahon descent, who is expected to run for mayor of the city in a few years time – New York, that is, not Kilmurry McMahon.

Among the other dignitaries met by the mayor was Ed Burke, whose family comes from Labasheeda. Mr Burke is the Chicago alderman and his wife, Anne Burke, is a superior court judge.

Cllr McCarthy also visited the Clare Man’s Association in both cit- ies, aS Well as meeting with the IDA, CIE Tours and Aer Lingus North America’s Jack Foley.

During that meeting, she impressed upon him how a non-direct flight from Shannon to Chicago was be- coming an issue for tourism and business. She said that the Consul General to Chicago, Martin Ryan, also highlighted this issue.

The Consul General to New York was also supportive of any Clare de- velopments, especially as his mother is from Miltown Malbay.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley was also in New York yester- day. The Tulla man told

THE opening sprint of the Thurs- day’s night card at Galway was race number two for S10 graders and here the good recent run of the John Fit- zgerald kennel of Kilrush continued as his Ler Peepers a daughter of Match Up and Cranny Droopys came home a length to the good over Lor- rha Pepsi (T3) in 18.53.

The winner wearing the red jacket trailed Lisnaculla Shaw (T6) early doors but she was in control roun- deing the opening bend before eas- ily holding the late effort of Lorrha oe

The night’s entertainment opened

with an N2 graded 525 for which Shyan

Matilda (T4) owned by the Callin- ans of Kilmihil was sent of favour- ite and although she was away well enough she was outpaced into the Opening corner by the John Gleeson owned Greenlane Saving who led by a length turning down the far side.

Racing past halfway the the gap was two lengths and although Shyan Matilda closed between the final two bends Greenlane Saving(Top Sav- ings-Rushmore Spiral) won hand- somely by one and a half lengths in PESTO

The eighth contest on Fridays pro- eramme was an A3 graded 525 and

from traps Devon Hero (T3) Crag- brien Magic (T5) and Got Derailed (T6) all came away well and they raced line abrest to the opening cor- ner where the Martin Cronin/Jack

Markham of Ennis owned Cragbr- ien Magis grabbed the initiative and the rail berth to lead his rivals as the turned down the far side.

Racing past halfway Cragbrien Magc led by three lengths from Got Derailed who was now looking the only danger but the son of Top Honcho and Greencroft Magic kept the lead at three lengths all the way home in a time of 29.28.

The ninth contest was an A graded 550 in which Burnpark Duke cake

in as reserve in trap five and he was well supported in the ring from 2/1 to 5/4 and he certainly delivered for his Supporters as he came home three lengths clear of Maninthemiddle in 30.45. On the long run to the open- ing corner Hold Te Head(T3) led from Maninthemiddle with Burn- park Duke improving rapidly on the outside rounding the opening bend.

Racing down the back the David Browne of Kilrush owned Burnpark Duke (Top Honcho-Burnpark Cuck- 00) stretched clear and as he exited the back straight he was “home for all money”’ as he stretched clear for victory would not be denied as she gained her second success.

Race number seven at the Col- lage Road Venue on Saturday Night was for A4 graders where the Frank Browne of Quin owned Mine Dyna- mite never saw another rival as she blew away with a real burst of early pace on her way to a six length victo- ry over Unique Express (T3) in 29.44. The winner a son of Honcho Classic and Belindas Hill led by two lengths at the opening corner from Lingrawn Ger (T2) and Unique Express (T3) and with the remainder involved in crowding behind the front three had it between them turning down the back. Racing towards the third bend Mine Dynamite led by three lengths from Unique

THE 2008 Cheltenham Festival will go down in history as a landmark meeting which saw the abandon- ment of racing due to high winds on Wednesday but the main reason last week’s action at Prestbury Park will live long in the memory is due to the brilliant performances from a triumvirate of national hunt stars, Denman, Master Minded and Inglis Drever.

