Month: November 2007

THE majority of the 200 Polish workers at the centre of an indus- trial row at the ESB power station at Moneypoint are to remain employed elo Kon

The Poles will continue to work on the mult-million euro environmental changes being made at the plant.

The former ZRE Katowicz employ- ees voted unanimously to accept the settlement terms of their dispute with the ESB, its main contractor Lentjes and the subcontractor ZRE Katowicz (Ireland) Construction Limited.

The Polish subcontractor left the workers, all members of the Tech- nical Engineering and _ Electrical Union, with up to six weeks pay in arrears. It has now gone into liquida- tion.

All of the workers involved have now been offered jobs with the main contractor, Lentjes, at the Money- point site or with other contractors on site including the UK based com- pany AMEC which 1s taking over the ZRE contract.

Lentjes has made arrangements to make hardship payments worth about 50 per cent of the total due to the workers this week.

The State Insolvency Fund is to provide separate payments arising out of the inability of ZRE Katow- icz (Ireland) Construction Limited to meet its liabilities to the workers.

TEEU General Secretary Desig- nate Eamon Devoy said, “There are jobs available for all of our members who want them in Ireland and we ex- pect the uptake to be very high.

“We have also secured jobs with

ZRE Katowicz in Poland for those who wish to return home but most of our members are expected to take up the Irish offers.

‘Thanks to the steadfastness of our Polish members, the solidarity of our other members in the ESB power station at Moneypoint, who were ready to act in their support and the assistance of the Labour Relations Commission, we have managed to achieve a happy ending to a dispute that could have ended very differ- ently,” he said.

“T have no doubt that if these work- ers had not been in a trade union they would have received no arrears, pen- sion contributions or other payments to which they are legally entitled.”

The workers had all been employed on the €384 million environmental retro-fit at Moneypoint.

SHANNON-based industrial dia- mond manufacturing company Ele- ment Six Ltd increased the size of its business last year by almost 20 per Cone

According to accounts filed to the Companies Office, the company — whose principal activity is the manufacture and sale of industrial diamonds — also returned to profit last year after recording a loss of $9 million in 2005.

The accounts show that Element Six recorded a profit before tax in 2006 of $2 million. The company — formerly de Beers — increased its turnover from $279 million to $331 million in 2006.

According to the accounts the com- pany had a gross profit of $160 mil- lion up on the $131 million in 2005.

During 2006, the company an- nounced 75 job losses as part of a restructuring programme with two- thirds of the redundancies coming from support staff, and the balance coming from production operations.

The accounts show that the numbers employed at the facility at the end of 2006 was 580 — up from the 567 em- ployed at the end of 2005. Staff costs in 2006 came to $43 million. How-

ever, sales and administrative costs have significantly increased.

The costs of sales increased from $123 million to $147 million and administrative costs went up 67 per cent from $74 million to $124 mil- |bTeyee

The company paid a dividend of $89 million in 2004, however, no dividend was paid last year.

The company supplies products all over the world and the markets main- ly served with industrial diamond and related products are the United States of America, China, Japan and all countries within the European Union.

The statement accompanying the accounts show that “currently the company is investing in continuing research and development into new products and technologies and it is hoped to increase market share and profitability in the foreseeable fu- ture.

“Taking into account Element Six’s long and established history in the manufacture of industrial diamonds, it is expected that the company will at least retain its market share in the foreseeable future.”

The company has no major devel- opments planned for the manufactur- ing side of the business.

CLARE County Council has ex- pressed “a number of very serious concerns” over plans for a €25 mil- lion housing development in south east Clare.

Earlier this year, Greenband Invest- ments lodged plans with the council for a 103 housing development ex- tension to what is already in place at Westbury, Athlunkard near the Clare-Limerick border.

The proposal has attracted a large number of objections from local

residents and now the council has re- sponded to the residents’ concerns.

In a request for a large raft of new information on the plan, the coun- cil has requested that revised plans be submitted, but, in a move that will disappoint local residents, has pointed out that the density of the development is not high enough and that additional homes will need to be included.

However, the council has also re- quested that the developers submit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the further informa-

tion required.

In its request, the council states that it “has a number of very serious concerns in relation to the proposed development and it not favourably disposed to the development as pro- posed.

‘The concerns of the council relate to the design and layout of the devel- opment as proposed, the lack of mix of housing types and design, the ef- fect the proposed development will have on traffic safety at this location, the residential amenities of existing residents and the lack of provision of

community facilities and open spac- es in the existing Westbury estate.”

The council goes on: “The con- cerns arise in particular to the lack of community facilities to provide for the number of existing and proposed OM CAUDDANSAc MAUI ODEO MOO CoMon ie: Nome

The council has ordered a revised layout providing for a better sense of place and revised housing designs incorporating a “much better’ mix of housing types and styles.

