Month: November 2008

A FASHION show with a difference will make a major contribution to the fund-raising efforts of the Suaimh- neas autism unit attached to Inagh national school which caters for stu- dents from all over the county.

The Christmas Allure fashion show which will be held in Glor on Thurs- day, December 4 features a 20% dis- count off leading labels.

Suaimhneas was established in 2002 as a single class for four Clare children with ASD (Autism Specific Disorder) and has now developed to two classes catering for ten children.

According to Suimhneas Principal Anne Quinn, the benefits for the chil- dren have been enormous. “Specific methodologies are used to encourage the children improve their social and communication skills. The interac- tion between pupils is a wonderful opportunity for them to work togeth- er to be the best they can be”.

The unit receives funding for staff- ing and basic class equipment but have to annually fundraise to pay for the specialist therapies such as music therapy and the expertise of a sports and exercise therapist. This year alone consultants cost €20,000.

A major extension being planned for the unit will include a state of the art ASD unit but significant fund- ing will be needed to ensure that it is properly equipped. You can help by buying a ticket for the 20 per cent discount fashion show and exhibition on December 4. A limited number of tickets are available at the Glor box office.

LABASHEEDA Community Pride has won the mid-west regional Tidy Towns biodiversity award with the Notice Nature campaign highlight- ing the efforts of the Labasheeda community in fostering birdlife.

Projects undertaken by the Labash- eeda group included the planting of native trees; construction of bird hide for bird watching; erection of an information unit illustrating the birds that visit the area.

“It is easy to be aware of nature when you live in an area so rich in biodiversity and local heritage.

The community in Labasheeda are conscious not to let progress dis- turb the natural beauty around us,” said Liam Woulfe, Labasheeda Tidy Towns Committee.

Since 2006, the Tidy Towns compe- tition has included a special category on wildlife and natural amenities for Tidy Towns initiatives which foster biodiversity and the natural environ- ment.

PU stom Nel nero: inbecoma Ne TKO mB ROAWEDKOKS actions taken to conserve, enhance and create local wildlife areas such as ponds and hedgerows.

“Treland’s biodiversity enhances the health and wellbeing of eve- ryone on this island. We should all play our part in protecting the natural environment for our benefit and for that of generations to come. You may never have considered that you could play an important part in protecting biodiversity, but the vol- unteers on Tidy Towns committees around Ireland have shown that you can,’ said Emma El-Sahn, Notice Nature spokesperson.

The Tidy Towns Biodiversity ‘No- tice Nature’ Award is sponsored by the National Parks and Wildlife Service as part of the Notice Nature campaign.

Notice Nature is Ireland’s public awareness campaign on biodiversity and aims to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and to en- courage everyone to play their part in protecting it.

20 OF the 500 projects that have qualified for next January’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition have been submitted by secondary school students from Clare.

The 500 qualifiers were selected from a record entry of 1,616 projects submitted by 3,712 students from all 32 counties – including a 25 per cent increase in entries from Northern Ireland.

The exhibition has evolved through- out its 45 year history to become one of the largest events of its kind in the

world. Year on year there has been a steady surge in the number of en- tries; from 669 in 2001 to an over- whelming 1,616 this year marking an overall increase of 240 per cent.

The Clare entries are across all four categories and in all age groups. There are eleven from Mary Im- maculate Secondary School in Lis- doonvarna; two each from Kilrush Community School and St Anne’s Community College in Killaloe and one each from Ennis Community College, St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon, Scariff Commu- nity College; Meanscoil Na mBrai-

thre and Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon.

The overall winner(s) will receive a Waterford Crystal trophy together with a cheque for €5,000.

The winner will also have the op- portunity to represent Ireland in the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in September 2009.

The BT Young Scientist and Tech- nology Exhibition aims to build in- genuity, creativity and excitement amongst students and to help them to understand the importance and rel- evance of the sciences in their eve- ryday lives, while fostering the very skills that are essential for building

a knowledge economy and the future prosperity of the island.

Speaking at the announcement, Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe TD, said it was vitally important that second level students are encouraged to study science sub- jects for the future development of the Irish economy and society as a whole.

