Month: August 2007

FINE Gael Leader Enda Kenny is due to arrive in Clare to discuss the Shannon crisis before the end of the Neto) e

Senior members of the party said that the leader, who is just back from holidays, was last night finalising his agenda for the coming week.

It was expected, however, that he would be in Clare by the week’s end.

Deputy Kenny is expected to meet with members of the Shannon

Airport Authority to find out what plans, if any, are in place to attract an airline with Heathrow slots to the airport.

When asked if the party locally would be asking Deputy Kenny to put pressure on the Government to vote with Ryanair at an Extraordi- nary General Meeting (EGM), Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen said that any decision would be taken at national aoe

‘A lot can happen between now and an EGM,” he said.

Deputy Kenny is coming to the

region in the wake of a meeting of more than 60 Fine Gael politicians in Shannon last week.

The high-profile meeting upped the ante by calling on rebel Government TDs to back a Fine Gael call for a recall of the Dail to discuss the Aer Lingus decision to take the Heath- row slots from Shannon and bring them to Belfast.

The Fine Gael TDs, senators and local councillors called for a reversal of the decision.

After a two-hour meeting behind closed doors in the Park Inn hotel at

Shannon Airport, Fine Gael Chair- man, Tom Hayes issued an agreed statement calling on the Government to use its 25 per cent shareholding to rescind the Aer Lingus decision to transfer the slots.

Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen said the Government “has a 25 per cent shareholding in Aer Lingus and has an obligation to the region, whether it likes it or not.”

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the demand from Ryanair, as major shareholders in Aer Lingus, for an EAE

THE mayors of Clare and Shannon have expressed concern that the air of uncertainty caused by the poten- tial loss of Aer Lingus’s Shannon- Heathrow service has been further compounded by the recent announce- ment of over 260 job losses at three mid-west manufacturing firms.

Last Wednesday, Shannon-based tool manufacturing company Mo- hawk Europa announced its closure with the loss of 90 jobs; on Thursday, Analog Devices confirmed plans to shed 150 posts at its Limerick plant.

On Friday, Rothenberger Ireland con- firmed the loss of up to 20 jobs with the relocation of the manufacturing element of its operation to Germany and Spain.

Mayor of Clare, Councillor Patricia McCarthy said the losses have set a dangerous precedent for other manu- facturing operations in the region.

“Shannon has for many decades been the major hub for manufactur- ing in Clare. Should the haemorrhag- ing of manufacturing jobs continue at its current pace, I fear that the foun- dation for development in the county and wider region will be fatally un-

dermined,” she explained.

According to Mayor of Shannon, Cllr Sean McLoughlin, “While the link between this week’s recent jobs losses in the mid-west and the cur- rent dispute over direct flights to London are unknown, it is impera- tive that the Government is reminded of the potential for further significant job losses in the future.”

Mayor McLoughlin expressed concern that job losses were not be- ing counteracted with the creation of new jobs. “I want to know what the Government is going to do about protecting existing jobs and generat-

ing new employment in the manufac- turing sector.”

Several companies had already warned of the possible consequences of the Aer Lingus announcement. Within hours of confirmation of the airline’s intention, local companies claimed jobs would be lost in the re- gion if the service was discontinued.

General Manager of industrial dia- mond maker Element Six, Mr Ken Sullivan said his company would have a “very uncertain future in Shannon if an alternative route or carrier 1s not identified before the Aer Lingus service is withdrawn.”

AFTER years of campaigning by the Lisdoonvarna Failte committee, final approval for almost €1.5 million in government funding for the Lisdoon- varna Community Centre was an- nounced last week.

The funding, which was granted by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, will go towards the restora- tion of the community centre includ- ing the refurbishment of the town’s historic Park Pavilion Theatre.

The theatre, which was built in 1913, played host to countless shows over the decades and helped spawn a theatrical tradition in the area, which survives to today through the Burren

Players.

At the turn of the 19th century Lisdoonvarna was a flourishing spa town and tourist destination. The Pavilion Theatre played a major role in the development of the country’s only active spa town.

“T am delighted that the facility is shortly to be renovated and refur- bished. It is essential that this land- mark in the early development of tourism in rural Ireland is preserved for future generations,’ said Tony Killeen TD, and Minister for Labour PaVar.ubny

‘The announcement by the Depart- ment of Arts, Sport and Tourism rep- resents the final approval of funds, which have been sought by members

of the local community since 2001.

Apart from the local sports com- plex, there is no formal community centre in Lisdoonvarna. ‘Therefore, the provision of funding underlines the significance of developing a thea- tre and community centre.”

