The Clare People Archive

NINETY per cent of the staff at En- nis General Hospital are preparing to strike if issues relating to staff- ing numbers at the hospital are not resolved.

Last evening (Monday), more than 90 per cent of the 130 INO nursing staff, 85 per cent of SIPTU’s nursing staff and 100 per cent of the support

staff at the hospital voted in favour of industrial action.

In total, 270 of the hospital’s dis- eruntled 300-member staff are pre- paring to down tools if a resolution to the crisis cannot be found.

Staff and management at the hospi- tal have been involved in a number of industrial relation issues, which were brought to a head with the HSE staff- ing embargo at the beginning of the

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Among the concerns expressed by employees is the night staffing of the male medical and female medical wards. The wards, which can have up to 26 patients each, have just two nurses on night duty in each ward made up of several different rooms.

Following an independent report, it was agreed that three nurses would be provided in each ward at night.

Prior to the staffing embargo, a floating nurse was provided between the two wards and it was agreed to provide another nurse in June.

As a result of the budget freeze, the “floating nurse” has been lost. Staff say they are now concerned by reports that if one of the two nurses on night duty is off sick, there will be no replacement, leaving one nurse responsible for 26 patients.

Following the result of the ballot, Mary Fogarty of the INO said her union 1S now going to seek assistance from the Labour Relations Commis- sion. She said she is particularly concerned about the cutbacks in the nurse-led units at the hospital, includ- ing palliative care, infection control, repertory care and heart failure.

“A blunt curtailment of services at the hospital concerns us most. These nurse-led units are critical to patients even on a humanity level. I will be writing to management again, asking them to pullback on the curtailment of these services,” she said.

Tony Kenny of SIPTU told

TEAGASC has decided to change the way it delivers its advisory serv- ice, in an effort, it says, to meet the changing needs of modern farmers. Successive recent agricultural policy reforms have provided the oppor- tunity to shift the future develop- ment of farm businesses away from scheme-driven income to a more market-based business.

The new advisory service, For Bet- ter Farming, was launched by Tea- gasc last week.

“This new service is built around four distinct programmes — business and technology, good farm practice, rural development and adult train- ing,’ said Pat Boyle, head of advisory in Teagasc.

“The Business and Technology Programme will deliver cutting-edge technology to commercial farmers, bringing the best knowledge from the applied research carried out at Teagasc research centres onto dairy, drystock and tillage farms.

“Increased specialisation among our advisors will provide our farm- er clients with the information and knowledge to increase their profits by adopting new production tech- niques onto their farms.

“Dedicated business and technol- ogy advisors, supported by a national eroup of enterprise specialists, will focus on improving farm businesses by challenging the status quo and increasing the uptake of technology onto farms.”

The new service will be delivered

through Teagasc’s nationwide office network, which is organised into 18 area units, to allow Teagasc to pro- vide a local service to all our custom- ers, regardless of location.

The Business and Technology Pro- gramme will be delivered by 78 spe- cialist dairy advisors, 32 cattle and sheep advisors, and 15 tillage advi- SOrs.

The four programme areas will provide a full range of services to farmers meeting the diverse needs of our customers.

“European and world agricultural policy is continuously changing and evolving, presenting new challenges and opportunities for farmers, and for organisations like Teagasc that provide services to them,” said Tom Kirley, acting director of Teagasc.

“We have had milk quotas for nearly 25 years, but a major change is expected as part of the 2008 health check of the CAP.

“Tt is 15 years since the McSharry reforms brought in a whole new raft of schemes.

“The Fischler reform has already confined many of these schemes to history with the introduction of the Single Farm Payment but others like REPS, farm retirement and forestry remain and will continue to have a major influence on Irish farms”, he continued.

“The new advisory service an- nounced today by Teagasc equips us to provide the best possible service to farmers in these changing times, and to assist the future development Ome Detour haw leuinelnomee

WITH just a week to go before the beginning of this year’s National Ploughing Championships, excite- ment is already beginning to reach fever-pitch in and around the Tul- lamore venue.

