Month: February 2008

AS a multi-national supermarket chain prepares to open on the out- Skirts of Kilrush, the local Chamber of Commerce has plans in place to ensure the future of the town centre.

On February 24, Tesco will open its doors on the Ennis Road, with free car parking provided to its shoppers.

From next Monday, however, shop- pers will also be able to avail of free parking in the town centre, as 23 businesses in the town provide a Parking Refund Scheme.

The Kilrush Parking Refund Scheme stipulates that customers and motorists who spend a specified amount in the participating business- es will be entitled, on proving their parking cost, to either a €1 refund or

a free parking scratch disc.

The scheme will apply to Kilrush Town Council’s dual system of pay parking, including scratch parking discs and street parking meters.

Work on this initiative began un- der former chamber president Karen Whelan and will be brought to fruition by the new chairman, Paul Coady.

“The objective of the scheme is to encourage customers to shop in Kil- rush and enjoy a refund of their park- ing cost,” he said.

Kilrush Town Council supported the initiative by altering the street metres to provide ticket counterfoils.

Shoppers who use the street metres will hand over the ticket counterfoil to participating businesses (upon paying for purchases) and will re-

ceive a €1 coin refund or free scratch disc. Similarly, shoppers who have a scratch disc will need to retain the scratched disc and the receipt of pur- chase to hand over to the participat- ing business on their next visit.

Town Clerk, Fiona Mooney said, “The chamber should be praised for its initiative. However, it must be pointed out that the Kilrush Town Council parking byelaws will remain in place between 10am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday.

“Valid parking tickets and discs must also be displayed during these Wb enone

Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr. Tom Clyne (Ind) said, “It 1s marvellous to see Kilrush Chamber and its members actively encouraging the people of west Clare to shop local.”

THE CLARE lake where the body of a murdered Limerick teenager was found was the site of a fishing com- petition in his memory on Sunday. Mary Kelly, mother of 17-year- old Richard ‘Happy’ Kelly, put up a bronze trophy for the competition as a way of thanking the fishermen who

snagged his skeletal remains and brought her 20 months of uncertainty to a close.

Mary Kelly vowed she would nev- er go to see Lough Bridget where her son’s remains – which had been weighed down with a concrete block – were found.

Gardai believe the young father may have been murdered after fall-

ing foul of a Limerick gang lord be- cause he stole a car containing gang drugs and ammunition.

Members of the Kelly family at- tended the fishing competition on Mary’s behalf.

“I will never go back there (Lough Bridget) but it was our luck that the fishermen went there that weekend,” she said. “I will never forget the 20

months I waited for news of Happy. Now I’m waiting to get justice for my son,” she said.

Mary said the organising of the competition and the presentation of the trophy – a bronze of fishermen in a boat – is a way of letting the anglers know what they did for her family.

The two anglers who snagged the Limerick teenager’s remains were

among those who took part in what is hoped will become and annual competition.

Happy went missing on April 26, 2006 and might never have been found except for the fishermen’s ex- pedition last November.

In a twist of fate, one of the anglers who found Happy’s remains is an ac- quaintance of the Kelly family.

SHANNON ~~ Development has launched a major domestic tourism marketing campaign aimed at entic- ing Irish visitors to holiday in Coun- ty Clare, at the Holiday World travel show in Dublin.

The campaign will involve an ex- tensive marketing, advertising and PR campaign to increase the coun- ty’s share of the national domestic tourism market.

Meanwhile, Failte Ireland, the na- tional tourism development author- ity, and Tourism Ireland, the body re- sponsible for promoting the island of Ireland overseas, met with the tour- ism industry interests in the Shan- non region last week to outline their plans for developing and promoting tourism in the region over the 2008 season.

Attending the meeting Shaun Quinn, Chief Executive of Failte Ireland, said they plan to “almost double investment in new and ex- isting tourist attractions and related infrastructure and to provide more practical business supports to tour- ism enterprises.’

Mr Quinn said that in light of inter- national economic challenges, cond1- tions in 2008 could be more difficult than those of recent years.

Referring to the recent announce-

ment by Ministers Seamus Brennan and Noel Dempsey regarding the Shannon Airport Catchment Plan, Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Paul O’ Toole said that an additional €3 million had been provided to pro- mote tourism to the West of Ireland in the post-Open Skies era.

“Tourism Ireland, together with Shannon Development and the Failte Ireland regions, has formed a work- ing group to agree a marketing plan for the Catchment Area; this plan will be implemented as soon as possible. It will aim to highlight the many at- tractions of the Shannon Airport Catchment Area in our core markets, to show how easy it is to get there from overseas and to showcase the good holiday value available from the tourism industry in the area.”

