Month: November 2005

THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has complained to the Department of Transport over the “aggressive campaign” being pursued to persuade over 500 workers at Shannon Air- port to accept redundancy.

The workforce at Shannon have until Wednes- day of next week to express interest in a redun- dancy package being put forward by the Dub- lin Airport Authority’s Director for Change, John Horgan. In a “survival plan”, Mr Horgan warned that Shannon’s underlying financial sit- uation is untenable, forecasting that the airport will have accumulated losses of €137 million by 2014 if immediate action is not taken.

However, in a letter to the Department’s As- sistant Secretary, John Murphy, from ICTU’s Industrial Officer, Liam Berney, Mr Horgan is accused of “pursuing an aggressive campaign which seeks to pressurise workers into accept- ing redundancy, while at the same time out- sourcing most of the work currently being done by direct employees of Shannon Airport.

“T cannot overstate the difficulties his actions have caused for the unions at Shannon and the wider union movement. Similarities have been drawn between the actions of Mr Horgan on behalf of a state-owned company and that of Irish Ferries management.

“There can be little doubt that his actions fly in the face of commitments given to Congress

by Government generally, by the Taoiseach in particular and the understanding reached as part of Sustaining Progress in relation to Pub- lic Enterprise.”

The letter continued, “It beholds the DAA to refocus negotiations and seek, in partner- ship with employees and their representatives, agreed restructuring. At an early stage, it was made clear to Mr Horgan that while the unions would be willing to have constructive dialogue on the cost base at Shannon, this was predicat- ed on the completion of a detailed analysis of the financial position, within the context that outsourcing of work was not an option.

“The financial position of Shannon is almost complete and the unions will be ready shortly

to engage in dialogue about any cost inefficien- cies. Concern was expressed during the course of the meeting about the future of the bilateral agreement with the United States. There is no doubt that this has provided a strong source of income for Shannon which in turn has sustained employment in the airport and Mid-West, and contributed to balanced regional development.

“While we note your frank assessment of the progress of negotiations between the European Commission and the US and the bilateral dis- cussions between Ireland and the US, careful consideration needs to be given of the possible grave implications for Shannon which may arise if the current arrangements cease, particularly in planning for the future of the airport.”

THE final of the Tote A2 sweepstake was the main source of attraction at the Galway track over the weekend.

Slick Leo, owned by the ever popular Tommie Gallagher of Cooraclare, came out on top here having three and a quar- ter lengths to spare as they crossed the line. Tommie will be delighted with this win as the dog had shown good form in recent weeks. The West Clare owner has nursed the dog back to top form and collected prize money of €1,000 with a run of 29.01 seconds. This was the fastest time on Friday nights card.

Kengelvin Pilot owned by Martin McDermott of Kilrush had got Clare owners off to a tonic start winning the first race in a time of 30.40. Tiermana Hill owned by Noel Moroney and Pat O’Connor of Ennis will take his place in the semi-final of the Connacht All Backs A3 Sweepstake this coming weekend.

Carhue Dazzler owned by Ann Carey of Cooraclare obliged at the first time of asking with a time of 18.64 seconds. Tom Flanagan of Ennistymon kept up his good run of form with two winners over the weekend.

Dromoher Wood will go to traps

next Thursday in the A6 Galwegians stake semi-final in a repeat perform- ance should be good enough to secure a place in the final. Tom’s second win- ner was Mythical Ash who came home ahead of the pack to win the first race on Saturday night.

Slattery’s Up, who knows his way around Galway, took race nine for on- wer Michael Mulqueen of Kilrush. Distance is proving to be no problem for Ennis boys Fiachra Hennessy and Noel Coote with Drimeen Rumble. He followed up his recent success with an- other in Shelbourne Park last week.

THE families of the two men missing following last Monday’s tragedy are said to be “furious and very upset” that the men were named in the me- dia “without their consent or any consideration for what they are going through.”

“The families of these two men are going through hell and the coverage of the story and the insensitive and unsubstantiated speculation published by certain elements of the media at such a heart breaking time 1s not helping the situ-

ation any bit,’ according to a close relative of one the men.

“T understand that the media has a job to do, but it also has a responsibility to handle any sto- ry with the sensitivity is deserves. In this case, certain organisations named the two missing men without the permission of the families. You cannot imagine what these families were going through and then they read in the papers or hear on the radio the names of their loved ones,” said the family spokesman.

