Month: October 2008

OPPONENTS of plans to construct a €10 million explosives plant on the Shannon Estuary have served papers seeking a High Court injunction pre- venting An Bord Pleanala from tak- ing any further steps in determining the appeal on the plan.

Last Thursday in Ennis, the appeals board three-day oral hearing into the proposal concluded with counsel for Shannon Explosives Ltd, Esmonde

Keane SC stating that the board’s reason for refusing planning permis- sion to a previous plan by the com- pany has been fully dealt with in the new proposal.

However, Mr Keane’s closing state- ment took place in the absence of Opponents to the plan, An Taisce, Cairde Chill an Disirt Teo (CCDT) and three individual appellants who all withdrew from the hearing on Tuesday after the board refused to state as to whether the hearing was

being held under Irish law or a re- view under an EU Directive.

Acting solicitor for CCDT, Michael Nolan confirmed that the High Court case being brought by his clients has been adjourned from last Friday, Oc- tober 24 to November 21 to allow the other sides lodge responding affida- Wali

Mr Nolan said that An Bord Pleana- la gave an undertaking in court that if they were to make a decision on the appeal, they would give CCDT

notice if they wished to seek a court order preventing the board from de- termining the appeal.

Mr Nolan confirmed that CCDT are seeking an injunction preventing An Bord Pleanala from taking any steps in determining the appeal and an order requiring the reconvening of the oral hearing.

The application for judicial review is also demanding that the appeals board determine whether the appeal before is a review under EU legisla-

tion or an appeal under Irish law. Terance Corry of CDDT told

CLARE county councillor Oliver Garry (FG) said a higher Garda vis- ibility in Kildysart is giving an ele- ment of confidence and security back to the local people.

In the last number of weeks a patrol car has been visible in an area that has been victim to daylight burgla- ries and boat engine thefts.

The Kildysart councillor said that the visibility of the gardai and the formation of the local community alert under the chairmanship of local

businessman Michael Michaels are adding to community confidence.

A spate of burglaries within a ten- mile radius of the village had been a cause of concern for the quiet west Clare area.

Homes in rural areas around Bal- lynacally and Cranny had witnessed a series of day light burglaries

The thieves targeted the unoccupied homes during the day and among the items stolen include jewellery, cash and computer games.

Five boat engines, valued at up to €6,000 each, had also been stolen

from Crovraghan Quay, Kildysart on two separate occasions.

These boats were used by local farmers to access the island.

“The reports I had been getting back from people was the lack of Garda presence and the Garda vis- ibility has given the people more as- surance that there is a watchful eye on the area,” he said.

“*T felt concerned for the people who lived on the island, and have now moved to the mainland, that they felt their boats and engines were not safe on the quay side. People go to the 1s-

land on a daily basis to work on their farms. It is all very upsetting.

“The community is now more to- gether on this. They are reporting strangers in the area and are more alert to different people. People are also keeping an eye on elderly people living alone through the community alert,” he said.

Gardai are covering areas such as Ballynacally, Ballycorrick, Cranny, Coolmean and Kilmurry McMahon in the patrol car and giving support to Labasheeda, according to Cllr Garry.

IT WOULD seem that the bees haven’t been so busy in west Clare last summer as honey is as scarce and precious as gold in the county.

As a result of the honey decline EIRI Corca Baiscinn has found yet another niche in the market to help supplement farmers income in west Clare. The organisation is hosting a nine-week Bee Keeping Course starting on Monday, November 3 at the Brothers of Charity in Kilrush.

The course 1s aimed at anyone who may have considered keeping their own honeybees and harvesting their own wild flower honey.

“There are many reasons to keep bees as well as being able to get your own local, nutritious honey to sweet- en drinks and food,’ said Hilary Gleeson, Rural Development Officer with EIRI.

“Bees, as every keen gardener knows, help with pollination in your own garden or orchard and surround- ing area. Beeswax can be used to make candles, soap and cosmetics,” she added

The wet summer resulted in a low honey yield this year and the ru- ral development officer hopes that if more people get involved in the home industry next year there will be sufficient honey available to act as

a sweetener to the health conscious and ward of colds and flus in the county.

Ms Gleeson said that honey was not very plentiful in the seen farmers markets in the county this year, and hoped that with more suppliers the natural produce would be available well into the winter.

“Tt is very hard to buy at the mo- ment. It would be a big seller if we could get more of it at the markets,” she said.

The bee-keeping course will cover the history of beekeeping and how to get started including beekeep- ing terminology, and the equipment needed.