Meanwhile, the Western Develop- ment Commission (WDC) has out- lined how rural communities can tap into the potential of ecotour- ism. Addressing the Greenbox All Island Ecotourism Conference, Gil- lian Buckley, WDC Chief Executive, outlined the WDC’s experience of developing the Greenbox, Ireland’s only ecotourism destination, and told delegates how communities could use the WDC Model of Rural Devel- opment to help develop ecotourism and other innovative projects in their local area.

IT was back to Thursday nights at the stadium last week where the feature was the Student Nurses Voulenteer- ing Abroad 575 that took place on the eighth race of the card. Top prize went to the Noel Mullins trained Ballingown Boy who produced a good finish in testing conditions. The outside runners were fastest away here and off the first bend trap five Donail Blueboy shaded the lead.

At the third bend, Ballingown shot to the front and despite the renewed attempt of Donail the Mullins trained tracker ran on to beat him by a length in a time of 31.99.

The strong running Burnpark Pad- dy in trap three ran on for third spot just under three lengths back.

John Fitzgerald of Kilrush was on the mark in the third race over 325 yards as his Ler Thisnthat made all to take this. Coming away well from trap three, this fellow was chased all the way by trap five Crannagh Jim but he held him off on the run to the line by just under a length in a time of 18.32.

Donies Dasher for Ann Carey of Cooraclare came away fastest and led up to the first turn in the fourth race over 525 yards followed by trap two Maxical owned by Michael Browne of Kilrush who took over off the second bend. From here the Browne owned tracker was always in control and ran on win by just over two lengths in a time of 29.74.

Owen Treston’s All Time Classic got back into the swing of things in

the tenth race as she notched up her fifteenth victory here with a decent performance. Got Derailed for Frank Browne of Quin in trap six was the early leader here but Classic was hot on his heels and led down the back straight and win in a time of 29.50.

The best wine was saved until last as the Michael Downes of Killa- loe trained Sloanes Beauty kept her excellent run of form going when making all in the bumper over 525 yards. Coming away fast from trap two, she pulled away quickly as there were some traffic problems with the placed greyhounds.

From here on, she was never getting caught and ran on to beat trap three Millview Roy by four lengths in a time of 29.43.

Friday night’s card at Galway fea- tured the three semi-finals of the UCG A4 575 which came late in the card on this very cold night. The track here was rated slow for the entire night as a result of the condi- tions.

Fastest of these was the Tom Fit- zgerald trained Black Bush who got back into winning ways when taking heat two of this.

Pat Curtin got into the winners en- closure as his Tullagower Blue took the third race over 525. Taking the lead into the last bend, this fellow ran on to win by just over a length in a time of 30.12 (-0.30).

The Semi Finals of the €30,000 Green Lane Pet Foods 525 came down for decision on Saturday Night Where connections of the 12 runners as well as the 12 Schools attached to

the greyhounds waited anxiously for the heats that came in the 8th and 9th races on the card.

Tyrur Taco owned by P.J.Fahy was the slight favourite here and things looked tough for him after a slow start from trap four.

Here trap two Carhugar Bobsie led up to the opening turn followed by trap one Clonfeigh Nikita for own- ers Johnie Maher Kilmaley and Noel

Gavin of Ballyea who took over at the second turn. Along the back straight Tyrur moved up into third spot and then exploded with pace to go right up to the leaders.

The door was shut here however, as Clonfiegh stayed at the front but Tyrur steered a wide course off the last bend and on the run to the line he powered up to snatch victory from Clonfeigh by a neck in a time

of 29.14.

Carhugar stayed on for third spot to get his Quin owners and trainer Michael Downes of Killaloe a sec- Oe OVE TKcmmebeNelolmBEOMelomEDeT-UE

THE late Dr Brendan O’Regan’s work and commitment to regional development and cross-cultural ex- changes have been second to none and have won him numerous acco- lades including the ‘Commander of the British Empire’ (CBE) award for his contribution to peace.

In 1984 he was voted “Clareman of the Year” and in 1995 he was made “Freeman of the City of Limerick”.

In 2000 Dr O’Regan was awarded the “Peace Dove” by Co-operation Ireland in recognition of his contri- bution to promoting understanding and respect between the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Dr O’Regan has also received nu- merous doctorates from Academic Institutions around Ireland. In 1978, he was conferred Doctor of Laws by the National University of Ire- land with a particular mention of

his “originality, courage and innova- tion”.