With final preparations now being made, organisers are expecting a good crowd this year following the massive success of staging the World Ploughing Championships last year.

Food 1s likely to be one of the main attractions at this year’s champion- ships with a number of exciting new gastronomic additions to the pro- eau beeueslen

Leader will host the most fantastic food village, featuring gourmets and gourmand’s, foodies and faddies,

even the most demanding of divas will find their every craving satisfied Ain UOCoMB UNE TeXon

From baked foods to ice cream, fruit to chocolate and from whiskey to cocktails, Leader’s food village will cater for all. With a similar fo- cus as the craft village, the aim 1s to heighten awareness of the fantastic range and variety available from lo- cal producers.

A food créche will also be provided to keep your goodies in the best con- dition, so you can enjoy the rest of iW elom-NOAB ASLO (one

Another attraction which will prove very popular is GM Canopies, an in- tegrated farmers market consisting exclusively of Irish farm and cottage industry products, including fudge and jelly bean confectionery, free

range eggs, organic vegetables and Irish manufactured woollen socks.

The Braganza Food and Wine hall will also have plenty to keep you with going throughout the day with Tea Time Express, Lakeshore Foods, Keelings Fruit and Fox’s Confection- ery being just some of the exhibitors in the Braganza.

Education, which always plays a big role at the ploughing, with many edu- cational bodies taking stands includ- ing the National Consumer Agency, Citizens Information Bureau, The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht and Harper Adams University in the UK. Harper Ad- ams is the UK’s largest specialist provider of higher education of land, food and rural-based industries and will be handing out information on

education, training and research.

The tourism industry in this coun- try is as strong as ever with the ploughing attracting many overseas visitors from countries such as Po- land, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Syndey, Australia.

Failte Ireland will be distributing information on education and train- ing, Mid Ireland Tourism, Northern Ireland ‘Tourist Board, Kilkenny Tourism, Meath Tourism, Shannon Development will also be busy pro- moting their regions as popular holi- day destinations. From further afield, The Province of Manitoba will be present promoting agriculture and agri-business in Canada.

Or course, along with this there will also be a bit of ploughing. For more check out Www.npa.ie.

LIKE an annoying relations at Christ- mas time, Irish farmers can’t seem to shake the threat of foot and mouth disease. Restrictions are once again in place across the island of Ireland and Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan and her Northern Irish counterpart Michelle Gildernew.

The latest outbreak, which comes just days after the state lifted re- strictions imposed in the wake of the August scare, saw a ban on UK farm exports and the setting up of disinfection points at Irish ports and airports.

IFA President Padraig Walshe de- scribed the latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK is most

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‘The IFA and its members are to- tally committed to all emergency measures to prevent FMD reaching this country. The latest outbreak in the UK, which comes just six weeks after the original Surrey outbreak, highlights the highly infectious and virulent nature of foot and mouth disease,” he said.

‘This time frame is a lot longer than it takes to transport beef from Brazil which is one of the control measures the EU rely on. FMD 1s endemic in Brazil and the European Union are taking unnecessary risks with the importation of 330,000 tonnes on an annual basis.

“The USA, Japan and a number of other counties are not prepared to

take the risk involved with Brazilian beef imports.”

Just last week, Minister Coughlan had announced the discontinuation in Ireland of bio-security measures, such as the removal of disinfectant points from ports and airports, after Britain was declared free from foot and mouth.

A ban on the importation from Britain of live cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, as well as fresh meat, meat products, raw milk and other animal products was also lifted.

The latest case of foot and mouth disease was discover on Wednesday last on a farm some 30 miles from the outbreak centre of last months small outbreak in southern England.

The origin of the latest outbreak is

still unclear but experts are research- ing the possibility of a link between the latest outbreak and the August outbreak.

Meanwhile, the ICSA has called for the Pirbright laboratory, where the first outbreak is believed to have originated, to a safer, more protected location.