Despite the pressure on the fixture list, the Gold Cup still held onto its’ position as the feature contest on a bumper nine-race card on Friday and it is hard to remember a horse race that was so eagerly anticipated by the racing world. The big clash between Kauto Star and Denman even made its’ way onto the pages of the non- racing papers as the outside public could not resist the engaging battle that was promised between the two chasing stars who are near neigh- bours at the stable of Paul Nicholls.

As many pundits, fronted by Den- man’s ebullient part-owner Harry Findlay, correctly predicted, Den- man’s power and relentless galloping style proved too much for the reign- ing Gold Cup champion who had no answer to the punishing pace set by the eight year-old son of Presenting. The winner of his only point-to-point start for Adrian Maguire at Liscar- roll, County Cork in 2005, Denman (9/4) was settled in second place be- hind his stablemate, Neptune Collon- ges, before taking control under Sam Thomas as the field headed out on the final circuit. A heavily backed 10/11 favourite to claim his second Betfair Million, Kauto Star never looked at ease on the tacky ground and he also made a few uncharacteristic jumping errors in contrast to the impressive fluency of the winner. The much- hyped contest never materialised as Denman had the race won a long way from home and he maintained his unbeaten record over fences with a decisive seven lengths verdict over Kauto Star who stayed on strongly to his credit despite not performing at his best. Neptune Collonges ran a fine race to complete a historic 1-2- 3 for Paul Nicholls, some 25 years

after Michael Dickinson saddled the first five home in the Gold Cup.

It is hard to believe that Denman’s demolition job could be eclipsed by another horse at Cheltenham but that is exactly what happened when Master Minded (3/1) produced a breathtaking performance to turn the Queen Mother Champion Chase into a one-horse race. The French bred five year-old, who raced in the Clive Smith colours of Kauto Star, was sim- ply awesome in the manner in which he brushed aside Voy Por Ustedes by nineteen lengths and Ruby Walsh’s post-race assertion that the winner is a “machine” only confirmed what our eyes had told us that Master Minded has the chasing world at his feet. Paul Nicholls will have a nice headache trying to keep his three stable stars apart next season and the Ditcheat maestro has already hinted that the

Gold Cup principals are unlikely to meet next season until renewing ri- Neb Yar-1 Om Oo Ted ike sDet-beee

Already a dual winner of the race in 2005 and 2007, Inglis Drever wrote his name into the history books when claiming his third World Hurdle title on Thursday. Given a fine ride by the Galway Plate winning jockey, Denis O’Regan, Inglis Drever (11/8f) was many people’s banker of the meet- ing and Howard Johnson’s admira- ble nine year-old did not disappoint his supporters with a typically de- termined performance to hold off a strong challenge from the French horse, Kasbah Bliss with the Eoin Griffin trained Kazal running a cracker back 1n third.

The Champion Hurdle proved a big disappointment for the strong Irish contingent who were seeking to win the opening day’s feature

for the eighth time from the last ten runnings. All seemed to be going to plan when Sizing Europe smoothly moved to the front under Andrew McNamara to challenge at the sec- ond last while last year’s winner, Sublimity, was also travelling well in behind under Philip Carberry. Things changed dramatically in the closing stages however as Sizing Eu- rope capitulated dramatically and it was later discovered that Henry de Bromhead’s six year-old had pulled muscles in his back. The John Carr trained Sublimity could not go through with his challenge on the rain softened ground and it was left to the Alan King trained Katchit to continue his love affair with Chelten- ham with a typically gutsy victory over Osana at odds of 10/1.

The number of Irish trained win- ners was seven at this year’s Festival

which was a respectable tally consid- ering the defeat of many fancied run- ners like Zaarito, Mossbank, Sizing Europe and Wonderkid. The roll of honour for the Irish contingent was Captain Cee Bee (Supreme Nov- ices’ 17/2), Garde Champetre (Cross Country 4/1), Finger Onthe Pulse (Jewson Novices’ 9/1), Cousin Vinny (Champion Bumper 12/1), Fivefor- three (Ballymore Hurdle 7/1), Tiger Cry (Grand Annual 15/2) and Silver Jaro (County Hurdle 50/1).