The Park Pavilion Theatre will form part of the overall plans to develop comprehensive public facilities in the town. Tony Killeen added, “I have spoken with the Chairperson of Lis- doonvarna Failte, Joe Garrihy, who has informed me that the develop- ment will complement existing plans to establish a children’s playground, community sports field and athletics sports track and a community creche catering for up to 50 children. It is

anticipated that these much-needed facilities will be completed by early summer 2008.”

The North Clare Sports and Amen- ity Park project has already been ap- proved €2.5m by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Depart- ment of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Depart- ment of Health and Children, and Clare County Council.

Developments have been progress- ing since the sod was turned on the North Clare Amenity Park in May. When finished the project will in- clude a community sports field and track, town hall pavilion, community creche and community playground.

WHILE the tourist trade in the rest of the country is starting to get qui- et, Lisdoonvarna is shaping up for a September invasion with the start of this year’s Matchmaking Festival.

The festival, which attracts thou- sands to north Clare each September, opens this weekend with the annual race meeting in Doolin.

“We have three days of racing – Fri- day afternoon, Saturday and Sunday. It brings in a whole different section of people to the festival. The local farmers let the jockeys board their horses on their farms, so everyone is really supportive ,’ said Mark Flana-

gan, Festival Organiser.

‘The focus for the second weekend is on country and western music. We have some great country and western music groups in the town and all the different hotels and pubs will host some great music.

The music carries on all the time, all the way through the festival. There will be a lot of music and danc- ing going on during the day with the first dance of the day taking place at 12 noon at the Spa Wells throughout September.”

During the third, fourth and fifth weekends of the festival the work of local matchmaker Willie Daly really gets going. He sets up shop in the

Matchmaker Bar and helps to match singles together.

“This year we have found that we have never had as many booking and enquiries. The phones have been hop- ping in all the hotels, there is a huge interest in this year’s event,” said Festival Organiser, Marcus White.

“The vast majority of the people who come are Irish. A lot of them come on the weekends but what we have done over the last few years is to put on a lot of midweek dancing too. A lot of couples would to that – it’s not just a singles event, a lot of couple come for the music and the dancing.”

The reputation of the Matchmak-

ing Festival has grown so much that Marcus has been invited to Singa- pore to give a talk on matchmaking later this year.

The grand final of the Matchmak- ing Festival as always is the crowning of Mr. Lisdoonvarna and the Queen of the Burren, which sees the most eligible gentleman and lady awarded the coveted titles.

THE hidden life of Michael Cusack will be the subject of a series of half-hour talks taking place over the next few day in Carron. The talks, which take place at the newly opened Michael Cusack Centre, have been organised to coincide with this year’s National Heritage Week.

While much is known about the sporting achievements of Carron’s most famous son, comparatively lit- tle is known about his interesting and often times, tragic life outside the GAA.

“We will specifically focus on parts of his private life rather than just the GAA aspect to it. A lot of people don’t realise that his early life story

is very much intertwined with edu- cation and living up here in the Bur- ren,’ said Paddy Maher of the Carron Oise

Also under scrutiny will be his later years, which involved a lot of fam- ily tragedy, but also saw him lead a fascinating life in Dublin, where he met up with James Joyce and was involved with the revival of the Irish language. Also explored will be his quite liberal opinions of labour and how people were treated.

“He had a quite open-minded atti- tude on the way that life should be lived in Ireland,’ said Paddy Maher.

The lectures will take place throughout Heritage Week at 3pm daily and will last for approximately half an hour. The admission cost of

€2.50 includes a visit to the restored Cusack homestead. The Michael Cu- sack Centre has enjoyed great success since in opened in Easter with some 5,000 registered visitors to date.

‘We have been delighted with visi- tor numbers over the last couple of months. So far it has predominately been Irish people who have visited, but we have also had a few trial schools packages, which will be a big thing from September,” contin- ued Paddy.

“We are working on a couple of initiatives over the next three years. We are looking at creating more in- teractive facilities for kids when they come to visit. We are look at creat- ing an all weather pitch where young people, and indeed older people, can

go and test their skills in football and ova bberee

We also want to finish the inside of Michael Cusack cottage, includ- ing the restoration of some famine artifacts plus, we are looking at the possibility of hosting coaching semi- nars during the winter. We are look- ing at running sports physiology and general coaching courses for people involved in the coaching side of the GAA.”

For further information contact the Michael Cusack Centre on 065 eee

THE countdown is on to Ireland’s first ever outdoor painting competi- tion, which takes place in the Burren Painting Centre this weekend. Outdoor painting competitions or ‘paint-outs’ have became popular in America in recent years but this is the first one which has ever been organised on this side of the Atlantic. The competition sees a large group of artists gather together on one day to paint and offer different artistic takes on the same moment in time. “It’s an opportunity for good ama- teur artists to come together and

paint for one day. Each person who comes to the day will have their can- vas or paper stamped in the morning and they will be sent out to three lo- cations around Lisdoonvarna’’, ex- plained Chris O’ Neill of the Burren Painting Centre.