A report issued last week by the UK authorities confirmed that the FMD outbreak was caused by a leak, and at least five lapses in bio — secu- rity measures.

“In the USA, all these kinds of fa- cilities, which handle dangerous and Sensitive materials such as viruses, are located off — shore, as a further barrier to accidental leaks,” said Mal- colm Thompson, ICSA president.

MINISTER of State, Tony Killeen, has received assurances from the Minister for Agriculture and Food and the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection that all produce entering the EU must meet standards equivalent to those re- quired of community producers.

The response follows Minister Kil- leen’s representation on behalf of a number of Clare farmers who had expressed concern over the standard of Brazilian beef imports.

“Minister Mary Coughlan and Mr Markos Kyprianou confirmed that

EU policy requires that third coun- Daves bee] ole )u KO) mr-DObONT-D mm oyueye LUC Kmppe ete! standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between, EU member States,’ ex- plained Minister Killeen.

“As regards traceability and con- trols of residues of veterinary medi- cines, the commissioner said that the purpose of EU legislation is not to impose on exporting third countries a system of guarantees that is equal to the EU system, but that the export- ing country provides guarantees that are equivalent to EU standards.

“Commissioner Kyprianou pointed out that his service is committed to

protecting the health of European consumers and livestock.

“The commissioner also assured Minister Coughlan that the Commis- sion will not hesitate to take appro- priate protection measures if a prod- uct, imported from a third country or produced in the domestic market represents a risk for the health of ECX consumers, livestock or plants.

‘Tam also aware of a similar assur- ance to members of the Dail in Sep- tember 2006 by a senior commission official.”

In a letter this week to Minister Killeen, the Minister for Agriculture and Food stated, “I have consistently

expressed the view that Irish farmers deserve fair play in the market place. At EU level I have advocated that produce imported from third coun- tries must meet standards equivalent to those required of community pro- ducers. In the interests of our pro- ducers and consumers | will continue to adopt this approach.”

Concern have been raised by all of the Irish farming organisations in recent months over the safety of Brazilian beef. Foot and Mouth dis- ease 1S widespread in many areas of Brazil and fears have been raised of spreading the disease through the importation of infected animals.

IT was a day for hurling in Corofin on Saturday. Hundred of young sharp shooters from six clubs turned out to show their stuff and prove once again that hurling is alive and well in north ETc

Teams representing Ruan, Crush- een, Lisdoonvarna, Corofin, Kilna- mona and Inagh all competed in the first ever North Clare Hurling Cham- pionship. The competition took shape through the course of the year, developing from a few challenge matches into a fully fledged regional competition.

There was much to play for on Sat- urday with a Cup, Shield and Plaque all up for grabs for the winning Rere betsy

Home side Corofin took the Burren Cup, seeing off a spirited Kilnamona side in the final. Tubber/Crusheen beat an enthusiastic Lisdoonvarna side to take the Plaque while Inagh beat off Ruan to win the Shield.

“The competition was a= great success. We had a situation where there was no hurling being played in Corofin once the teams had been knocked out of their competitions. I rang around some of the local clubs to try and arrange a challenge and it seemed that there were playing little hurling up there too,” said organiser Vincent Maloney, of Corofin GAA Sitios

“They were mad to get involved. Within a week we had five match- es played, and it just took off from there.”

The popularity of hurling has been spreading in north Clare in recent years with young people becoming involved in the sport in traditionally football areas such as Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna.

“The interest is there from the young people but they need match- es. A lot of the north Clare teams would tend to be knocked out at an early stage of the championships and that leaves them with no matches throughout most of the summer,’ continued Vincent.

“There are a lot of people in north Clare who are putting in great efforts to keep hurling alive in the area. Peter Casey has hundreds of kids playing hurling in Lisdoonvarna and Alex Ferguson would not be more professional.

‘Johnny O’ Rourke did the same for Inagh years ago and there are people in every club doing the same. I must thank Corofin GAA Club and John Malone for managing the tournament on the day, Gerry Quinn who pre- sented the medals, Ambrose Hagney for his refereeing and all the manag- ers and trainers for all the teams who took part.”