For Tony Martin, the 2008 Chelten- ham Festival was a meeting he will want to quickly forget. The Meath trainer failed to yield a winner from a powerful string which saw Robin Du Bois (Pertemps Final), Wonderkid (Cross Country Chase) and Psycho (County Hurdle) all head the betting for their respective races while Patsy Hall could only finish fourth after being heavily backed for the Wil- liam Hill Chase on Tuesday. To add insult to injury, Martin’s Coral Cup ante-post favourite, Leg Spinner, was withdrawn due to the softening conditions after the race was moved from Wednesday to Friday. Like a lot of Irish punters, Martin also had to leave Cheltenham with a sour taste in his mouth after Paul Carberry gave Psycho a hugely over-confident ride on the well-backed 5/1 favourite who came from a long way back to beaten less than a length by Tom Hogan’s 50/1 winner, Silver Jaro.

The prizes for leading trainer and jockey at this year’s festival unsur- prisingly went to Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh who both recorded three winners while Davy Russell, despite some high profile defeats, also en- joyed a profitable meeting with two winners and three second places. Racing fans can now look forward to the upcoming festivals at Fairy- house, Aintree and Punchestown but thanks to the likes of Denman, Mas- ter Minded and Kauto Star, the an- ticipation is already growing for the 2009 Festival which will seem like an unbearably long wait for many punters.

THE European Commission is to launch a pan-EU public survey of invasive flora and fauna species. These invasive alien species disrupt local flora and fauna and cause con- siderable damage to nature and the economy.

The findings will feed into an EU framework for invasive alien species to be adopted by the end of this year. In Clare, the invasion of rhododen- drons, Japanese knot weeds and hog- weed are having a particular impact on the local flora.

Parts of west and north Clare have been infested with Japanese knot weeds while Lough Corrib in Galway has been invaded by Lagarosiphon, a

weed native to southern Africa that suffocates the lakes ecosystem by creating a dense canopy impervious to light.

Ireland’s biodiversity is also under attack from non-native grey squir- rels, who compete with native red squirrels.

“Europe is committed to halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. We know that invasive species are one of the major threats to biodiversity, and that economies often suffer as a result, but we lack a harmonised system for tackling the problem and assessing its impact,” said EU Com- missioner Dimas.

“A strong public response to this survey will help Europe define the problem more clearly, and ultimately

help us develop a suitable mecha- nism to halt it altogether.”

The European Commission is tack- ling this problem by launching an internet consultation on the issue until May 5. Interested parties, in- cluding individual citizens, industry and consumer representatives, inter- est groups, the NGO community and other organisations are all invited to contribute information and opinions. The results of this consultation will be used to inform the development of EU policy in the field of invasive alien species, the options for which will be presented in a communica- tion from the commission at the end of 2008.

Ecosystems are dynamic by nature, and many species become estab-

lished far from their place of origin.

These new introductions are often the result of human action — Europe’s rhododendrons originated in the Himalayas, and staples of the Euro- pean diet such as tomatoes, potatoes and maize originated in the Ameri- cas.

But while many introduced spe- cies bring considerable benefits to local economies, others upset the balance and proliferate in ways that are highly destructive to the environ- ment and to economic and human interests. This consultation is a first step to address this problem on a Eu- ropean scale.

You can take part in the survey. Simply check out www.invasivespe- ciesireland.com

in response to a Freedom of Information request show that there was never a prospect of the mid-west securing the €53 million sought since July 2006.

In January, the Ministers for Trans- port and Tourism announced details of an economic plan in advance of the ending of the stop-over the next month. The tourism minister, Sea- mus Brennan, stated that the monies involved would amount to €15 to €20 million over the next number of years.