‘There has to be a humanness to all of this. It

is not easy for the families involved. I can only speak for the family to which I am closest and they are furious and very upset by the media cov- erage on a local and national level. I have been in touch with the garda Superintendent in Ennisty- mon who has been extremely helpful and under- standing,’ the family spokesman added.

It is known that the father of one of the miss- ing men is seriously ill and was not immediately told of the tragedy while the family of the other man has already been bereaved by the loss of his father at a young age.

THE search close to Doolin which kicked off eight days ago has involved several local search and rescue personnel, supported by various oth- er trained rescue personnel and civilians.

What initially appeared to be a body floating in the water early last Monday has turned out to be a deeper, horrific tragedy, which involved an intensive search operation.

Twenty members of Doolin coast guard have engaged in searches every day, amid difficult and rough conditions at sea, which have ham- pered the search.

Ten members of Kilkee Rescue have also as- sisted, while naval divers and members of the garda water unit have travelled to the north Clare coast. In addition up to 100 people joined in the search over the weekend, including the families of the missing men, and those out searching were divided up into groups of up to 20 people.

The body of Martin Griffin (25) from Ennis was found at Tra Leathan, Doonagore, Doolin, early on Tuesday morning.

The search for the other two bodies and the green Suzuki Vitara in which the three men were travelling continued throughout the week.

It intensified on Friday when the Irish navy sent sonar equipment by helicopter to the Inis Oirr on the Aran Islands and this was put on the Aran lifeboat, which travelled to Doolin and was used to search the sea.

On that day, further debris, including the van’s spare tyre was located.

The weekend’s searches were largely confined to the shoreline, as conditions at sea were par- ticularly rough. In the early hours of Sunday morning, further debris, including a steering column, the ignition keys, car seat, bumper, dashboard and pedals were washed up, six miles from the scene of the accident, near Kinvara, on the Clare/Galway border.

During the course of the search, shoes have been washed up, which are believed to belong to the remaining missing man.

The second body was recovered just after high tide at 8.30am on Monday, by members of Doo- lin coast guard, close to where Griffin’s body and substantial parts of the car were recovered.

Supt Eamon Dolan, who is heading the in- vestigation, said three people in particular had substantial information, relevant to the enquiry. The three, two men and a woman, walked in the area close to where the van was parked shortly after 9.30am on Monday. As they passed back

45 minutes later the van was gone and gardai believe it went over the cliffs around this time.

“It has been a tragic week for all the families concerned. The search will continue, in order to locate the other missing person. We will con- tinue to focus around the same area where the bodies and most of the debris has been washed up,” said Supt Dolan, at time of going to press.

‘We are satisfied the parts of the van recov- ered are from the van in which the three men were travelling,” he said.

Doolin coastguard co-ordinator Mattie Shan- non has this advice for those involved in the search – “People would want to be fit enough and have some idea where they are walking and wear proper clothing and footwear. It is im- portant to follow the orders of the team leader. Everyone is responsible for their own safety,’ he said.

“We are advising people to be careful amid the severe weather conditions and dangerous Seas,’ he added.

Further shoreline searches are planned for today amid forecasted rough seas. It 1s antici- pated that conditions will calm down somewhat tomorrow when Doolin coastguard is expected to again launch its boat, while naval divers will return to engage in the search.

THE family and friends of Martin Griffin celebrated a life full of wit and personal- ity at his funeral in Ennis on SY TAI Ker NYA

Martin’s father John Joe, brothers Michael, Denis and sisters Maureen and Mairead, along with mem- bers of his extended family and friends, attended the funeral, which took place at the St Peter and Paul’s Ca- thedral.

The body of Martin (24) was recovered on the shore- line near Doolin last Tues- day after the Suzuki Vitara in which it is thought he had slept plunged into the sea. Chief celebrant, Fr Gerry Carey told mourners that “accidents such as this leave us numb and in many ways, speechless.” Fr Carey said that Martin had “a face full of light” and that he had enriched the lives of all those who had known him. He added that Martin was an extremely talented car- penter His “wood turning had become legendary and his father John Joe, spoke a

lot about that in the past few days.” Fr Carey also recalled how Martin was always los- ing pencils while at work and told how his friends and workmates commented “with his big bushy head of hair he probably lost half of them behind his ear. His brother, Michael had to keep a constant supply of pencils on hand.”