Saturday’s competition was such a success that it now looks likely to be- come an annual event with Ennisty- mon and Clonbonny set to join from next year.

THE rugged surrounds of the Bur- ren may have been the very centre of financial and social activity in Me- dieval Clare, a new excavation has shown.

Early indications from an excava- tion, undertaken earlier this month at the Caherconnell Stone Fort near Carron, have revealed that the struc- ture was a much more important building than previously thought, and most probably the property of a wealthy landowner.

Following a 10-day archaeological excavation, undertaken during Herit- age Week ‘07, it has been discovered that Caherconnell Stone Fort is twice the size of the 300-500 standard cashels that are now under study in

the Burren.

The true size of the fort at Caher- connell is 40 metres in diameter, and with a thick stone walls rising to over three metres in places it would have taken considerable resources, both in manpower and finances to construct.

Artefacts uncovered included two disc-shaped quernstones of the ro- tary type, used to grind cereals while iron arrowhead, three inches in length and with barbs at its base, were also found.

“Both the arrowhead and quern- stone fragments are very fine ex- amples, and are not of a quality you would expect to find in the cashel of a normal farmer of the period,” said Dr Michelle Comber of NUI Galway, who is currently researching early medieval settlements in the Burren.

“All told, it seems very likely that the people living at Caherconnell were of the nobility. Wealthy farm- ers who ruled much of the land in the vicinity of their cashel. Work so far places the site in the upper ech- elons of the Early Medieval social system.”

A piece of sandstone was also found, which was probably used as a hearth stone and, as the Burren 1s predominantly limestone, the sand- stone is likely to have been imported Seer NUR

“The excavation has exceeded our expectations and has produced a lot of information that was previously unknown,” said excavation site di- rector, Graham Hull of TVAS ar- chaeological consultancy based in Sul te

The excavation was undertaken by a partnership of NUI Galway, TVAS and the Davoren family. The visitor centre incorporates Ireland’s first Stone Fort virtual tour and illumi- nates the historical and archaeologi- cal secrets of the more famous Bur- ren monuments. The centre on the family farm now attracts over 20,000 visitors per year.

“When the company was estab- lished in 2003 one of our long term goals was to see the fort dated and preserved,’ said Sean Davoren. “We are very grateful to Dr Comber and Graham Hull for volunteering their time and resources to begin this V0) 0.e

“The work they have carried out has been amazing and their enthusi- asm infectious.”

A DELEGATION from the French seaside village of Arzon will be in Lahinch this weekend to help locals in the naming of a brand new street.

Years of development have seen the once small village of Lahinch grow into a bustling tourist town. In the process however, a number of areas have been left without a recognised name or title, as new houses and es- tates have created whole new streets and urban areas.

Earlier this year the Lahinch Com- munity Council, in partnership with Clare County Council, launch a pro-

gramme to give the poor postman a dig-out, and put some order an the Lahinch street names.

They began an extensive consulta- tion process where local were invited to suggest possible names for the unnamed streets. The first results of this will bear fruit on Sunday when a recently developed street, running parallel to main street, will be re- named Rue d’Arzon.

Lahinch has been twinned with Ar- zon for a number of decades and del- egations from both towns meet and hold regular exchanges.

‘There is a group coming over from Arzon who will be staying in Lahi-

nch for two or three days over the weekend. The big thing is happening on Sunday, we will be naming that street. We have all the signs ready for it So we are all ready to go,” said Gerry Hartigan of the Lahinch Com- munity Council.

“Besides the naming of the street there will also be an exchange of an Irish style post box for a French style post-box. That night then we will have an official twinning dinner in the Liscannor Hotel and we will be bringing them around to see some of the great attractions the the area has to offer.