Information on the types of hives, apiary selection and management, handling the bees, a month by month beekeeping diary, queen rearing, pests and diseases, flowers for nectar and pollen, dealing with the honey crop and preparing for winter will also be among some of the areas Ono Keren

The course will also include a visit to lecturer, Fintan Ryan’s apiary in Rahona, Carrigaholt.

Bookings and information for the course 1s available at EIRI Corca Baiscinn, Kilkee on 9056611 or by contacting Hilary Gleeson, Rural De- velopment Officer on 086 8235598. The course cost €20.

THE founder of one of the leading Lovie alee mmr TIC MOM BDO ab NsounIty companies in the western region has reiterated his commitment to build- ing a hotel in Kilrush and developing the marina.

Louis Keating of Kilmihil based L and M Keating Ltd, was speaking at the launch of the company’s biggest ever development in Kilrush — The Merchants Quay Business Quarter.

‘This is our first job in the town as developers. Generally we see our- selves as contractors, we generally tender for work, sign contract and carry out work on time,” he told the packed room at the development’s launch.

“These offices are part of a larger development which consisted of apartments, offices, hotel and a multi storey car park. The apartments at this stage are built. We acquired the

project in the past few months and we have now completed the offices and we do intend if possible at all, to proceed with the hotel and with the car park.

‘I suppose in the current economic climate, its unlikely in the next few months that we will be commencing work on the hotel but we are very aware that Kilrush really needs a hotel, and I know all of the bodies in the town are very supportive of a hotel,” he told the mix of business people and politicians.

“In fact everywhere I go I am al- ways asked, any move on the hotel?” he added.

‘As people may be aware we also have involvement with the marina in Kilrush. Our company together with another company are the preferred bidders to develop the marina.

“Now we have quite ambitious plans, again they are on the back burner to some degree at the mo-

ment but we are still actually talking to Shannon Development and I am quiet confident that we will carry out our development dreams in the ma- rina, and I think this would be a great boost for the town,” he said.

Merchants Quay has been hailed as Kilrush’s landmark building with office and commercial unit available for sale or lease.

Mr Keating also pointed out that the units are one of the few tax-des- ignated properties in the country.

Dentist Dr Niall McCarthy has al- ready decided to take up residence in the building.

Ten years ago Louis Keating went through the old mills – then boarded up and closed – that make up the new state of the art development.

“Today is part of a new life for these building and I hope they are just as noisy as ever they were with just as many people working here, and that they are as important a part of Kil-

rush as they always were,” he said.

“Vd like to acknowledge the vi- sion of Mark and Dermot Reidy who started off this project,’ he added be- fore thanking all those that worked on the development.

He added a special word of ap- preciation to the new development’s neighbours Charles and Edel Glynn for their patience during the two and a half years work.

Mayor of Clare Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) congratulated Mr Keating and thanked him for the amount of employment his company brought to west Clare.

‘He is a very humble man who does a very good job and we really are proud of him,” she said.

A WOMAN whose running career began in Shannon is returning to the town to encourage others to take to the track.

Deirdre Daly-Cahill, has, over the past three years, encouraged doz- ens of women to take up running, through her Meet and Train sessions in Ennis.

She selflessly gave of her time and organised weekly meetings on a vol- untary basis, since 2006. Now, under the auspices of the Clare Sports Part- nership, Deirdre takes a Meet and Train running group in Ennis every Monday night. The Ennis group started five weeks ago and there has been a phenomenal response, with more than 60 women attending every week. Given the resounding success of the Ennis initiative, Clare Sports Partnership co-ordinator John Sweeney decided to organise a pilot project in Shannon, starting tomor- row, Wednesday, at 8pm.

The group will meet at the Shan- non Development office at SkyCourt and will walk/run a one-mile loop, passing St Patrick’s Comprehensive School, the garda station and back to the starting point. The route is fully lit.

Deirdre emphasised that women of all ages and fitness levels are wel- come to attend.

‘The Meet and Train caters for all levels of fitness, from the walker that wishes to progress to jogging and to the jogger who wishes to run a 10k without stopping,” she said.

While she lives at Roslevan, Ennis, Deirdre is no stranger to Shannon. Her mother Christina hailed from Coolmen and her father Michael originally came from Ballyea, just outside Ennis. The family lived in Shannon for a period, when Deirdre was in school.

“History has come full circle. My mother was involved in the running craze in the 1970s and jogged that very same route when a group got to-

gether to keep fit,” she recalled.

While living in Shannon, Deir- dre attended St Conaire’s National School and was taken running by one Ger Loughnane, who taught at that school then. That was when her love of running was born.

