Month: October 2009

THIS year has seen a large increase in people taking up cycling — some- what attributed to the government scheme – and the increasing number of events in the county and Ireland has provided an excellent platform to enjoy the sport with many events scheduled around Clare.

Events, including the An Post na- tionwide sportive series and the high profile Race Around Ireland meant that events ranged in scale from tens to thousands of participants over hundreds of kilometres to leisure events.

With this in mind, Clare cycle club Dolmen CC are building on this and see 2010 as a bumper year for cycling in Ireland and in the region.

“If you are aged 16 or over and would like to engage in cycling as a sport drop by the West County ho- tel on Wednesday 21st October at 8.30pm and chat to members of the club about our plans for 2010 and beyond and how you can take part,’ said martin McDonnell of Dolmen CGF

He also pointed out that 2009 has been an active year for Dolmen.

“In addition the very many leisure cycling events attended throughout the country and indeed internation- ally, Dolmen were part of a team that broke the record for the fastest Mizen Head to Malin Head non stop cycle, completing the cycle in under 19 hours.

“Dolmen has an embryonic and erowing racing team with good achievements in 2009, participating in National Road Races, Time Tri- als and Mountain Biking, and will be expanding the team for the 2010 season,” he added.

BUNRATTY progressed to the next round of the Munster Junior cup after victory against Bridge Celtic B. Bun- ratty certainly justified their favour- ites tags with this good solid per- formance. Their preliminary round victory last week against Rhine Rovers certainly stood to them here and despite a number of injuries and a few players on Oscar Traynor duty

they still managed to grab a 2-1 win.

They dominated the first-half and looked far more likely to score com- pared to the hard working Bridge team. Bunratty launched a number of attacks but none resulted in a goal mainly due to some poor shooting and some great saves by the Bridge goalkeeper. They still continued to press though and even when this meant there was a lot more space for Bridge to create some counter attacks

neither team could find an opening OO Koam UOMO NCC EDI OOT- TEE

The second-half continued in the exact same fashion with Bunratty conveying their control on the game. Eventually after 60 minutes that first goal was found and with no Surprise it was taken by a Bunratty player. Midfielder Pat Twomey was the provider as his well judged effort bounced into the corner of the net.

This almost lifted a burden off the

Bunratty players as they now seemed to play with an even greater sense of confidence. They now doubled the work load of Bridge’s defence who were really at this stage just hanging on and hoping they could find some way back into the game. Unfortu- nately for them it was going to get a lot worse. With seventy five minutes gone they finally secured the vital second goal. This time it was sub Declan McDonald who proved to be a capable goal scorer. With one of his first major touches he doubled his team’s goal tally. He remained calm and slotted home his shot past the falling keeper. The heads of the Bridge players would surely drop now.

Bridge though had different plans. They still were going to fight on until the very end and hope they could finally pierce the Bunratty rearguard. They took their time and wasted two or three chances before they eventually did with five min- utes of the game remaining. Again it required the touch of a substitute as Jamie O’Gorman finally gave his team something to cheer about.

They went up the field now des- perately trying to find an equaliser but they just ran out of time. Overall Bunratty deserved this one and de- spite the wonderful efforts of Bridge at the end they just were not strong enough to win. Bunratty were more clinical and their two goals half way through the second half were the ul- timate difference.

AN insightful EU survey carried out in 24 regions from 13 countries shows that regions have a crucial role to play in economic recovery. “We need long-term solutions to the economic crisis, and national gov- ernments must work closely with re- gions to maximise economic growth potential,’ says Christina Diegel- mann, Senior Policy Coordinator for the Assembly of European Regions (AER).

The AER survey found that a coun- try’s economic performance can be improved with more influence from its regions at national level, more in- dependence of the regions from the national level, financial competences and resources for the regions, as well as more competences in recreation and culture, infrastructure, educa- tion and research, and health care.