A senior Department of Tourism official described the €53 million demand, made up of €44 million in Government aid over several years plus a once-off payment of €9 mil- lion, as “off the wall’.

“€44m over five years is off the wall. How much do we spend direct- ly or indirectly on marketing in Ire- land? Maybe that over four years?” he said.

He added that the Mid West Re- gional Authority demand for <€44 million “was always totally unrealis- tic and has done much to undermine the credibility of its broader case. If there are real marketing needs, these are likely to be far more modest. “The demands need to be tempered by realism and, of course, the strong possibility that major concessions to Shannon could give rise to copy- cat demands from other parts of the country. Throwing marketing money at Shannon is not the solution to the challenges facing it.” The memo, dating from early last year, goes on: “Also, the ongoing uncertainty about ‘open skies’ does mean that we have to avoid a situ- ation where we would embark on ‘open skies’ related initiatives only for them to go off at half cock due to delays in negotiations. “We understand that the Minister for Transport has a draft economic and tourism plan for Shannon, but the contents of that may not be earth Jerlaroowentee “If there are extra funds, this might allow for the implementation of the north American strategy in full, though in a convoluted way. “Our view is that marketing funds Should be for the wider catchment, be put through the super regions mecha- nism and be in accord with the north American strategy.” In March, an internal departmental memo stated that the proposed annu- al spend by the Mid-West Regional Authority “of €8.8m would actually exceed the entire marketing of Tour- ism Ireland in the US market which is, of course, to promote the entire island of Ireland”.

DOONBEG Golf Club has recorded sales of luxury suites totalling €68.8 million, it emerged yesterday.

The latest accounts for the US- owned Doonbeg Golf Club show that an operating loss of €2.9 million was recorded.

This has resulted in an accumulat- ed loss of €18 million. The company has received a capital contribution of €66 million.

In a statement yesterday, the club Stated, “Our enthusiasm for the future of Doonbeg Golf Club is mirrored by the 65 individuals who have to date purchased suites totalling €68.8m at Doonbeg. Indicative of the demand for these suites, even in the current climate, has been the closing of three sales in the past 30 days.

“The €2.9m ‘loss’ as stated in the annual corporate accounts for 2006, reflects continued investment into the facilities, the future and our ex- oo aCeI Dene Rm

“During 2006, Doonbeg Golf Club employed over 240 staff in the high season, of which 120 are full-time personnel. With our first year of operations in 2007, however, these numbers increased marginally.”

The accounts show that the size of the golf club’s business has increased from €27 million in 2005 to €39 million in 2006, resulting in gross profit increasing from €5 million to €11 million.

The accounts also show that staff costs dramatically increased in 2006

when €4.5 million was paid out, compared to €1.8 million in 2005.

According to the club, “Golf activ- ity remains very strong, with over 20,000 rounds played in 2006 and a 15 per cent increase to almost 24,000 rounds in 2007.”

For 2007, operating revenues have increased over 30 per cent. Our in- vestment in the facilities and our commitment to the future has con- tinued strongly.

“Currently we are in the final plan- ning stages for a 14,000 sq.ft.con- ference and banqueting facility that upon completion – which is antici- pated for 2010 – will be a wonderful addition to the existing facilities and which will afford us the opportunity to take on the many largescale func-

tions such as weddings and large dinners about which we are continu- ously being contacted.”

The statement continues, “2006 was an extremely important year for Doonbeg Golf Club and its US com- pany, Kiawah Development Partners (K DP). May 2006 saw the successful opening of The Lodge, Doonbeg’s first 47 suites, the Longroom restau- rant, Darby’s pub, the Whitehorses Spa and the golf club member ar- Crh

The company points out that the overall investment in the project, including the club, resort and suite facilities, is approaching €150 mil- lion.

through the Freedom of Informa- tion Act show that a commitment to provide €20 million over five years was deleted from two earlier drafts and did not appear in the final plan that was published in January.