“I do remember Ger Loughnane taking us out running. [ also ran with Shannon Athletics Club,” she said.

Although Deirdre gave up running for a number of years while living in London, her passion for the sport re-ignited when she moved to Dublin more than 10 years ago.

“One evening I saw a group of peo- ple out running in Chapelizod. It was the Donore Harriers Meet and Train Group, run by the famous Jim McNa- mara (former Olympian),” she said. Deirdre quickly joined that group and never looked back. Indeed, Jim was her inspiration when she began coaching three years ago. Along with her coaching, Deirdre also runs competitively with Ennis Track Club and ran the Dublin City Marathon

with Clare Crusaders two years ago. Deirdre is also a personal trainer, where she provides one-to-one train- ing from the proverbial couch potato to the fitness fanatic and is available for appointments.

She is optimistic that Meet and Train will take off in Shannon, given the huge interest in fitness among people of all ages.

“Shannon is a progressive town. I believe there would be sufficient in- terest,’ she said.

Anyone interested in joining Deir- dres Meet and Train group should contact Catherine Ryan at Clare Sports Partnership by calling 065 6865434.

A NEW gift card, similar to that which exists at the prestigious Dun- drum Shopping Centre in Dublin, will be launched at SkyCourt in Shannon this week.

In an effort to entice customers to spend their money at SkyCourt, management has designed its very own new gift card scheme, specifi-

cally for use in all of it’s 60 retail outlets in the Shannon complex. It will be launched at a fashion show at SkyCourt food court on Thursday at 7pm.

The gift card is similar in appear- ance to a credit card and is backed by MasterCard.

“It is really simple to use. You buy the card at the SkyCourt service desk, prepay what ever amount you

like and then offer it as a gift for use in any of our stores accepting Mas- terCard/Maestro,’ said SkyCourt manager Pat Kelly.

“We are really pleased to be the first in Munster to introduce this Gift Card Scheme which is currently operating very successfully in Dun- drum Shopping Centre,” said Mr Keath

“Tt helps solve the difficult decision-

making people have at Christmas and birthdays. It allows the receiver of the card to enjoy a shopping ex- perience and purchase exactly what they want,” he said.

An information and purchase point desk will be open in the shopping centre to coincide with Thursday’s fashion show launch. Complimen- tary food and light refreshments will also be available.

SHANNON will play host to the celebration of a major festival by the Indian community in the mid-west, this weekend.

An Indian cultural programme to celebrate Diwali festival is poised to attract some 200 people to the Oakwood Arms Hotel, on Sunday evening (starting at 6pm).

Diwali is also known as ‘The Fes- tival of Lights’ and is India’s biggest festival. Diwali, a religious and cul- tural festival, celebrated by Indians worldwide. Its celebration date is

today, October 28, but the special event in Shannon will be marked on Sunday.

The event is being organised by the Midwest Indian Irish Society (MIIS). One of the organisers Paramyit Neote said there are up to 80 people from India currently living in Shannon.

“There is a large community of Indians living in Shannon, Limer- ick and Ennis. The idea is to bring them together and celebrate the event together and also to promote Indian culture in the local community,” he nee

Mr Neote moved to Ireland 20 years

ago and has worked in the Shannon area since then. He was born in Ken- ya and his parents hailed from India. He lived in Malaysia with his fam- ily for some time, prior to moving to Nyat-veveteyel

On moving to Shannon in 1988, he set up Shannon Aircraft Motorworks in the Shannon Free Zone. It was later sold to an American company and Mr Neote currently works as a business consultant.

“When I moved to Shannon, at the time Tony Ryan was very active in trying to bring aviation groups here. We were very much encouraged to

come to Shannon,” he said.

“The MIIS was set up a couple of years ago. Its main purpose was to help people to settle in here. We got to the stage where we had to get a larger scale,’ he added.

‘We see there is a need to promote an awareness of our group,’ Mr Ne- ote said.

Sunday’s event will include a short prayer, a welcome speech by the MIIS and a speech from Tara Chand, the first secretary, Embassy of India. There will also be two hours of In- dian cultural events performed by lo- cal artists, a dinner and dance.

TO MARK its 20th birthday, the Shannon craft fair is set to be a much bigger, bumper event this year.

A wide array of items, such as jew- ellery, pottery, knitwear, home bak- ing and handmade cards will be on sale during this year’s fair, which is scheduled to take place at the Sean Lemass library in Shannon, between

Monday, December 8 and Wednes- day, December 17.

