The Clare People Archive

THE loss of almost 200 jobs in Shan- non has been described as a “devas- tating blow” to the manufacturing sector in the Midwest region.

Tyco Electronics is the fourth com- pany from the Midwest to announce job losses in the last number of weeks.

Last month, a total of 260 jobs were lost in Analog Devices in Limerick, Rothenberger Ireland and Mohawk Europa in Shannon.

On Thursday Tyco announced that it was to shed 178 jobs in its plastic

products manufacturing plant to fac- tories in India, China and Mexico.

A statement from the company said, “the transfer is expected to be completed by September 30, 2009.”

It is believed, however, that the first redundancies will take place early next year.

Mayor of Clare Cllr Patricia Mc- Carthy (Ind) said that business, com- munity and political leaders across the region feared that the recent manufacturing job losses could mark the beginning of a haemorrhaging of jobs in the mid-west.

“The massive uncertainty created

by the potential loss of direct access from Shannon Airport to the interna- tional hub in London-Heathrow has heightened fears that other multina- tionals could follow suit by announc- ing job cuts or plans to relocate else- where,’ she said.

Shannon Mayor Cllr Sean McLoughlin (FG) expressed con- cern that some of those who have lost their jobs will find it difficult to se- cure new employment.

“Many of these workers who have been employed in the manufactur- ing sector for many years will find it difficult to up skill themselves.

Therefore, it is going to be extremely difficult for them to secure new em- ployment in present day high-tech knowledge-based companies.”

He said that the series of recent job losses required immediate Govern- ment intervention.

Tyco Electronics makes products for the motor, aerospace, defence, telecommunications and computer industries.

The company has owned the plant in Shannon since 1999. It was previ- ously known as Raychem which was established in the mid-west in 1978. Tyco said the “transfer of jobs” was

“a result of a strategic analysis to better align our manufacturing re- sources to streamline and improve operating efficiencies.”

A Shannon Development spokes- man described the announcement as a major disappointment and a severe blow for the employees and their families.

“While disappointed with the Tyco decision, which follows a global re- view of their manufacturing facilities worldwide, Shannon Development notes that 20 jobs will be retained by Tyco at Shannon in Research and Development activities.”

MEMBERS of Clare’s large Nige- rian community gathered in Ennis over the weekend to celebrate Niger- 1a’s day of independence.

A parade around the town and a full programme of song and dance reflecting the African country’s rich cultural heritage and history were held to mark 47 years of Nigerian independence.

The events were organised by the

Association of Nigerian Community in Clare and supported by the recent- ly formed Clare Immigrant Support Service (CISC).

Formerly the Irish Refugee Coun- cil, the CISC is steered by vari- ous agencies in Clare who have an interest and duty to support services for the immigrant community to facilitate and support integration in the area.

Ennis has one of the largest Nige- rian communities in Ireland, with an

estimated 600 ex-pats living around the area.

JSF-VU CMON KM or Dum O SoM EOUr DOME DOOE bassador to Ireland, Her Excellency Mandu Ekpo Ekong-Omaghomi, visited Ennis and highlighted the role played by Nigerians living in the town. She reserved particular praise for Taiwo Matthew, who in 2005 made history when he was elected to Ennis Town Council.

At the time, Mrs Ekong-Omaghomi said that the example of Ennis, as a

model of cultural integration, should be copied by other towns around the country.

Located on the west coast of Af- rica, Nigeria has a population of more than 140 million people, which includes 250 different ethnic groups.

In 1992 it began the transition to c1- vilian government folowing 23 years under a military regime. The transi- tion has not been an easy one, with ethnic rivalries and sectarian con- flicts continuing to flare.

ENNIS St Johns Community Games have gone online with the launch of the organisation’s new website.

The website will provide up to date information on competitions and a comprehensive results services. It will also serve as a valuable resource tool and photographic archive, de- tailing the long history of Ennis St John.

The website was launched recently by Mayor of Ennis, Tommy Brennan at the Clare Museum. In his speech Mr Brennan congratulated the work of the committee and highlighted for praise the immense work done by volunteers to benefit the children in sport and other activities associated

with the community games.

Other speakers on the night includ- ed Eddie Power, Town Clerk, Coun- cillor Pat Daly, Councillor Mary Coote Ryan, Graham Meekins, Na- tional Officer Community Games and Joe Lynch, Chairman of Ennis St Johns Community Games, Fianna Fail TD, Timmy Dooley, Fine Gael TD, Joe Carey, Rev Bob Hanna and Rose Meekins, Mary Lenihan and Ann Chaplain representing the Com- munity Games county executive.