Drafts circulated within Govern- ment in September and December stated, “It is intended to provide ad- ditional funds, over and above ex- isting commitments in the National Development Plan, of €20 million over five years, for a targeted Tour- ism Ireland-led overseas marketing campaign for the wider catchment of Shannon airport from Kerry to Don- egal.”

However, the line was deleted from the plan that was published in Janu- ary. It is not clear why. However, a senior Department of Tourism offi- cial pointed out in an internal memo in November, “In estimates discus- sion with the Minister for Finance, I understand that there has been a pos- itive indication of funds for a special marketing push for the area in 2008, which, as you recall, featured in the plan considered by Government.

“However, there 1s no commitment from Finance for a multi-annual programme. In the circumstances, we are operating on the basis that approval for such marketing pro- gramme has to be obtained in the context of a Government decision on the wider plan.”

The strongest statement that the Minister for Tourism, Seamus Bren-

nan could make on the funding of the plan was in an accompanying press release last January when he said, “This initiative amounts to an anticipated €15 to €20 million over the next few years and will be imple- mented by Tourism Ireland.”

The plan was ready for publication last July with the department making plans to translate the plan into Irish.

It is not clear why it was delayed since not all records were released. The delay in publishing the plan also led to concerns within the De- partment of Tourism. In an internal memo last January, a senior official stated, “In the absence of any an- nouncement about the ‘plan’, there is a clear vacuum on the ground. This will be and is being filled by ad-hoc

eroupings driven by various organi- sational agendas.

“Despite all of the talk in the latter part of last year about the need to be nimble and innovative, there is little evidence of any new thinking from those who shout loudest about the need for it.

“Surveying the scene as it currently exists, I have little doubt that we will, within the very near future, see some other ‘group’ make a pitch for control of the marketing moneys.

They will, almost certainly, pro- duce their own marketing plan and demand funding for it.

In the absence of a decision to re- lease the funds and let TI get on with their job of putting together a cam- paign, in consultation with the in- dustry, the forces of incoherence will just gather momentum.

“The budget was about six weeks ago. That gave us the funds. What we don’t have is the green light to go spend them. this delay is most unfor- tunate. We have lost the winter. We stand to lose the spring also.

“With the best will in the world, it will be mid to late February before we can Start to roll out campaigns in the US. Given the loss of time, what we may end up doing there is seek- ing to build, incrementally, demand for travel next winter.

“FOR first-time buyers, the property market has appeared more than a lit- tle overwhelming recently. However the misconception that the market has out-priced itself is now waning as a robust buyer’s market emerges,” said Liam Daly of Joseph Daly Prop- erty Partners.

He added, “The first-time buyer market has appeared to be particu- larly sensitive to changes in property prices, lending rates and the general feeling in the market.

‘However, with prices of some new and second-hand houses being cut by as much as 20 per cent and with rents in Ireland peaking at an all-time high in 2007, it makes sense for potential first-time buyers to now take that first step on the property ladder.”

He believes there has been “much scaremongering in the media of late which doesn’t actually translate when you look at the appropriate fig- ures. Cuts in interest rates and falling

house prices should be encouraging new buyers to feel optimistic again.

“Recent trends in the rental prop- erty market have seen more prop- erties become available yet rental property prices are not decreasing. Static house prices are delivering first-time buyers an opportunity to escape from the rent trap and get a firm foothold on the property lad- der,’ claimed Liam.

To assist first-time buyers in mak- ing the transition from tenant to homeowner, Property Partners has devised First Step, a guide aimed at buyers looking to purchase their first home.

The in-depth guide investigates such issues as house-hunting, or- ganising finance, mortgage options, expected costs, and includes a glos- sary of terms. Copies are available free by visiting the Property Partners Joseph Daly office or via the newly- launched Property Partners website at WwWww.propertypartners.ie or by phoning 065 6893257.