“We hope to have up to 20 stands this year. We are encouraging peo- ple to support it and keep it going. It will be the place to get that special present. The majority of the stands are run by local people,” said one of the organisers Tess Barry.

“We have a lot to offer this year and we expect that it will be supported,”

she added.

Since the craft fair committee was first set up, there have been many changes in personnel over the years. Bridie Halton was a key member of the committee for many years and has handed the reins over, over time.

‘Many people over the years have helped to make the craft fair a suc- cess. We have had a lot of gifted crafters in the town,’ said Ms Barry.

Last year’s fair ran for just one week and the committee has decided to extend it this year, to cater for de- mand. The next meeting of the craft fair committee will take place next Tuesday, November 4, at the library, SITU BUNTcare lig ov eeF

Anyone interested in holding a stand at the craft fair should contact Tess Barry on 061 352241 or Carmel Daly on 061364266.

THE WOMEN of Killaloe have a boast that would make Brigid Jones envious – they have all the men they F001

In fact what the ladies want is a few more women – to join the men on the catwalk. At the launch last week of the Fashion Extravaganza to raise funds for the Smith-O’ Brien minors, the lads were lining up to be super- models on the night.

“The men quite happily volunteered to model,” said Antoinette Ryan, one of the organising committee.

“The ladies are a bit more shy but we have more ladies boutiques in Killaloe than menswear so we need to persuade a few more ladies.”

The fun fashion event is to raise money to help fund the activities of the busy minors, who have 120 play- ers from under six and who have a team in every age bracket in the county competitions.

The Fashion Extravaganza, which will be held on Friday, November 14 in the Lakeside Hotel in Ballina is the first run by the committee but, they hope, not the last.

‘The boutiques and shoe shops and the businesses in Killaloe and Balli- na have given us fabulous support,” said Antoinette.

Killaloe businesses have rolled in behind the venture, and business con- cerns as far away as Nenagh, Scariff and Limerick have come on board.

“They are supporting us buy show-

ing clothes on the night and every one of them has donated a spot prize – they’ve been fantastic,’ Antoinette said.

The launch last week was spon- sored by Supervalu who provided a cheese and wine reception.

A beautician, hairdresser and two boutiques have offered their service and two €100 clothes vouchers for a make-over for two lucky people on the night.

“There will be boxes around the town in the shops and anyone who would like a makeover has to fill in a form and leave it in the box. We’ll have a draw for two names and they will have things like hair cuts and colouring done in advance with styl- ing, beauty treatments and clothes

picked for them on the night when they will show the “before and afters’ at the show,” said Antoinette. There will be plenty of spot prizes, includ- ing funkiest handbag and wackiest heels.

As well as raising money, the com- mittee are hoping that the show will prove to be a great social night and a Ke) meyas atten

“The main thing is we hope people will come along and support it and have a great time. It should be a fabu- lous night,” said Antoinette.

TWO novel new ways of raising cash for the playground in Scariff were announced at a special launch on Friday night.

Most people are happy to support raffles in a good cause without know- ing what they might win but in this case, what the punters don’t know is how much they will have to pay for the raffle ticket.

“What we are asking people to do is to buy an envelope and when they open the envelope, they will get a slip of paper telling them how much their raffle ticket will cost. It can

be anything from one cent to €30,” explained Joan Crotty of the play- ground committee.

There will be 3,000 envelopes sold and the draw will take place on De- cember 28. First prize is €3,000, with ten prizes of €100 and 20 prizes of €50.

The second fund-raiser will start after Christmas and will involve peo- ple buying a virtual brick for €100 a pop.

“We won’t know how many virtual bricks we need to sell until we see how the raffle goes,” said Joan.

So far, the fund to construct a play- eround in the Riverside Park has

been boosted with grants of €60,000 from Clare County Council’s play- ground fund and €27,000 which has been raised locally through events such as the Thousandaire and the fashion show.

“There are 150 children in the na- tional school here and more in the Steiner school and in Tuamgraney, so we’re hoping that the parishes around Scariff will support the draw as well,’ said Joan.

Plans for the fabulous new facility were on show in Ryan’s bar for the fundraiser launch on Friday night.

The playground is being construct- ed by “Go Play” and will include

separate areas for older children and tiny tots, climbing towers, swings, Slides, roundabouts and wheelchair accessible play equipment as well as the super-safe and hard wearing wet- pore surfacing.

The playground will be the latest addition to the facilities in the Riv- erside Park, which has been an on- going project in Scariff to create an amenity by the river for the village.

For a chance to help boost the playground fund, Mystery Raffle envelopes can be bought from any member of the community council and have been available since the (ete Conte w