Month: August 2007

A PROTECTED butterfly is the fo- cus of a battle between two rival developers vying to secure planning permission for the first major retail park on the outskirts of Ennis.

Currently, Clare County Council is evaluating a proposal by Stephen Harris to construct a €50 million retail park adjacent to the Ennis by- ee

However, consultants for develop- ers of a rival proposal, Sean Lyne and Noel Connellan are claiming that if a transfer site for the protected butterfly, the Marsh Fritillary within the proposed Harris park was meas- ured, “it is difficult to see how the scheme could be considered viable or feasible”.

As part of the works for the €205 million Ennis bypass scheme, popu- lations of the butterfly protected un- der the EU Habitats Directive were transferred from the site of the Ennis bypass to the lands proposed for the Harris retail park.

However, consultants for Lyne and Connellan have told Clare County Council that transferring the but- terfly population “would render the commercial profile of the (Harris) site questionable”’.

Last month, the council refused planning permission for the Lyne-

Connellan retail park development after declaring that the Harris plan is the preferred retail park proposal.

In relation to the Harris plan, the council has stated, however, that “’se- rious concerns remain about the loss of an important area of wetland in addition to the protected Annex One Species, the Marsh Fritillary and other rare species”.

Now, in response, Mr Harris’s con- sultants have told the council that “‘it still has not been possible to obtain conclusive evidence that the site of the proposed development was the site of translocation of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly or any specific de- tails regarding the timing or success of any translocation that may have been completed”.

The new submission lodged states that site surveys have taken place on three occasions and “the presence of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly has not been established on the site”’.

The submission states, “There is a possibility that the butterfly has ceased to colonise this area, which is not uncommon for this particular species.

The Harris retail site also includes an area of fen and the submission states that the fen “is the most sensi- tive habitat on the site, but it is rela- tively small and not directly linked to any other habitats of significance”.

THE county solicitor has poured cold water on suggestions that a move by Doonbeg Golf Club to identify a so- lution over the contentious right-of- way at the €150 million golf course is linked to it possibly abandoning its High Court judicial review case.

Last month, the golf club held a public meeting in Doonbeg con- cerning a compromise proposal in relation to an ongoing right-of-way controversy at the fourth and 14th fairways at the course.

The meeting took place a week prior to a High Court judicial review application being brought by the club concerning an An Bord Pleanala rul- ing that the club built a wall across the right-of-way without planning permission.

The judicial review proceedings have now been adjourned to Octo- ber when the case is expected to be listed.

However, in a letter to the man who precipitated the controversy, David McNamara, County Solicitor, John Shaw said, “It is difficult to see how

any proposal put forward by Doon- beg Golf Club can in any way affect the judicial review brought by them against An Bord Pleanala.

‘The issue before the court is the decision of An Bord Pleanala and not the existence or otherwise of a right- OE eA

‘The proceedings before the High Court in our view cannot be deter- minative of the right-of-way issue. They are merely judicial review proceedings reviewing the decision of the board. The extinguishment of any public right-of-way is a matter

for the roads authority for the area in question pursuant to Section 73 of the Roads Act 1993.

“It would appear to the writer that the only way Doonbeg Golf Club Ltd can avoid a hearing of the proceed- ings is to withdraw their application to the court which would leave the decision of the board standing.

He added, “It is the Bord Pleana- la decision that is now before the courts, not the Clare County Council decision.

‘The case before the courts will not determine whether there is a public

right-of-way at this location or not. The proceedings before the court are not adequate for this purpose.

“Insofar aS we are aware, neither our clients nor ourselves have been involved in discussions with regard to the extinguishment of the alleged right-of-way over the golf club it- self.

“As indicated, it is not the inten- tion and has not been the intention of Clare County Council to extinguish the particular right-of-way referred to in the decisions which are now be- fore the High Court”.

AFTER all the excitement and razz- matazz of last years Irish and World Ploughing championships, prepara- tion are now well on the way for this year’s event.

Applications for exhibition space are reportedly flooding in to the Na- tional Ploughing Association offices in Athy in advance of this year event which takes place in Tullamore, from Tuesday, September 25, to Thursday 27

The championships will once again be one of the largest outdoor events held in Europe this year and organis- ers have concentrated on exceptional quality and diversification in their 60 acre trade arena this year with a huge

cross section of businesses being successful with their applications.

Government Departments, political parties, semi-state bodies, sporting organisations, hotels and education are just some of the businesses at- tending.

Financial institutes are also well represented with stockbrokers, 1in- vestment clubs and the Financial Regulator coming on board.

As in previous years health will have a strong presence at the cham- pionships with cholesterol and blood pressure checks from the Irish Blood Transfusion Board, the Irish Haemo- chromatosis Association and _ the Health Service Executive.