“You are advised that due to the scale and nature of existing permit- ted development within the West-

bury estate, no further large scale de- velopment can be permitted without the submission of a master plan to provide for the comprehensive devel- opment of the entire Westbury estate to provide for appropriate land uses, including residential uses, public Open spaces, community facilities, services and road layouts.”

The developers have also been told to submit a Traffic Impact Statement (TIS).

A decision from the council on the development is not now expected un- til sometime next year.

THE concluding stages have been reached at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in the trial of a Clare man for allegedly sexually abusing two of his daughters.

The 36-year-old accused has plead- ed not guilty to 11 counts of sexual

assault on two of his daughters on dates between September 2001 and December 2004 in a County Tipper- ary town. It 1s day-13 of the trial. Prosecuting counsel, Ms Una Ni Raifeartaigh BL, said in her closing address that the case in relation to one of the girls would have collapsed in view of her not giving direct evi-

dence of being abused.

Ms Ni Raifeartaigh, however, said the prosecution invited the five wom- en and seven men the jury to find the accused guilty of these charges aris- ing out of what the girl told a child psychiatrist in several interviews which were videotaped and shown in court.

She noted that in these interviews the child had clearly indicated under no pressure at all that she had been interfered with on many occasions Wa iomrlenoe

This was the first instance since its enactment that section 16 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 was used to admit a video recording of such

an interview as direct evidence in a CHueneveerNmeurue

Garda Lorraine Fahy gave evidence of observing all the interviews seen by the jury and that what was shown in court was an accurate record of what happened at them.

The trial continues before Judge Desmond Hogan.

THE badly decomposed body of a 19-year-old student which washed ashore at Fanore on April 4, 2004, had a very high blood alcohol level, Ennis Coroner’s Court heard last ete

Alan Duffy from Kilmovee, Bal- laghadreen in County Mayo went missing following a night out in Gal- way City on March 22, 2004.

The court heard that the first year NUI Galway student attended a house party on the evening he disap-

eer NKslem According to witness Clare O’Halloran, Mr Duffy travelled

with a group to the GPO nightclub before she spotted him on a walkway underneath the Salmon Weir Bridge just before 3am.

“He was walking down a metal walkway and he seemed really

drunk. I phoned the guards then, it was about 2.50am,’ she said.

After an extensive two week search involving gardai, coastguard and members of the public, the body was discovered by local man, James Callinan, on Fanore beach on April 4, 2004.

Mr Duffy’s brother, Brendan, travelled to Clare but was unable to identify the body because of its con- dition.

The body was identified using den- tal records following an autopsy. The court heard that the autopsy found a number of lacerations on the body as well as bruising to the head and body. It also showed a blood alcohol level of 170mg and found no traces of narcotics.

The court heard doctor’s evidence that Mr Duffy’s injuries were con- sistent with drowning and the only injury that could have been inflicted

before death was a small bruise on the left upper arm.

Giving her verdict, County Clare Coroner, Isobel O’Dea, ruled out suicide.

“TI am satisfied that there was no severe antimortem injury. I am satis- fied that there was no third part in- volvement and there was no evidence of suicide. We don’t know what hap- pened so I am going to give an open verdict,’ he said.

A MAN charged in connection with an alleged arson attack on an Ennis home last month has been remanded in custody with consent to bail.

Stephen McGuire (29) of Pine Grove, Ennis, is accused of commit- ting arson, in that he did without law- ful excuse damage by fire a house, on October 18.

At Ennis District Court on Friday he was granted bail. However he was not in a position at the time to provide the €1,000 cash lodgment sought by the court, along with his own surety of €1,000 and an independent surety of €10,000.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told the court that the State was object- ing to bail given the seriousness of the charge.

Inspector Gallagher said however, if the court was considering bail the State would be seeking ‘substantial bail’ and ‘strict conditions’ which were outlined to the court.

These include staying away from the Pine Grove Estate in Ennis, stay- ing away from two named individu- als; living at an address in Clarecas- tle, signing on daily at Ennis Garda Station and observing a strict cur- one

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said that her client was not in a po- sition to produce the €1,000 cash surety sought by the court. She said she would require time to discuss the cash bail.

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the accused in custody with consent to bail to appear in court again this Neto) .e

THE book of evidence in the case of two people charged with conspiracy to murder will be ready on Friday, despite a large portion of the docu- ment being accidentally deleted from a computer in the State solicitor’s of- fice in Ennis.

Essam Eid, a native of Egypt with an address in Nevada, US, is charged with conspiring along with Sha- ron Collins (44) of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, to murder Ennis brothers Robert and Niall Howard in 2006.

Mr Eid is also facing four fur- ther charges including demanding €100,000 from Ennis businessman PJ Howard to cancel a contract on the lives of Mr Howard and his two Sons.

He is also charged with burglary at

Westgate Business Park, Ennis, and handling stolen computers at Bal- laghboy, Doora and the Two Mile Inn Hotel, Limerick in September pau eToys

At Ennis District Court last Fri- day week, State Solicitor for Clare, Martin Linnane said a large portion of the book of evidence in the case had been lost on a computer in his office.