Mourners also heard of Martin’s devotion to his family and in particular his younger brother Denis.

Fr Carey recalled how Martin had arrived late into town one night after work and pleaded with a shop- keeper to stay open so that he might buy his brother and godson, Denis a birth- day present. In a poignant tribute to the memory of his brother Denis laid the present, a baseball cap, on the altar.

After the funeral Mar- tin’s friends fondly recalled his personality and love for Tate

“TI remember one time when he called down while we were at college. He was looking for a place to stay

and he stayed with us for a few days. For dinner he used to eat ten of everything whether it was sausages, eggs or toast. He was a great man and a great friend.” Earlier in the week a fam- ily friend spoke of the dev- astating impact Martin’s on his family. “When their

mother Ann died six years ago, the family was devas- tated and John Joe made a great job of rearing the family. Martin was just 18 then and Denis was just 4. The entire family lives at home. They cannot believe that the eldest, Martin, has now died. Himself and his

brother Michael were due to go to Australia later this year. Martin had a brilliant pair of hands and anything he put his mind to, he would do it. He lived his life to the full. If we was working he was working and if he was out, he would have a great time,’ he said.

The ICSA held a demonstration outside the British Embassy in Dublin to protest against EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s proposed cuts in tariffs at the WTO negotiations scheduled for Hong Kong on Friday.

The protest specifically targeted the UK Embassy because, accord- ing to the ICSA, the UK has used its presidency of the European Union

to stifle debate and analysis on the EU position at important meetings such as the Council of Ministers meetings.

Speaking at the protest ICSA President Malcolm Thompson said, these cuts, which are up to 60 per cent, will make farming unviable for Irish and EU farmers. Peter Mandelson’s proposals threaten to undermine European food security, and are ill-conceived and unwork- able.”

‘He is clearly hell bent on exceed- ing his mandate, is evidently will- ing to sell out agriculture in order to get a deal and he 1s protected from accountability by the blatant UK manipulation of their term of office of the presidency of the EU.”

An ICSA spokesperson said that the organisation is alarmed that the WTO negotiations have been kept off the agenda of all meetings of the Council of Agriculture Munisters since the summer. This, they be-

lieve, is outrageous given the huge importance of the WTO talks.

“What is the point of having a Council of Ministers that ignores the main issues?” he continued. “I can’t understand how they can man- age to have a Farm Council meeting on November 22-24 without actual- ly mentioning the WTO, just weeks before the decision-making WTO meeting in Hong Kong!.”

YOUNG people are being turned away from farming by an obsession with regulations and a lack of opportunity to expand the farming business warned IFA presidential can- didate, Padraig Walshe, last Nelo

Speaking at the launch of his election campaign, Pad- raig Walshe said Irish farm- ing is at risk of going into terminal decline, with dev- astating consequences for rural Ireland, unless radical changes are made in the way the industry is regulated and managed.

Mr Walshe said that farm- ers are being smothered with anti-competitive controls and regulations and with archaic

systems of trading. The presi- dential candidate warned that the EU authorities standards on food trade issues and the obsession with regulations are scientifically unjustified and are crippling the competitive- ness of farming in Ireland.

Mr Walshe also commented on what he called the archaic practices in the Irish meat in- dustry, describing it as ‘remi- niscent of the tangling days of 50 years ago’.

“A system where farmers do not know what price they will get for animals from one day to the next would not be tolerated in any other sector of the economy,” he conclud- ed. “The meat industry must come into the modern era and treat farmers as professional business people.”

LAST Thursday was a busy day for the ICMSA in Clare as two separate elections were held in the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon.

In the North Clare area Richard Devereaux of Ennistymon was elected as chairman while Mau- rice Harvey, also of Ennistymon, was elected as secretary and as a National Council member.

Martin McMahon of Broadford was also re- elected as the County Executive Chairman with Padraig Haugh of Moyasta securing the position of secretary. Interestingly, the Vice-Chair of the County Executive will be held jointly by Thomas Shannon of Lissycasey, Richard Devereaux, and Mark Clune of Feakle.

The President of ICMSA, Pat O’Rourke, ad- dressed the meeting and covered three main top- ics in his presentation. He began by criticising

the readiness of some co-ops to cut milk price for short-term considerations.