In 1999, Dr O’Regan was awarded a Doctorate of Laws by the Queen’s University of Belfast for “his achievements as a peacemaker and as an industrial visionary’, while the University of Limerick recently hon- oured him for his work with the Irish Peace Institute and the development of the Shannon region.

Last year, An ‘Taoiseach Bertie Ahern launched a Clare County Council exhibition celebrating Dr O’Regan’s life which went on dis- play at the deValera library in En- nis and the Sean Lemass library in Shannon.

mY be Bradley said the plan’s objective was “to bring life to the town centre in Shannon and to bring new invest- ments and opportunities. It’s hoped to attract major investors into the area. It’s not a short-term fix. This vision is for a 10- to 15-year period.” Asked what the spin-off for the town would be, the senior planner said that, in the short term, it was “creating an economy and we very much want to link in with the airport and try to obtain a slice of the airport market which at present bypasses the Kena tee He believes the promised 1,000 jobs are most likely to be in the services, information economy and financial

services sectors.

He revealed that there were “al- ready commitments from three large interested parties to create a number of jobs in the short term, apart from the construction jobs that will be in- volved”.

The public has two weeks to make their suggestions to their local repre- sentatives, before the elected mem- bers consider incorporating the lands involved into a variation to the local area plan.

After that, formal submissions can be made through the planning proc- ess. Almost 140 people attended the briefing to hear details of the plan about which they had previously been asked to make suggestions.

Hugh Murray said that the “main preoccupation of the public submis- sions was to create a living town cen- tre with mixed use”.

The plan for the 90-acre town cen- tre development will involve a pro- posal to create up to 1,000 jobs over an extended time frame of up to 10- 15 years.

Among the proposals set out in the newly drafted master plan is the provision of a new main street, pedestrianised shopping precinct, town square, Civic Arts Centre, ho- tel, three-hectare civic park, primary school, medical care facility, school of enterprise and a light rail link.

“We have been very happy with the people here,’ he said. “In the first nine months we have gone from zero to 30 billion US dollars in assets, and from 19 to 91 employees.”

The Northern Trust Corporation 1s one of the world’s leading financial services institutions.

It provides asset servicing, asset

management, wealth management, and banking solutions to institution- al and personal investors throughout the world. Founded in Chicago in

1889, it is a top ten asset manager by assets under management.

It is a leading fund administrator in Europe and one of the largest per-

sonal wealth managers in the United States.

Northern Trust describes the Lim- erick office as a growth centre in Ire- land in mutual fund administration, CCF (Common Contractual Fund) administration and alternative fund administration, supporting Northern Trust’s fund clients in Ireland and around the world.

The corporation set up a fund serv- ices division in Dublin in 2000, and already has 500 people employed there. The establishment of this sec- ond operation in the mid west, with the potential to create up to 300 high level positions, was announced by IDA Ireland in September 2006.

The office, which is in Block 2, Hamilton House, Plassey Technol- ogy Park, was officially opened by Michael Ahern, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

“The mid-west region 1s a very at- tractive location for multinational companies to establish a base, with

a strong community support for business and the availability of high quality graduates and skilled people, as well as a wide choice of property solutions supported by an interna- tional standard infrastructure and an excellent quality of life for all,” said WW Gtimaueoure

Mr Osborn added that Northern Trust was delighted with the sup- port and encouragement from IDA Ireland and the local and business community.

ANIMAL health issues were high on the agenda at an IFA meeting in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture held in Ennis last week.

Silom rnleoeelcmm Yen Oemue mo ar-sbusem ey Seamus Murphy, Clare IFA County Chairman, included guest speakers James Hannon, Senior Veterinary Inspector; Aileen Tighe and Mary Bourke, Veterinary Inspectors of En- nis DVO.

James Hannon’s_ presentation showed that there were 88 more herds restricted in 2007 than 2006. There were also 1,117 more cattle removed from Clare herds in 2007 than in 2006.

Farmers were not alarmed by these figures, according to Seamus Mur- phy, as TB is becoming an epidemic in some parts of the county.

The senior inspector said that farm- ers have to make every effort to pre- vent interaction between wildlife and cattle. This can be done by making water-feeding troughs inaccessible to badgers and by fencing off badger sets.

Farmer assistance is vital in the badger removal programme and farmers need to respond to the let- ter when a survey is being carried out, talk to neighbours and gather as much information as you can.