“The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition provided the perfect opportunity for students to demonstrate their skills in a competi- tive environment and to become the innovators, researchers and entrepre-

neurs of tomorrow,” he said.

Commenting on the record number of entries, Chris Clark, CEO, BT said the event was providing a plat- form for students to express their in- genuity and build their skills through science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as interacting with their peers and foster better re- lations through science

The BT Young Scientist & Tech- nology Exhibition will be held in the RDS, Dublin from January 6-10.

For more information on the exhi- bition, log onto www.btyoungscien- tist.com

AN east Clare councillor was among 47 landowners who received letters from the county council warning them that they have to cut back over- grown trees and hedges bordering their land or else run the risk of fac- ing prosecution.

But Fianna Fail councillor, Pat Hayes it transpired was sent the letter “in error’, it was confirmed by senior council staff.

The warning letters sent last month are getting a “positive response” with farmers rushing to get their hedge- rows cut, senior executive council engineer, Sean Lenihan said.

The council has now sent up to 50 more letters to landowners in the re- gion, he told a meeting last week of the Scarriff area committee of the

council.

The engineer started sending out the letters after councillors made nu- merous requests for hedgerows to be cut in the interests of traffic safety.

But the local authority does not have the resources to cut hedges everywhere in the county and it 1s proving to be a particularly expen- sive job in east Clare, as this part of the county has the largest number of roads and road frontage, Mr Lenihan explained.

“Landowners may not realise that they have an obligation in law to keep their own hedgerows trimmed. We want to get the message out there that wherever hedgerows are beside a public road, the landowners have an obligation to keep them cut back,” said Mr Lenihan.

Council workers in each area have

been asked to report any growth which is not cut back, Mr Lenihan said.

The senior engineer told councul- lors that there has been “ a very posi- tive response to our first letters, with people ringing us for names of com- panies who do the cutting and a big flurry of activity”.

He confirmed that one of the mem- bers of the area committee, Cllr Pat Hayes, had been sent a letter “in er- ror”.

Asked for clarification by the mem- bers about the same legislation ap- plying to dangerous trees overhang- ing the road, Mr Lenihan said that he would “back anyone who has to cut a limb of a tree which is a danger on the road but this is not a licence for people to go out and fell whole trees without a felling licence”.

THE Department of the Environ- ment has been accused of robbing Clare County Council of funding ring-fenced from motor-tax paid in the county.

Following the confirmation of a seven per cent cut in the council budget for next year, Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said that the Gov-

ernment was going back on a deal to ring-fence money collected from motor tax for use in the county.

‘This Government told us that they were ring-fencing the money from motor tax for the local authorities but now they are using this money for their own issues,” the councillor renee

“They said that this money was protected so why are they taking it

from the local authority. The level of money being paid for motor tax has not gone down so I don’t see why our funding in respect to this should be cut.”

Meanwhile, it was also revealed that Clare County Council is being forced to take out overdraft facilities to cover budget shortfalls as a result of delays in receiving payments from the Department of the Environment.

CLARE County Council and Ennis Town Council are aiming to house 60 Traveller families in standard council housing in the greater Ennis area over the next five years.

According to the council’s draft Traveller Accommodation Plan, there will be a need to house 123 Traveller families between 2009 and 2013. It has been established that 88 indigenous Traveller families are in need of permanent accommodation and it 1s anticipated that an addition- al 35 new families will also require accommodation during the period of the draft plan.

The draft plan confirms that the county’s Traveller population will be concentrated in Ennis, Ennistymon and Shannon where all but two of the 123 residential units will be pro- vided. The other two homes will be provided in Scariff and Killaloe over the five years.

The council makes no provision for transient sites in Clare, holding the view that this should be implement- ed on a national basis using regional NSM CRE Kony

The local authority will gener- ally endeavour to accommodate a minimum of one Traveller family in a grouping of ten local authority rented houses and give due consid-

eration to proportionality throughout the county, subject to the interests of proper estate management.

“This will allow for the ongoing integration of Traveller families into standard housing. The council will promote a progression from Travel- ler specific accommodation to stand- ard housing where appropriate and where the family so desires. This would serve to minimise the number of Traveller specific sites required in the future.”