“At the moment we have about 30 artists registered, but people can still sign up until Friday. When they reg- ister on Saturday morning we will give them the three secret locations where the painting will take place.”

The judging panel includes Irish painter Rosemary Carr and water colour expert Charles Harper. Paint- ers will be allowed to enter two

paintings either in oil and acrylic, pure water colour or mixed media, pastel and gouache.

‘People can paint all day, as long as they have their entries with us by 6pm on Saturday evening. I would say most people will enter one paint- ing but I know of people who have told me that they will be entering two, usually one water colour and one acrylic.” Following the competi- tion and judging a prize-giving lunch will take place in the King Thomand Hotel on Sunday September 2, from lpm to 3pm. Prizes will be presented to the winning artists by Lady Alison Rosse of Birr Castle.

The Burren Painting Centre was established in 1974 and has been at- tracting budding artists from Ireland, Europe and America to the Burren since then. Courses are run each year in Lisdoonvarna, from May to Au- cust, with ‘away trips’ organised in April and October to various parts of the world.

The Outdoor Landscape Paint- ing Competition will take place on September 1. Registration will take place at the National School, Lis- doonvarna from 8:30am to 10am. For more information contact the Burren Painting Centre in Lisdoonvarna on NEOs

THE effects of Open Skies on the operation of Shannon Airport is al- ready being felt with reduced serv- ice on the transatlantic this coming winter.

According to the mayor of Clare, Cllr Patricia McCarthy, the number of transatlantic services – not includ- ing Aer Lingus routes – will decrease from 35 to 23 this coming winter.

This follows moves by American Airlines, Continental Airlines and Delta Airlines to reduce services.

With the attention in the region focused on the Shannon-Heathrow slots in recent weeks, Cllr McCarthy said that it is very important that no further transatlantic services are lost.

Cllr McCarthy also accused Aer Lingus of having an anti-Shannon agenda that is apparent in its opera- tion of the transatlantic routes.

Having returned from the Irish Fest at Milwaukee as part of a del- egation promoting County Clare, Cllr McCarthy said, “We did our job which was promoting Clare and

routes into Clare and it is dreadful to be selling an airline even though you know that they have stabbed you in the back.

She added, “Talking to operators and people there, it seems that Aer Lingus is operating an anti-Shan- non agenda. I have been saying that for years, but people came up to me and told me Aer Lingus are offering routes where it is cheaper to fly to Dublin rather than Shannon from US destinations.

‘Another person who was trying to fly to Shannon was told by an Aer

Lingus employee that Dublin was the airlines’s preferred destination and said that it was easy to get from Dublin to the west coast.”

Speaking earlier this summer, the executive chairman of the Shan- non Airport Authority (SAA), Pat Shanahan sounded an upbeat note on the future of Atlantic services when he said that the SAA is aim- ing to increase its transatlantic pas- senger base by 300,000 in the years after the ending of the Shannon Stop-over.

The phased ending of the stop-

over will come fully into force next April with the introduction of full Open Skies.

Currently, the number of North America bound passengers from Shannon is 700,000.

Executive chairman of the SAA, Pat Shanahan said: “In the first cou- ple of years of Open Skies, we may see a Slight dip in the transaltantic traffic going through Shannon and it may dip from 700,000 to 650,000, but I believe that the volume of traf- fic coming into Ireland with Open Skies will increase.

JUST one of the 60 new hospital con- sultants announced last week are to be based at Ennis General Hospital.

The HSE announced that it was investing more than €10 million to create the 60 new posts in 24 hospi- tals that have emergency departments which are performing well.

While the Mid West Regional Hos- pital, Limerick, has been awarded the largest number of consultant posts nationally – eight in total, with four more consultant posts spread across the Mid Western Hospital Network,

just one of the consultants will be stationed in Ennis.

The new general medicine consult- ant will be part of the Mid Western Hospital Network “with a commit- ment to Ennis”.

The Ennis hospital whose 24 hour Accident and Emergency Depart- ment is currently under threat of downgrading to a part time nurse led service, Will also share an Emergen- cy Service Consultant with the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limer- ee

Three Emergency Medicine Con- sultants have been allocated to the

mid-west under the scheme, but all three will be shared between Limer- ick and the three hospitals, including Ennis, believed to lose their A and Es following the publication of the Mid West Hospital Review.