“While national recovery plans mainly target large companies and the financial system, regions focus primarily on supporting entrepre- neurship, SME’s and innovation capacity. Regional actions can con- tribute to turning this crisis into an opportunity to strengthen regional economies and _ safeguard jobs. Working together with all relevant stakeholders, regions are close to businesses and can take appropriate measures. While national support plans mainly target larger mostly international firms, regions focus on regional clusters and support busi- ness start-ups and SME’s that make up the important part of Europe’s companies and employers,’ says Ms Dyer

Ms. Diegelmann is due to speak in Limerick at a national Shannon Development conference titled ‘Dy- namic Regions — Future Directions in Regional Development’. An expert panel of national and international speakers, leaders in their fields, has been assembled by Shannon Devel- opment for their forthcoming confer- ence which will take place on the 6th November at Thomond Park Stadium in Limerick City.

The conference will be chaired by broadcaster John Bowman, and addressed by Mary Coughlan TD, Tanaiste and Minister for Enter- prise, Trade & Employment, and Dr. Vincent Cunnane, Chief Executive, Shannon Development, Ireland’s only regional development company.

“We have gathered an outstanding panel of national and international experts for our Conference and we hope it will pave the way for a wider national debate on the importance of regional action. It will include inter- national case studies from the As- sembly of European Regions, Lon- don Development Agency and the Basque Region of Spain. We see it as a key opportunity to share and learn, and we have assembled some of the leading experts in the field of region- al development to reflect its growing importance on the economic world stage. Our speakers will tackle a number of important topics that will provide the lead in new areas of re- gional action,” said Dr. Cunnane an- nouncing the conference.

CLARE based catering company, Corporate Catering Services Ltd. joined in the celebrations in Dublin last week to hail the return of the Q Mark, the recognised symbol of quality for all consumers and busi- nesses.

Corporate Catering Services Ltd. joined the EIQA in celebrating the ‘Q’ in a fantastic parade on Grafton Street featuring music legends U2, colourful fire dragons, carnival queens, the iconic James Joyce and a host of other quirky characters from renowned entertainment group, Ar- cana.

Commenting at the launch, Grace Lefroy, Operations Manager, Cor- porate Catering Services Ltd. said: “Quality is at the core of everything we do. In the catering industry, our standards are the yardstick by which we are judged. Participation in the Q Mark programme provides the ulti- mate assurance to our customers that our services reach the highest stand- ards of quality and excellence.”

With over 30 years industry expe- rience, Corporate Catering Services Limited is a 100 per cent Irish owned company with extensive experience in all aspects of the catering industry. They offer a comprehensive range of Quality Assured services to all sec- tors of the catering industry, ranging from full in-house catering to spe- cialist consultancy services.

The Q Mark is awarded only to companies who achieve the highest standards of quality and excellence, with Q Mark criteria ensuring that clients exceed legal requirements rather than simply adhering to them. This further assures consumers that companies who hold the ‘Q” are committed to continuous improve- ment and best practice.

Speaking at the launch, Irene Col- lins, Managing Director, EIQA said: “We are delighted that so many of

our customers were able to join us at such an exciting event in celebration of the Q Mark. The launch of Q Mark is effectively a return to a recognised symbol that guarantees consumers that when they purchase a product or service that carries the Q Mark sym- bol; they are purchasing a product or service of the highest quality. The Q Mark is a must for any business or oyeee-episrs 1m (eye nam

All certification and awards offered by EIQA will now come under the Q Mark umbrella and include Q Mark

for Hygiene and Food Safety; Q Mark for Quality Management Sys- tems; Q Mark for Nursing Homes, Q Mark for Leisure Centres and the recently launched Q Mark for Acces- sibility (ABLE Business Excellence Award).

The EIQA offers its programmes across all sectors, with customers in retail, food service, manufacturing, institutions, prison services, govern- ment, healthcare, business and pro- fessional services, financial institu- tions, nursing homes, leisure centres

and not for profit organisations.

The new Q Mark awards and cer- tifications will be officially unveiled at this year’s EIQA Quality & Excel- lence Awards on Friday, October 30, 2009 at the Burlington Hotel, Dub- rhe

MEMBERS of Shannon Town Coun- cil have expressed deep sadness at the passing of a woman who had a close connection with the town.

Jane Rice (right) was responsible for initiating a link between Shannon and New Jersey, back in 1996.