The National Office for Suicide Prevention will also be providing in-

formation on suicide prevention, an issue becoming increasingly com- mon in rural Ireland.

Renewable energy will have a big presence with wind turbines, bio- mass boilers fuelled by chicken litter, oats and barley. Solar panels, wood pellet stoves, science and engineer- ing stands will have you totally up to speed on the latest equipment and cost saving devices on the market.

The European Commission and the European Parliament will also be there to discuss the environmental challenges that exist in Europe, spe- cifically nature and climate change.

Northern Ireland departments will also have a presence with the De- partment of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Agri-Food and

Biosciences Institute.

The Road Safety Authority along with the Garda Road Safety Division will be carrying out seatbelt demon- strations for child car seats as well as free eyesight tests in conjunction with SpecSavers.

The ever popular overseas property exhibition returns this year, as does the fantastic Leader Food Village with its hand made chocolates, farm house cheeses, breads, cakes, honey and marmalades.

Leader Crafts are also making a welcome comeback with their mag- nificent displays that were so popular ETS more e

Tickets are now available by call- ing (059) 8625125 or for more infor- mation, visit Www.npa.ie.

CO-OP are coming under increas- ing pressure to increase the amount of money being paid to farmers for milk.

The ICMSA launched a fresh at- tack on what they deemed an “inex- plicable and glaring milk price gap” between the price being received by farmers and the market returns being received by the country’s Co-ops.

The organisations milk chairper- son, Dominic Cronin, said last week that it is imperative that this “utterly unacceptable” gap was closed when a number of Co-op Board meetings take place this week.

“The gap between the Irish Dairy Board’s On-Account Price and the price being received by farmers now stands at 9c/litre.

In the case of a 50,000 gallon pro- ducer and in the event of the co-ops failing to fully pass back that in- creased price in July, the gap repre- sents a loss of €2,460 for July milk,” he said.

“These losses are simply not ac- ceptable and ICMSA is urging those Co-ops who have set their July and August milk prices to immediately IKeaTA CoA An te loa 08 i

Cronin singled out the state’s big- gest milk processor, Glanbia, as the Co-op ICMSA felt should be taking

a lead in the matter.

Meanwhile the IFA’s National Dairy Committee Chairman, Rich- ard Kennedy, said last week that he believed the Irish Dairy Board would soon have to adjust their SMP and butter prices further for the month of July, in view of continued EU spot market price increases for both prod- ucts, and many other commodities.

“The current EU average price for SMP is €3,600/t, 150/t more than the current IDB price including the June retrospective payment, while EU butter prices reach € 3,500 on average, €200/t more than the Irish Dairy Board are paying,” he said.

“Current EU butter and SMP pric-

es, calculated on the same basis as the IDB index, reach the equivalent of 47c/l. That is 4c/l more than the current Dairy Board index.

“It is clear to me that an adjustment to the IDB prices, which I believe must happen soon, will make those returns available to those among our processors who do not already have access to them because they do not trade outside of the Dairy Board.

“Contracted prices with manufac- turers of cream liqueur, infant formu- lae or chocolate crumb, are all based on the IDB index plus a premium – so that returns for these products are 1n- creasing every time the IDB increas- es its commodity prices.”

FARM incomes plummeted by a massive 25 per cent 2006 according to the National Farm Survey pub- lished by Teagasc last week.

The average national family farm income is now just €16,680 a drop of €5,779 or 25.7 per cent on the 2005 levels. While these figures are arti- ficially high because of the one off high level of direct subsidy in 2005, it still represents another blow for the farming community.

Perhaps a more worrying trend is that, according to the survey, direct payments now account for 98 per cent of all family farm Income.

The survey, which was conducted by the Teagasc Rural Economy Re- search Centre, also showed that on full time farms the average family farm income was €34,486 – down by 15 per cent on the previous year.

Reacting to the results, IFA Presi- dent Padraig Walshe, said that the figures are not as bad as they seem.

ml GI Tea e Durem peeeelomrPAU ee moore efited from a once-off boost due to the timing of the changeover to the decoupled payments system, and this is the main reason for the 25 per cent decline in national farm income in 2006,” he said.

“Looking at the income trends in 2007, there clearly has been a recov-

ery in dairy markets. While some price increases to farmers have come through, I believe there is major scope for further price increases this year. Also, world grain markets are quite strong as we approach the 2007 harvest.

‘However, cattle and sheep prices are very disappointing this year. Winter beef finishers lost heavily due to poor prices and higher costs. In the sheep sector, continuing low prices and margins are resulting in a serious decline in the national ewe ley ucreLeNbOTCaBE COle) eum

Meanwhile, ICSA President Mal- colm Thompson expressed his con- cerns at some of the income statistics,

particularly regarding the drystock sector.