Local schools and sports clubs also attended the launch as did members of the Ennis St Johns under 10 mixed relay team and Tony Odubote, who won gold at the National finals in Mosney.

Most interest on the night centered

on results and sport star awards, which date from 1976 to 2006 and were compiled by John and Cecilia O’Sullivan, founder members of En- nis Community Games.

The first Clare Community Games were held in August 1971 when the county athletics finals were held in Cusack Park Ennis.

In that opening year, the new com- munity at Shannon made its mark by sweeping the majority of the titles.

Community Games in Clare has flourished in the interim thanks to expanded activity, which now in- volves 40 different areas, and the investment of time, energy and or- ganizational resources by committed voluntary groups.

The concerted community effort

behind Community Games in Clare has yielded rich rewards and contin- ues to add to its reputation with new initiatives, which are setting new standards for the rest of the country.

In 1971, Clare’s first Community Games team had a total of 71 ath- ei roh

Now almost 37 years later, Com- munity Games in the county involves some 12,000 people taking part in over 40 different activities and, with up to 1000 volunteers organizing events. Clare sends an average of 250 qualifiers to the National Finals annually.

The new website was sponsored and designed by Fanore Software and can be found at www.enniscom- munitygames.org.

THE establishment of a school bus run would ensure all young people in Shannon can get easy access to school.

That’s according to local Fianna Fail councillor Geraldine Lambert, who is calling on the Department of Education to set up a school bus Service, in the town.

She said it would be a cost effective means of addressing over-capacity and under-capacity in the schools.

Currently, St Aidan’s and St Co- naire’s Primary Schools are full to

capacity, while spaces exist in St Senan’s and St Tola’s.

St Aidan’s and St Conaire’s are lo- cated in the Tullyvarraga and Bally- casey areas, where there have been significant developments in house constructions over the years.

As a result, some children in those areas cannot gain access to those schools, due to over-capacity, while other schools in other parts of the town have spaces available.

The problem lies in the fact that some families do not have access to transport to bring their children across the town, to other schools.

Cllr Lambert said a simple solution to the problem could be found, if a bus route was set up.

“There are calls to build new schools and extensions. Some par- ents at the Ballycasey end bring their children to St Tola’s and St Senan’s, but some don’t have access. A bus should be provided to bring the chil- dren to the schools which are not full,” said Clr Lambert.

She said that a similar situation exists at second-level, where St Caimin’s is full, while there are spaces available in St Patrick’s Com- prehensive School.

“There 1s capacity at St Patrick’s, which is a mile from St Caimin’s.

‘There is pressure at one end of the town and capacity at the other end. It is too far for the children to walk. There is probably a need to look for a new school at a later stage. For now, why not take a cost effective method and put on a school bus from one end of the town to the other,” she said.

“The Department of Education should look at innovative ways, in- stead of sticking to a rigid rule. You would put on a bus for ten years for what you would pay for an exten- sion,’ she said.

YOUNG people in Shannon are be- ing presented with an opportunity to help other young people, through a volunteer programme at the local youth club.

The Shannon Youth Office is en- couraging young people, aged 18 and over, to sign up to a volunteer programme.

The youth office is running four main projects, for youngsters aged between 13 and 25, and the organ- isers need adult volunteers to get in- volved.

The SkyView youth club, which is based at Rineanna View, is one

of the projects which runs weekly. Volunteers would help plan and run the club’s activities, between 7pm and 9pm every Thursday night, dur- ing the school term. One additional hour-long planning meeting also takes place every month. The club is Open to secondary school students aged between 12 and 16.

Drumgeely Youth Club, which is based at St Senan’s School, is look- ing for volunteers, every Monday night, between 7pm and 9pm. The club is open to secondary school stu- dents from the area.

The Shannon Music Project is also on the hunt for local adult volunteers who have a keen interest in music. A

committee of young people meets every Tuesday from 5pm to 6pm, to plan and organise music events, workshops and performances for young people aged between 15 and 25.

The project is particularly interest- ed in recruiting volunteers who have specific talents in drums, song writ- ing, sound engineering or guitar.

The other project which is run by the Youth office is the Kick Back Café. The café, which is based in Rineanna View, 1s looking for volun- teers to fill two-hour shifts at week- Teh

The café is open to all young peo- ple aged between 16 and 21 in Shan-

non on Fridays from 5pm and 10pm and Saturdays from 4pm to 9pm.

The basic role is interacting with young people in a café style setting, serving refreshments and sandwich- es and supervising members over a two-hour period. Shannon Youth Worker Cathal Dillon is encouraging new volunteers to come forward.

“Volunteering in local clubs and projects can be very rewarding. Itis a brilliant way to meet new people and use your skills as part of a team for the benefit of young people in your community,” he said.