“We will bring them into the Court-

house Exhibition in Ennistymon, up to Lisdoonvarna, they might want to go up to the Burren or up to the Cliffs of Moher. where ever they want to 20.” Besides putting names on previ- ously untitled areas, the council also hopes to sort out a number of con- fusing situations, such as two estates who both have the same name in the AUF TS

THE streets of Ennistymon will be crammed with music lovers of all ages this weekend as the first ever Ennistymon Music Festival takes place.

The festival, which will this year take the place of the Ennistymon Family Festival, offers a massive line-up of free music to suit every- one’s taste.

“Years ago in Ennistymon, in the ‘60s and °/70s, the family festival was an annual event. In recent times, myself and Willie Daly, along with a few others, decided to reform it,” said Co-organiser, Marian Cliff.

“We have organised the family fes- tival for the last two years and it has gone very well. For a number of rea- sons it didn’t happen this year, but we

didn’t want to let a year go by with- out something happening so we have organised the first ever Ennistymon Music Festival.

The central focus for the weekend will be a gig-rig set up in the towns square. Bands, trad musicians and singers of all descriptions will take to the stage there on Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday and Sunday.

“We had a lot of young band play- ing last year, which was great – we had a lot of rock and reggae. But we wanted to have some more trad and folk this year. We have an all around programme with something for eve- ryone,” continued Marian.

“We are trying to complement all the music. If there is a rock band on the stage at a certain time, we will have a trad or a folk band in the pubs,

especially Daly’s, Cooley’s, Cull- inan’s and Marinan’s, at the same time. So there is something to suit everyone.”

Besides being a treat for music lov- ers, the festival will also provide a timely boost for the local economy.

“It’s a really good weekend for the town as well. It brings that extra bit of life around the place and is a ben- efit for the tourism related business- es, especially so late in the tourism season,’ said Co-organiser, Kevin AZT dbree-h ee

Aside from the music, organisers are trying to organise a number of events to keep the younger people NL KosM RN DELeLem

“We will also have an indoor soc- cer tournament as part of the festi- val, organised by Carrie Fleming. She started it as an outdoor event,

but she has turned it into an indoor five-a side competition which will be a welcome pat of the festival,’ con- tinued Marian.

“We are working on a tight budg- et. The more money we can raise through sponsorship, the more dif- ferent events that we will be able to put on. We have been is contact with clowns and people who run pup- pet shows, so hopefully we will be able to have some of these on for the kids.”

For more information on all aspects of the festival, contact Marian Cliff on 086 8782617.

WHEN four plucky cyclists said “the sky’s the limit” as they volunteered to be part of a 300k cycle for the East Clare Chernobyl cause, they really meant it.

In order to get to Belarus, brothers Eoghan, Feilim and Micheal Begley and pal Pat Gannon have to raise €2,600 each.

As a first step to doing that, the fearless foursome lined up for a par- achute jump which gave their funds a jump-start.

“It was an amazing experience,”

said Eoghan, who made a €1,200 dent in the amount he needed to raise.

The four made the jump with Sky- dive Ireland earlier this summer and they are now preparing for the off on the cycle from Minsk to Malech.

The route which up to 50 cyclists will take is more than 300k and the money raised will go towards build- ing projects at two schools in An- topol and Gantsvichy.

Last year’s cycle bought a new mini-bus and car for the orphanage and also went to buy new kitchen equipment and provide ventilation.

This year’s cycle aims to replace roofing which is in a very bad state of repair.

Previous year’s cycles built new toilets and provided showers for the bedroom blocks.

The funds raised have also gone to providing modern laundry facilities in Malech Sanatorium, where chil- dren whose immune systems have been damaged by radiation go for naerelbeetoelm

And with the money they were able to plant an orchard so that the sanato- rium can earn an income from press- ing apples and selling juice as well as

a fruit garden, which is a great boost to the nutrition of the sick children.

In Gantsvichy, previous cycles have provided money for kitchen equip- ment and refurbishment of the can- oer

The cycle committee has commit- ted to finishing the projects chosen in Antopol from funds raised this year and extra money raised will be used to further projects in Gantsvi- chy and other institutions.