Full cooperation between all par- ties involved will help reduce the

incidences of TB in the county, the chief inspector said.

Aileen Tighe gave a detailed and informative presentation on BVD with regard to transmission and sources of BVD, BVD infection dur- ing gestation and the keys to control- ling BVD.

In summary, Aileen said that con- trol of infection relies on identifica- tion and culling of PI animals from the herd.

Vaccination must continue once started, good bio security and closed or test and quarantine of replace- ments.

Mary Bourke, Veterinary Inspec- tor of DVO Ennis gave a presentation on Johnes disease. This included the

history, symptoms, how and when do cattle become infected, risk factors and consequences of infection.

Some of the control factors include improved hygiene at calving time and at calf feeding times in dairy herds, do not pool colostrums and to take care when purchasing replacement stocks said Mary Bourke.

James O’ Keeffe, who is head of the Department of Agriculture Wildlife Project Unit, and Michael O’Flynn, Chairperson of the IFA Animal Health Committee answered many questions from the floor regarding TB issues in the county.

Seamus Murphy closed the meeting and he thanked the large gathering for their participation.

INDIVIDUALS, groups and organi- sations interested in undertaking works aimed at protecting Clare’s biodiversity are being invited to ap- ply for funding under the Biodiver- sity Fund for 2008.

The fund was established last year by the Department of the Environ- ment, Heritage and Local Govern- ment following the Interim Review of the Implementation of the Nation- al Biodiversity Plan 2002-2006.

Administered by the Heritage Council, with the support of Clare County Council, it aims to encour- age and enable people to undertake capital projects that help protect Clare’s abundance of wildlife and

wild places.

The types of works being targeted by the Fund include enhancement, protection and conservation of Bio- diversity, creating wildlife areas, re- moving invasive species, and plant- ing native wild flowers and trees.

“The objective of this fund is to Support site conservation and man- agement for the enhancement of bio- logical diversity at a local level,” said Congella McGuire, Heritage Officer, Clare County Council.

“Priority will be given to high qual- ity and well thought-out applications that assist the management of sites that contain habitats of special con- servation importance in Ireland, or which support threatened or vulner- able species.”

A grant allocation can cover up to 50 per cent of the project cost and can be used in conjunction with grants from other sources.

Individuals, community groups, properly constituted non-profit or- ganisations, local authorities, statu- tory institutions, academic institu- tions and private companies are eligible to apply to the Fund for grant assistance.

“Clare has a rich variety of dif- ferent animals and plants as well as some of the best examples of habitats in Europe. However, our biodiversity is disappearing fast with animals and plants becoming extinct and habitats being damaged.

Therefore, I would urge anyone interested in protecting their local

biodiversity to consider applying for funding,’ said John Murphy, Biodi- versity Officer with Clare County Council.

“Biodiversity is all living things from the tiniest insect to the mighty oak. It is the variety of life on our planet. Our health, economy and quality of life depend on a healthy environment rich in_ biodiversity. Here in Clare, its presence is every- where, in our parks and gardens, by our roadsides, in our rivers and seas, and our ‘living landscapes’.”

Application forms will be automat- ically sent out to all previous appli- cants, and may also be downloaded from www.heritagecouncil.ie. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 15 February 2008.

THE Ennis General Hospital Devel- opment Committee is in the black following a very busy year for the lobby group.

According to the accounts present- ed to last week’s AGM of the com- mittee, the group has carried over €8,804 from last year.

Its treasurer, Fine Gael Deputy Joe Carey (FG), told the meeting that the

committee spent a total of €19,576.

Last year proved a busy and expen- sive year for the committee as it cam- paigned during the general election campaign for commitments to the future of the hospital and organised a protest rally for the streets of Ennis.

The greatest expense for the group was media advertising which totaled €7,951.

This included the cost of advertis- ing in the four local newspapers and

the local radio station.

Printing costs came to €4,151, which did not include car stickers, the cost of which was sponsored.

Postage costs for 2007 came to €3,520, public relations cost €300, Clare Cancer Concern was afforded €800, photography €1,098, the pub- lic health alliance €50 and bank charges came to €117.

The hospital committee raised most of its fund from church gate collec-

tions totalling €6,843.

Sales of the lobby group’s CD raised €5,/41, with further donations reaching €1,550.

The collection on the day of the hospital rally came to €2,800.

In total, the committee raised em eres

A carry-over of €10,646 from the previous year saw all the bills paid and the books in good stead for the Ley eaBNTSaA orb