A full range of volunteer supports and leadership training is available. For information, phone 061 364318.

THE increasing population in New- market-on-Fergus is reflected in the erowing number of clubs and organi- sations set up in the village.

Several new housing estates have been built in the area, three of which have just been completed over the past year. These homes are occupied by a mixture of locals, people from outside the area and visitor from overseas.

With this in mind, local community eroup, Obair gathered local groups together, for a community day last Sunday.

Among the groups in the area in- clude Meals-on-Wheels, the Going Strong club, Women’s group, Com-

munity Games, soccer, GAA, Agri- culture society, the Scouts, Tradaree Bridge Club and handball and bas- ketball clubs.

The aim of the event was to provide information on the clubs and to pro- mote the work they are undertaking, whilst encouraging residents to get involved in the local community. It coincided with National Volunteer Day and each group was invited to provide informative displays of their AYOLU AALS (oie

Organiser Aisling Halpin of Obair said the idea was centered around in- clusion for everybody.

“A lot of new people are coming into the area. Some are foreign na- tionals, while others have moved from locations like Shannon and

Ennis. We held a volunteer day last January. A lot of the clubs in the area found it very beneficial. The hadn’t known what other clubs were in the area. We decided then we would have a similar event in September,” said Ms Halpin.

“There is a lot going on, but new people wouldn’t know what is hap- pening. People can meet new friends and get to know local people in the community, through the clubs,” she added.

Obair now plans to compile a bro- chure, featuring information on all of the local clubs in the area, which will make them easily accessible.

Sunday also saw the defibrillator for the local community being launched. The success of this is dependent on

the community’s involvement.

Fifteen locals have got involved in this and others are being asked to put their names in.

“A committee got together and talked about getting a defibrillator for the area. There was a need for it and Obair sponsored it. There are 15 on the committee and they have been doing training so that they can give assistance,’ said Ms Halpin.

“We will need between 30 and 40 people, so that someone can be on call 24/7,” she added.

THE viability of new sewerage schemes in Doolin and Spanish Point, as well as upgrades to schemes in Ennistymon, Miltown, Liscannor, Ballyvaughan and Corofin, has been cast in serious doubt following rev- elations of a €23 million shortfall in funding for the projects.

Some €16 million in Government funding for the schemes was an- nounced by Minister for State, Tony Killeen (FF) last month, but it has subsequently emerged that this will cover less than half of the total ex- penditure required.

In the case of Doolin, €652,000 has

been earmarked for a new sewage system leaving a shortfall of almost €5.5 million which must be raised by the local people for the project to go ahead.

“For whatever reason, Munister Killeen decided to give the money allocated but did not mention the total cost of the projects or the huge shortfall that will have to be made up while announcing the story to the media,’ said Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind).

“It is quite obvious that the whole picture was not shown for whatever reason. It totally misrepresented the situation and caused great confusion for the people of Doolin.

“This prompted members of the Doolin Action Group to write to all the public representatives seeking some sort of clarification on the mat- ter.

“It 1s almost impossible to think how we will we able to make up this shortfall. I don’t think that the fund- ing will be lost, but there is no way that we will be able to make up a shortfall of €23 million for these projects. No way.”

Clare County Council has written to the Department of Environment, Heritage and local Government ask- ing for more funding to be made available for the sewerage systems.

Meanwhile, Cllr Lafferty has also

accused the Government of using county councils as scapegoats as part of a process to introduce water charges by stealth.

“Essentially, they are telling us down here in Clare that we have to bring in water metres.

‘These metres will cost €4.25 mil- lion to introduce and they have given Clare County Council no means of doing this,” he told

A ROW over water pressure led to one councillor blowing a valve and storming out of last night’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Independent councillor Frankie CAV Cente CesM mm MelommeclercinbercamnemecDemrcDelca my mood, less than 15 minutes after it started, 1n protest at continuing prob- lems with water pressure in areas of Ennis.

Councillor Neylon said he had been raising the issue for the past 12 months and was fed up with the coun- cil’s failure to solve the problem.

The argument between Cllr Neylon and Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan

arose as members discussed the min- utes of the September meeting of En- nis Town Council.

As Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan listed the difficulties with ensuring adequate water pressure in elevated parts of Ennis, Cllr Neylon rose from his chair and declared, “I?ll have to leave this meeting. I’m sick and tired of the bulls**t coming across this table”.

Cllr Neylon said homes in Connolly Villas, St Flannans Terrace and the Tulla Road are regularly affected and he had fielded numerous complaints from people living in those areas.