In this regard, he singled out for his particular criticism, the position adopted by Glanbia who had cut the price paid to their suppliers by 4 cents and had planned to cut it by 10 or 11 cents. Mr O’Rourke also pointed out that this decision com- pletely ignored the underlying strength of dairy markets, with returns from SMP and Casein re- NeNDNem OM asnbU Tee

‘Farmers are very tired of being the first to feel the heat whenever a co-op was faced with even the most transient of commercial challenges,” said Mr O’Rourke.

The issue of animal medication was also open for discussion and Mr O’Rourke said that the IC- MSA had met representatives of the dairy co-ops in Abbeyleix just over a week ago and all were agreed that the new rules on animal medicines,

insofar as they related to dairy farming, should be tied into the Dairy Herd Certificate.

The dairy co-ops also agreed that prescrip- tions for intramammaries should last for one year rather than the six months that the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, has proposed. This would link the operation on mastitis control programmes at co-op level directly to the Dairy Herd Certificate.

‘At present all dairy farmers must submit dairy herd certificates annually and the linking of new rules on prescription and the Dairy Herd Certifi- cate would have many benefits and would consid- erably reduce the amount of paper work and costs involved,’ continued Mr O’ Rourke.

Mr O’Rourke concluded by calling for the Irish Government to exercise a veto on any attempt by Commissioner Mandelson to coddle British ex- porters at the expense of Europe’s farmers.

A CLOSE friend and colleague of Martin Griffin, who died in last Monday’s tragedy, has been speaking about the talented young tradesman whose funeral took place in Ennis on Saturday.

“Martin Griffin was one of the most infec- tious characters and the hardest working lad I

have ever met in my life,’ said John O’ Donovan of the Adalta Group, for whom Martin worked as a carpenter on the restoration of Coolreagh House at East Clare Golf Club in Bodyke. “My heart is breaking, it is just so hard to believe,’ Mr O’Donovan continued. “Martin Griffin was the most infectious individual. He was always happy and laughing and had an amazing smile. He was multi-talented and a gifted craftsman. He was a registered sub-con-

tractor and boy, did he work hard.”

Mick Doran, whose body was recovered early yesterday, also worked for the Adalta GSrxeltiey

Joe O Callaghan from Tulla, worked with his friends on the Bodyke project but for a different Coelseleree

Speaking of the two men who worked for

him, Mr O’Donovan said, “It is very difficult to

speak about these lads in the past tense but they were fierce hard workers. They were also great pals of mine and they were only working on my own house the night before they travelled to Doolin.

“They worked all day until 8.30pm and the craic we had was something else. Martin worked with me for the past six or eight months with his brother Michael. My heart felt sympa- thies go to both their families,” he added.

DOOLIN is no stranger to tragedy – the vul- lage made famous by the Russell brothers and known the world over has made the headlines for the saddest of reasons down the decades.

As the pall of gloom and depression descend- ed on Doolin over the past week, memories of similar tragedies in the popular tourist resort were revived. All of these drowning tragedies took place on the notorious Tra Leathan.

A priest named Fr. O’Keeffe drowned there

in 1923, while in 1959 two German tourists perished.

However, it was the horror story that un- folded on July 31, 1983 that sent shock waves all over Ireland and beyond. Eight young men lost their lives when they were swept out to sea while bathing at Tra Leathan.

Events began to unfold at 4.30pm when a large number of swimmers, having ignored the danger signs posted by Clare County Council in the area, got into difficulties. The combina- tion of the tide going out, rough seas, strong

undercurrents and shifting sands made condi- tions treacherous. Screams for help were heard as a number of people were swept out to sea. Those who managed to scramble ashore, and a watching crowd of about 70, could only look on helplessly as Tra Leathan claimed eight more lives. All of the dead were from outside the county and in the area for the weekend. A mas- sive operation involving the Army, Navy, Air Corps, Gardai, Civil Defence and volunteers was mounted to retrieve the bodies.

The dead included three brothers, James (25),

John (21) and Edward (19) Doran from Borris in Carlow; James Murphy (17) from Borris; Michael Murphy (22) and Colm Keyes (21) from Portlaoise; Denis O’Sullivan (30) from Sneem, Co Kerry and John Paul Leahy (19) from Kilmallock.

A veil of depression descended on north Clare and beyond after the tragedy. It was the worst maritime disaster in the county since nine lives were lost when the