A comprehensive assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers took place in September when it was established that by far the greatest need for accommodation was in En- nis where 65 families required hous- ing. This compares to thirteen in the Ennistymon area and eight in the Shannon area.

The plan anticipates that 60 Travel- ler families will be accommodated in standard council housing in the greater Ennis area with 24 families accommodated in group housing or SEVER UNTSMESSI Roe

Ten Traveller families will be ac- commodated in standard council housing in Shannon, while six fami- lies will be accommodated in En- nistymon in council housing, while an additional twelve families will be accommodated in group housing in the north Clare town.

CLARE Fine Gael TD Joe Carey is one of a number of political fig- ures that has asked the minister for health to reverse her decision not to proceed with the vaccination programme against HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), a sexually trans- mitted infection that can lead to cervical cancer in some women. Deputy Carey said the abandon- ment of the programme proved that

“the minister for health is not pre- pared to address the fundamental issue of a real and genuine public sector reform’.

Speaking in the Dail on the HPV debate Deputy Carey explained how cervical cancer had ruined the life of one of his neighbours.

“She was diagnosed two years ago with cervical cancer. Her life was turned upside down; in her words, her life has been “wrecked” by the scourge of cancer. Her family life

has been ruined. She cannot under- stand what the minister is trying to do to the Irish people,” he said.

Cervical cancer is the eighth most common cancer in Ireland, with 240 new cases diagnosed every year and some 100 deaths.

“The minister gave an assurance to the public three months ago that this vaccine would be provided to all 12 year old girls. Three months later, however, this lifeline has been taken away for no apparent

reason other than to save a few euro. It is absolutely outrageous,” he said.

Clinical trials have shown that HPV vaccination prevents ad- vanced forms of non-invasive cer- vical cancer.

Although there are in excess of 200 HPV strains, just a small number are associated with the de- velopment of cancer of the cervix.

HPV types 16 and 18 are found in almost 70 per cent of cervical can-

cers, while another five sub-types are responsible for a further 20 per cent of cases.

However, the published data on the vaccine does not yet extend be- yond a six and a half follow-up pe- riod. There is currently a nine year study been under taken.

It has therefore yet to be scien- tifically proven that HPV vaccine prevents invasive cancer of the cer- vix or if a booster injection will be required in the future.

that prior to this, an average of 10 cases of this form of meningitis were reported to the HSE mid-west every year, with one death per annum.

The success of different vaccination programmes has depended on the uptake and that has often depended on associated published concerns.

Last September the HSE intro- duced a new childhood immunisa- tion for all babies born on or after July 1, 2008.

The additional vaccines in the new scheme, PCV and Hepatitis B, are aimed at protecting children against two serious diseases – Pneumococcal disease which can cause meningitis, septicaemia (blood poisoning) and pneumonia and Hepatitis B infection that affects the liver and can cause lifelong liver disease.

The Hepatitis B vaccine is given to children at two months as part of the new six-in-one vaccine. PCV is also given at two months and started in the UK last year.

Dr Fitzgerald explained that the vaccine has proved successful not only in the recipient but there was

“twice as much success in those not vaccinated”. In other words for every child vaccinated two more were con- sidered safe.

This vaccine is given only to those under two years of age with another form available to adults with a di- minished immune system.

The public health specialist also pointed out that vaccines have im- proved since they were first intro- duced.

BCG is not 100 per cent effective but is very good at preventing certain strains of TB.

2001 marked the lowest uptake of BCG, but the uptake is now at 97 per NMI D Kore hce

Dr Fitzgerald said that cases of TB could be attributed to its incubations orem (olen

“Incubation of TB could be dec- ades. Some of the cases today got TB when young,” she explained.

She said it was important that the population continue to avail of vac- orb ee

“People say these diseases are gone, that we don’t have cases but we do,’ she said.

“These are serious illnesses and there are vaccines to prevent them that work. One in 1,000 who get measles die in developed countries where you have good nutrition,” she warned.

“Nothing is 100 per cent safe but any difficulties you have with a vac- cine 1s much less than you have with the disease,’ she said.

AN INCREASE in the number of cases of mumps reported this year has led to questions about the suc- cess of the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccination programme.