‘These statistics are a wake-up call to policy makers, food processors and factories alike,’ he said. “There is an obvious and deep structural de- ficiency in the systems employed by the drystock sector, and these figures demonstrate that the current system of farming is inherently unprofitable. You cannot survive in an industry Where your production costs out- weigh profit.”

Commenting on figures, the Presi- dent of ICMSA, Mr Jackie Cahill, said they demonstrated conclusively the very low income figures for full- WUSSom Ec DUES oli

FORMER Green Party Leader and Minister for Food and Horticulture at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Trevor Sargent, has called on a partnership approach to be adopted to help farmers deal with challenges which result from the bad weather conditions.

With growth back my more than 50 per cent in many areas, farmers are facing serious problems, with more and more seasonal vegetable crops now being imported from abroad.

“Poor weather conditions bring huge uncertainty to harvesting and planting operations. Producers have

shown great resilience but they need some assurance about market pros- pects and returns if they are to con- tinue investing and supplying local products to the consumer in a sector where seasonality provides diversity and added interest,” he said.

Minister Sargent pointed out that the recent EU reform of the fruit and vegetable sector will bring new Opportunities to support producer organisations in production/sup- ply planning and in the promotion of greater consumption of fruit and vegetables, particularly by young people.

The new arrangements will also provide aid for producer organisa-

tions that undertake measures to prevent or manage crises such as ad- verse weather conditions.

“Nevertheless, the market relation- ship between the producers, retail sector and consumer is the key to the development of this important sec- tor,’ he continued.

‘Partnership arrangements _ be- tween producers and retailers will work best where they take account of seasonal variation in supply and of the need for continued investment in the sector to benefit the consumer seeking local food.”

Land conditions are so bad in some parts of Clare that first cuts of silage are still to be harvested, a situation

which could prompt a massive esca- lation in feed cost if a shortage hits WONKA OL Kode

Official figures obtained by The Clare People from Met Eireann re- veal that rain fall levels in County Clare were more than 40 per cent higher last month than the June av- erage, The figures also revealed that Clare had already matched it average July rainfall last Thursday, July 19.

Besides the under foot conditions, farmer have also being prevented from spreading fertiliser because of the heavy rainfalls. This lack of fer- tiliser spreading could impact on the condition of second cuts across the county.

JOB losses of between 100 and 200 have been predicted at Shannon Air- port as Aer Lingus’s commitment to Shannon and the west of Ireland 1s questioned by the political and busi- ness communities.

Calculating the worrying estimate, should the Shannon-Heathrow con- nection be lost, Mayor of Clare and Shannon Councillor Patricia McCa- rthy (Ind) described the situation as

“devastating” and “unbelievable”.

The mayor is returning from her annual holiday on Saturday to chair a meeting of tourist, commercial and political bodies with an interest in the area.

‘We have to look at what we can do immediately. Our first priority is to see can we get the decision overturned. If not, we must try to secure another air- line that can service the same times, which will be very difficult.”

Like many politicians who came

out against the Aer Lingus announce- ment expected later today, Cllr Mc- Carthy said she could not understand why the airline removed the Shannon Slots ahead of Dublin or Cork, leav- ing the west of Ireland’s largest in- ternational airport without any con- necting flights from Heathrow.

Clare TD Pat Breen (FG) said he be- lieved that the minister for transport and Aer Lingus should reduce one or two slots in other Irish airports.

“The Taoiseach and the Govern-

ment should urge British PM Gordon Brown and his government to make extra slots available into Belfast as an acknowledgement of the dividend of the peace process in Northern Ire- land,” he suggested.

Clare Junior Minister Tony Kil- leen (FF) said he believed that the decision can still be reversed but, if it cannot, then a new Shannon to Heathrow link must be put in place at times that are convenient to the busi- ness community 1n the west.

‘The Shannon to Heathrow service has a very high load factor, which 1n- dicates that the Aer Lingus decision may be based on lower yield factors. I await a full explanation from Der- mot Mannion (Aer Lingus CEQ) on this issue. However, this comes as no comfort to those whose jobs may be 1 wh eae

Minister Killeen said he was not surprised that business and commu- nity leaders in the region were now questioning the credibility of Aer Lingus’ commitment to Shannon Airport and the west of Ireland.

‘However, I feel that the flagship carrier’s recent announcement re- garding the continuation of transat- lantic services at the Clare airport over the winter period is somewhat Ker UUW EELS OORT BLOB

Deputy Timmy Dooley (FF) said the “disappointing” announcement is not in keeping with the spirit of the agreement not to sell the Shannon slots.

that the county has been “‘let down” by Aer Lingus and said that the move has come as a complete sur- WU er ‘Here we are, going out to Milwau- kee next week, working very hard promoting Shannon Airport and Aer Lingus and we see this. We need them

to level with us, we need to have some confidence in our national carrier, in Aer Lingus,” said Paddy Maher of the Clare Tourism Council.