In court last Friday, Mr Linnane sought to clarify media reports that the material was lost as a result of the technical problem with the compu- ter. He stated that it had been deleted from the computer in error.

Mr Linnane also told Judge Joseph Mangan that there are 152 witnesses in the book of evidence and more may be added. He said he would have the book by next Friday.

Defending solicitor for Mr Eid, John Casey, however asked Judge Joseph Mangan to mark the matter peremptory against the State if the Book is not available on Friday. The Judge declined to do so.

Mr Eid was remanded in custody until later this week, while Ms Col- lins was released on continuing bail until the same date.

JAMES Lafferty is widely known in ladies football circles in Clare.

A founder member of the county board in 1983, he served as secretary and treasurer in the past and was chairman until resigning a fortnight ago.

He informed the football board of his decision to resign on October 22, citing “personal and business diffi- culties” as his reasons.

Sources in ladies football in Clare have described his work at underage level as “hugely progressive”.

They also said he injected energy and dedication into the game in the county over a period of several years.

He managed the under-16 side which won the All-Ireland ‘B’ title

this year, that is set to receive a Civic Reception from Clare County Coun- cil next Monday.

He also managed the county’s un- der-14 side last year.

A statement issued to

COUNTY Clare Teagasc last week completed a major overhaul of its farm advisory service in the coun- ty and has now introduced a new structure to help deliver a_ better service to existing and new farmer ESN ie

The new advisory programme will now be organised around four pro- eramme areas, with a renewed em- phasis on the business and technology programme. The other programme areas are good farm practice, rural development and adult training and life-long learning.

The advisory service in County Clare is managed by Gerard Mac-

Mahon, who has 20 agricultural advisers working from four offices in Ennis, Ennistymon, Kilrush and Scariff and the support of six admin- istration staff.

MacMahon believes that the serv- ice will be in a stronger position to service farmers’ demands and that by bringing the Teagasc resources into dedicated teams, Teagasc can provide a more specialised sharper service to farmer customers.

“Much of our work in recent years has been dominated by schemes and services with high levels of demand from our farmer clients for schemes such as the Farm Improvement Scheme, REPS, Single Farm Pay- ment scheme and resolving associ-

ated problems,’ he said. “We will continue to provide this service, but a dedicated team of business and tech- nology advisors are now in place and will work closely with farmers who want to improve technical perform- ance by adopting the best technology that 1s emerging from our research Oak ee

Those involved in the core main- stream farm enterprises can now benefit from the knowledge of Tea- gasc’s dedicated business and tech- nology advisors. Their Good Farm Practice team know the intricacies of the various support schemes and REPS.

Over half of ‘Teagasc’s clients participate in REPS and with REPS4

commencing and the introduction of the nitrates derogation, this percent- age will increase.

Teagasc can also now provide advice on all enterprises including many of the alternative farm enterprises. Its specialised rural development advi- sors will provide the facts for you to consider the alternatives that are available.

A fully comprehensive range of training courses are also available to help farmers to improve their skills for running their businesses more efficiently and effectively.

These include courses on REPS, financial management, computer skills, farm safety, farm business and animal and crop production.

MANY Clare farmers will be forced out of the beef sector unless they receive a sustainable margin for their produce, according to Clare farmer and Chairperson of ICMSA’s Beef and Cattle Committee, Martin McMahon.

The O’Callaghan’s Mills man claimed last week that this will lead to many markets being closed off to Irish beef in the future.

He has called for an immediate rise in the beef prices as the only solution to the current problem.

At current prices, farmers fattening cattle are cross-subsidising that prac- tice with their Single Farm Payment

“This was the economics of the madhouse and farmers will simply cease to make that cross-subsidy and exit beef altogether,” he said.

“Beef production must be made viable in its own right and that demanded an immediate rise in cat- tle prices from the meat factories. Fattening cattle is currently a loss- making business and the whole fu- ture of this sector was now in ‘red alert’ territory.

“The facts of the situation are that

beef prices are now 16.8c/kg below what they were in October 2006 — that 1s equivalent to €60 per head. “We would also point out that an Irish steer is currently making €130 per head less than the same animal in the UK, while at the same time feed and other costs have also risen substantially during this period. “Given the gap in Irish and UK prices, it is quite clear that factories can pay more for cattle and if that means that meat processors must go to the retailers for increased returns, then that 1s what must happen if we are to truly reflect the economics

of beef production,’ Mr McMahon added.

“Our beef processors and retail- ers have a decision to make now on the future of our beef sector — raise prices and maintain their supply of cattle or do absolutely nothing and eliminate their 12 months’ supply of cattle.

“It’s “make-your-mind-up’ time on the future of the Irish beef sector. There is scope for increased prices at the present time and factories must immediately raise prices in order to secure the future of the Irish beef sector.”