There has been an estimated 800 cases in Ireland this year.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) continues to monitor the growing number.

Almost 60 per cent of reported cases are in the 10 to 24 year age group.

Mostindividuals affected by mumps either never received or received just one dose of MMR vaccine.

The up take of MMR vaccine is not

even at 90 per cent in Ireland. Na- tionally the uptake is at 89 per cent with a larger up take in the mid-west at 91 per cent.

Despite the higher uptake in the Clare area it is still not high enough to render the population immune.

“If you have a 95 per cent uptake in the vaccine you have herd immunity as it does not replicate,” explained Dr Rose Fitzgerald, Specialist in Public health Medicines.

‘There is a possibly only 80 to 90 per cent of the population covered,’ she said.

The MMR vaccine has a history of bad publicity as question marks re- mained over the vaccine following the Wakefield report.

In 1998, British gastroenterologist Dr Andrew Wakefield published a pa- per suggesting a possible association between childhoods MMR immu- nisation, bowel disease and autism. The Lancet, one of the world’s top medical journals, published Wake- field’s study. Later, however, they called the study “fatally flawed.”

Since 2001 the number receiving the vaccine has increased as the re- port according to Dr Fitzgerald was discredited.

In 2001 less than 70 per cent of the population were receiving the vac- cine, but the number is now up to 89 per cent nationally and 91 per cent for the mid-west.

The history of the MMR vaccine

dates back to the rubella vaccine given to girls in the 1970s. A vaccine against mumps was given to boys.

In 1985 a measles only vaccine was introduced. By 1988 it was decided to combine all of the vaccines and give them to both genders.

In 1992 it was decided to give a sec- ond MMR vaccination to children at two years of age instead of the rubel- la vaccine for girls. In 2001 the age of the second or booster vaccine was changed to four or five years of age.

“If you give 100 per cent of the population MMR 90 per cent will be effective,” explained Dr Fitzgerald.

“By giving the second one (injec- tion) you get 90 per cent of the 10 per cent which is 99 per cent coverage.

You will still have one per cent not covered.”

The HSE face the difficulty that they do no know what per centage of the population have had both inocu- lations.

“IN the early days of the MMR in 1988 it was a new vaccine and did not have a very good record so we don’t know how many are covered,’ said Dr Fitzgerald.

In 2007 142 cases of mumps were recorded, 427 in 2006 and 1079 cas- es in 2005 which was due to a na- tionwide outbreak that year. Several mumps outbreaks have been notified in third level colleges and in schools, both primary and second-level this year.

OPPOSITION continues to grow among local residents in Ballina- Killaloe following the lodging of a planning application by developers to build a high-rise apartment com- plex at the Derg marina.

Now an information evening or- ganised in opposition to the planning application has been arranged by the Ballina Marina Action Group for 8pm on Thursday, November 27 at the Lakeside Hotel, Ballina.

Reacting to the planning applica- tion, BMAG spokesperson, Joe Ca- halane said today, “There is consid- erable unease here toward the marina development proposals. This project is masquerading as a marina devel- opment when it is, to all intents and purposes, a massive apartment com- plex rising to five storeys at its high- est point. We are urging all those concerned with the developer’s pro- posals to turn out in force at the pub- lic meeting in Lakeside Hotel.”

The deadline for acceptance of planning objections to the proposals is Friday, December 5.

Mr Cahalane said that “the design and scale is completely at odds with

the sustainable development of a heritage town and would be more at home in the Dublin Docklands than in the tranquil setting of Ballina and GTI elena

The developers of the €60 mil- lion Shoreline marina, housing and commercial development, Eclipse Developments had said they would have further public consultation on the plan, after they had filed for plan- ning permission.

The developers say the plan will create 70 jobs when finished, en- hance public amenities for visitors and locals in Killaloe and Ballina and bring a €6 million annual spend to the area and extend the tourism season.

Locals are also concerned that the proposed marina is abounds a Spe- cial Protection Area (SPA), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a National Heritage Area (NHA) in a recognised heritage town.

Mr Cahalane stated that the local residents had asked for a detailed copy of the marina plan and for the model of the development to be put on display in the area but claimed that neither of these requests were complied with.