“With the London route, we feel that we have been let down by Aer Lingus. They have given commit- ments on other routes but the loss of the London route is a real blow.

“We are putting a lot of effort into prompting their flights, and the flights of other carriers, and this news 1s re- ally disappointing. To be honest, we were not prepared for this. It is a real blow.”

The move is likely to have major re- percussions for the county’s business sector, with early indications already

suggesting that a number of compa- nies may be force to relocate.

“There is a lot of business to be done between here and London and getting in and out of London is very important for that. This is going to put that under pressure,” he continued.

“There is a large business class customer base who used that route to do business. These people would use hotels in Shannon and Ennis and they are almost always repeat customers.”

Interim Chief Executive of Shan- non Chamber of Commerce, Laurie O’Connor, said the ending of Aer Lingus’s Shannon-Heathrow route would be “a big blow for business in detom uses (Onan

“We would get behind local busi- ness people who are very worried about this situation that appears to be unfolding — we are cautious to com- ment ahead of any official notification but certainly such a cessation would negatively impact the region and the west of Ireland,” she said.

Meanwhile, Cllr Martin Conway (FG) has called for an emergency county council meeting to be called to deal with the issue.

‘A delegation from the council need to seek a meeting with the minister on this. The government still has a 25 per cent stake in Aer Lingus and we need them to start using this influence,” he eee

WORKERS and union leaders at Shannon were today bracing them- selves for the worst, as they waited for the arrival of Aer Lingus boss, Dermot Mannion, who was expected to announce the ending of all the air- line’s Shannon Heathrow flights. Word was out at the weekend that the airline plans to move it’s impor- tant Heathrow slots to Belfast, where major incentive packages are on of-

fer.

Last night, SIPTU official, Tony O’Carroll said the pulling of the route would be a major blow and confirmed there are serious concerns for jobs, particularly in the ground crew and cabin crew areas.

“We were opposed to the privatisa- tion of Aer Lingus all along. We said that we could see no benefits for this area from it and this just bears that out. If all four flights are gone that’s 26 flights a week – that’s a very heavy

loss,” said Carroll.

The union official said that while there 1s serious concern for jobs, the number in danger will depend on a lot of factors.

“Some people are saying 100 jobs will go here because Aer Lingus plan to create 100 jobs in Belfast but that doesn’t necessarily follow. Ground crew will still be needed here.”

The SIPTU official added that jobs at the airport are a major concern but the move also casts a shadow over

business prospects in the region and the jobs which depend on those busi- nesses. “There will be no carrier serv- icing the route now from Shannon and no flights for business people. Ryanair will have London to themselves.”

A spokesperson for the Shannon Airport Authority said they could not comment last night in advance of an announcement. It is understood that there is extreme concern at the loss of revenue and the loss of the route to Shannon.

THE closing date is fast approaching for applications for grant assistance for community projects under the Shannon Town Council community grant scheme. With just three week left for the receipt of completed ap- plication forms local groups are be- ing urged to get their application in as soon as possible.

The council will consider applica- tions for grant assistance in respect of projects designed to improve the quality of life for the people of Shan- non. The project to be grant aided must show a clear community focus.

“We issue these grants every Sep- tember and October, and groups

from the local community are invited to submit applications for funding,’ said Shannon ‘Town Clerk, Tomas Mac Cormaic.

“We have about €5,000 to give out each year, for any community based organisations like the soccer clubs and drama groups. Each successful application would receive between €300 and €500 to be spent on com- munity projects.”

Applications are open to organisa- tions, voluntary groups and residents associations within the functional area of Shannon Town Council. The project must be directly related to special community projects, artistic proposals or projects which generate civic pride and involve local people

in the improvement of the town.

“The funding is open to all kinds of groups and every application is judged on it’s own merits. Groups like Clare Haven Services in Shan- non would receive funding from it for their work with women. It’s not just for sports and youth groups, it’s right across the board,’ continued Tomas.

“All groups need to do is submit an application stating what their project is and what they plan to do with the jne Ke) ely ae

Before grant assistance 1s awarded all applications must submit where applicable, documentation detailing fully the project content together with details of costs plans and sup-

porting documentation and agree to acknowledge appropriately the town council’s contribution.

Applicants must show that the project is well planned and give in- dications of potential future uses of the project. The town councillors’ decision will be influenced by the amount of applicant’s own resources contributed to the project.

Greeley LOM (c)uommncae-Telmmr-B(elcle mmm previous years and who have failed to return documented proof of ex- penditure will not be considered for grant aid in 2007.

Application forms are available from the office of the Town Clerk, Town Hall, Gort Road, Shannon. Telephone 061 362319.