According to Cllr Neylon, low water pressure in homes and fire hydrants

could result in a serious accident.

“Tam 12 months talking about wa- ter pressure in this town and I am sick and tired of having to bring it up. It is taking up to seven hours to fill tanks in Connolly Villas. There is an ac- cident waiting to happen if someone lights a fire in their home and there is no water in the tank.”

He continued “There was a fire on Station Road last week and luckily it was contained, but we have problems with the fire hydrants. It’s a potential disaster. And this isn’t just a Connol- ly Villas problem, this isn’t a Frankie Neylon problem — it affects Flan- nans Terrace, Tulla Road, Station Road, Mill Road. I’m constantly be-

ing contacted by people. They think I’m a fool. ’m getting embarrassed at this stage”.

Mr Tiernan conceded problems did exist in elevated parts of town. He said, “We are doing everything we can to resolve the problems. The mains in those areas are very old. An awful lot are laid in back gardens and that brings problems in time.”

He added, “Extra resources are be- ing put into finding leaks. The 1m- pression is that we are doing nothing and that is not the case.”

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn supported Cllr Neylon and said he awaited Mr Tiernan’s report on the matter.

AN BORD Pleanala has refused planning permission for a €15 mil- lion wind farm in west Clare due to the impact the proposal would have on protected birds such as Hen Har- riers and Whooper Swans.

Earlier this year, Clare County Council granted planning permission to a German company, Pro Ventum, to construct a six-turbine windfarm near the west Clare towns of Kilrush and Kilkee. The company already has in place a seven turbine farm in close proximity to the new site – only one of two in operation in Clare.

The application was originally lodged four years ago in May 2003 but it wasn’t until February of this year that the council granted permis- sion after a long delay by the appli- cants in providing new information.

However, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by chairman of the Moanmore Action Group, Frank Lillis. Mr Lillis claimed that the cu- mulative effect of an enlarged wind- farm operation in such close proxim- ity raised serious health issues and that Birdwatch Ireland stated that there should be a presumption against siting windfarms in or adjacent to sensitive ecological areas including Special Protection Areas (SPAs).

The Inspector’s report cites a De-

partment of the Environment which states dissatisfaction with the ab- sence of any recent bird survey and an analysis of the impact of the adja- cent windfarm upon certain species.

The Inspector stated, “I have as- sessed the documentation submitted regarding these Annex | species and visited the site, yet consider the detail provided with regard to the impact of the development upon these Annex | species and furthermore, the cumula- tive impact of a 13 turbine wind farm upon these birds to be inadequate.”

The inspector said that an updated bird survey should have been carried out by the applicant. “I consider that insufficient information has been pro- vided to support the applicant’s state- ment that the proposed development would not by itself or cumulatively have an adverse impact upon the mi- eratory path or feeding grounds of these three bird species, identified un- der EU law for protection.”

The inspector warns that the cu- mulative effects of the two turbine developments on the habitat of the hen harrier on the basis of current knowledge and research are not es- tablished. The proposed develop- ment is located on a site identified as being in close proximity to a direct flight path for feeding and roosting sites of species listed for protection in the Birds Directive.

THE Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has been unable to tell the Dail when the long-anticipated eco- nomic plan in response to Open Skies aviation deal will be published.

This follows a Dail question from Deputy Pat Breen asking whether funding will be made available to the Midwest region following the in- troduction of Open Skies; and if so, when it will be made available and who will have responsibility for the management of the fund

In response, Minister Dempsey said, “My department is currently finalising an Economic and Tourism Development Plan for the Shannon Airport catchment area. The plan has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Finance, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tour- ism, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the De- partment of Communications, En- ergy and Natural Resources.

“The purpose of the plan is to en-

sure that the region is well placed to respond to the challenges and oppor- tunities emerging in the context of full liberalisation of the transatlantic aviation market and the phasing out of the Shannon stop as envisaged under the EU-US Open Skies Agree- ment. I hope to bring the plan to con- clusion shortly.”

The plan, which was launched in July 2006, seeks to achieve a tour-

ism promotional fund of €44 mil- hon from Government funds, a route support fund of €9 million and an independent and financially viable S)at-beveleyembeneleum

Already, the Mid-West Regional Authority has written to Government asking why funding has not been forthcoming.

The phased ending of the Shannon stop-over commenced earlier this year and Shannon has already lost a number of transatlantic services for the next winter.

The agreement stipulates that full Open Skies will commence in April pau eres

The five-year plan aims to secure a 30 per cent share of the direct trans- atlantic market between America and Ireland and to achieve an appro- priate sustainable level of year-round services to main US gateways.

Currently, Shannon has 37 per cent of the Irish transatlantic business.