The Ennis hospital currently has a “0.3 A and E consultant”.

It also has three anaesthetists’ con- sultants, three surgical consultants and three physicians.

The hospital is also functioning with just one radiologist with one new post to be advertised according to the HSE.

The HSE said it expects a number

of improvements in the system as a result of the appointment of the doz- en consultants in the mid-west.

It outlined improvements such as on-floor clinical supervision and de- cision making, enhanced infection control and clinical liaison service.

It also pointed to rapid assessment of medical or surgical patients – re- sulting in earlier discharge of inpa- tients, significant improvements in relation to access to diagnostic pro- cedures and reductions in the “OPD new” to return ratios.

It is envisaged that the additional posts will increase the number of

senior decision makers who would be present in emergency departments as well as the length of time such cli- nicians will be available.

‘These posts will also help improve direct GP access to diagnostics and speed up the availability of diagnos- tic results,” according to the HSE.

“Each type of post has been de- cided on the basis of local needs and will enable the successful hospitals streamline further their internal processes to enable their emergency department operate at their best,” a HSE spokesperson said.

THE O’Briensbridge/Clonlara Com- munity Group is launching the newly developed Loop Walks, which link the two areas, as part of the Heritage Council’s heritage week events.

The routes will be officially opened with an introduction walk to view and experience the new heritage amenity walkway on Saturday, Sep- tember | at 11.30am.

Walkers are invited to start at the Riverside Park in the village on the banks of the Shannon where the trailhead and map board are located and where the loop walks start and nUONI OR

The walks cover an overall dis-

tance of 16 km and are made up of three loops (red, blue and green) each of which can be walked as sep- arate routes or as shorter distances. The red loop, which follows the Old Barge Way is 12km, the blue loop along the Errina Canal loop is 7km and the Parteen Weir loop is 5km.

“This walkway is most unique for a number of reasons including, it does not use public roads, it’s on land which is under public owner- ship and does not infringe on private land,” said Group Chairman, Mick Murtagh.

“Its location is all along waterways and for most of the time is out of ear- shot to the hustle and bustle of mod- ern living. It connects two rural vil-

lages, O’Briensbridge and Clonlara, without touching on a public road.

The red loop (Old Barge Way) is an elevated walkway which starts in the village of O’Briensbridge and runs downstream along the bank of the River Shannon and the Errina Canal to the village of Clonlara.

Walkers cross over seven 17th cen- tury quaint heritage stone bridges or archways which have all been re- stored. On the way is the now der- elict lockkeeper’s house alongside Ireland’s only treble lock.

The Loop Walks have been devel- oped by The O’Briensbridge/Clon- lara Community Group in asso- ciation with Shannon Development, Waterways Ireland, and Clare Coun-

ty Council and with assistance from, the Heritage Council, Leader Group and the ESB; other bodies like the Shannon Fisheries Board and Road- stone have also provided funding for the project

The walks are part of the Shannon Regional Trails Programme which were launched earlier this year by Shannon Development and are a Shannon Development initiative.

The development of these loop walks have also allowed the Lough Derg Way to be re-routed through the villages of O’Briensbridge and Clonlara. The loops are also marked as approved high grade loop walks under the Failte Ireland Looped Walks initiative.

COMPETITORS in the Tour of Ire- land cycle race in association with Failte Ireland were given a special welcome as they wheeled into Tua- mgraney last Friday. The cyclists were greeted by ‘Wel- come To East Clare’ signs erected by East Clare Tourism in association with Shannon Development.

The cyclists saw the signs on their way to finish of stage three on Sta- tion Road, Ennis. Placed on the Kil-

laloe Road, they also carried the East Clare Tourism web address – www. visitclare.net – and were placed in prime position to be caught on cam- era by the national media.

Teresa Browne of East Clare Tour- ism explained that the “opportunity was too good to miss. We want to put the message out there that this is a beautiful part of the country to visit”.

This was the first time that the tour has passed through east Clare and Teresa says it is “a great boost for the

area.”

While business is good this month in the tourism sector in east Clare, Teresa said, there is still a long way to go.

“July was a very bad month. A number of people in the bed and breakfast sector have decided to get out of the business and there will be more at the end of the season. There’s a lot of concern about the future, what with the Shannon situation.”

Teresa doesn’t believe that the bad weather was the cause of people not

holidaying in the area.

“We really need one major attrac- tion in east Clare if people in this region are going to continue in the tourism business,” she said.

“But we keep hoping and we’ll do everything we can to promote the area. It’s a beautiful region to holiday in and there are plenty of facilities, accommodation and activities. We were delighted that the tour passed through such a beautiful location to give a taste of how lovely east Clare ira