Jane, who was prominently in- volved with the New Jersey Emer- ald Society, died in New Jersey two weeks ago.

Retired Shannon ‘Town Clerk Tomas MacCormaic said that news of Jane’s death was met with sadness in Shannon. He recalled the link that had been set up by Jane.

“Shannon Town Council was rep- resented at every one of the Union County Parades each year; fourteen in all.

“Jane and (her husband) Jay ar- ranged each year to have the Shan- non representatives collected by lim- ousine at the airport and delivered to a reception by the President of the NJ Emerald Society. The limousine also took them back to the airport for departure, all compliments of the Emerald Society,” he said.

‘She was very special to those of us who met her,” he said.

“During the Shannon representa- tives stay in New Jersey, Jane and Jay escorted them to all formal events

and arranged for the mayor to be in- terviewed by television, radio and the print media. They delivered them to their hotel each night and collected them each morning for breakfast,” he added.

Jane was in good health when Mr Mac Cormaic and Councillor Geral- dine Lambert (representing the May- or, Councillor Gerry Flynn) visited New Jersey for the St Patrick’s day parade earlier this year. However, she took ill after Easter and passed away a fortnight ago.

The Emerald Society Pipe Band , 90 of who took part in the opening of the Rose of Tralee Parade this year and who spent several days in the im- mediate Shannon area, played at her funeral Mass and burial in the US.

SINGLE parents living in west Clare are waiting an average of four months for their one parent family payment after first lodging their claim.

According to Social Affairs Min- ister Mary Hanafin, single parents served by the Kilrush office have an average waiting period of 16.86 weeks for their first one parent fam- ily allowance.

Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) has called for additional staff at the Kilrush of- fice to deal with the backlog.

“It 1s important that these claims are processed on time. The most vul- nerable society must be looked after and that they don’t have to bear the burden. The necessary staff should be in place to ensure all applications are dealt with expeditiously.”

The average waiting period in east Clare is 13.43 weeks, while the aver- age waiting period by single parents served by the Ennis office is 9.60 weeks.

In a Dail response, Minister Hanafin said “Additional staff have been redeployed to local offices from other parts of the civil service and the department has identified a number of locations where the increasing number of claims for means tested payments warrants the allocation of additional Social Welfare inspectors. Arising from this, an additional 40 Inspectors are being assigned.

‘In some areas processing times are

unacceptably high but every effort is being made to bring these times back to acceptable levels as quickly as possible.

“Anyone suffering hardship can apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance. The majority of SWA claims are processed within a matter of days.

The average processing times for claims decided in September was 3.63 weeks for Jobseekers Benefit and 7.53 weeks for Jobseekers AI- lowance.

In Ennis, the average processing time for jobseekers’ benefit is 2.3 weeks and 4.78 for jobseekers allow- ance, while the average processing time for jobseekers’ benefit in Kil- rush is 2.99 and jobseekers allow- ance is 5.5 weeks.

The average wait in Tulla for job- seekers’ benefit is 2.88 weeks and jobseekers’ allowance is 4.29 weeks

THE proposed National Assets Man- agement Agency (NAMA) will do little to ease the pressures on small businesses opreating in areas like Parnell Street, Clare Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen has claimed.

Deputy Breen was speaking was during the debate on NAMA in Dail Eireann where he warned that un- less credit begins to flow in the Irish economy many more small business-

es will go to the wall.

Deputy Breen, the party’s spokes- person on Foreign Affairs, cited the example of the Parnell Street trad- ers in Ennis when he questioned the Finance Minister Brian Lenihan as to whether “NAMA will make any difference to the traders on Parnell Street, or any other traders in this county or nationwide.”

He claimed that the majority of people in this country are against NAMA and that when it came to

dealing with developers “there is one law for young couples setting out to buy their first home and another for developers”. He also claimed that NAMA will do nothing to address the huge demand for social housing. “Credit flow 1s the life blood of any economy and in spite of statements from the banks to the contrary, many small businesses are being squeezed because they are unable to secure credit from their banks. I refer to the €54 billion being made available by

the European Central Bank,” said Deputy Breen,

He added, “The belief is wide- spread among Fine Gael members that many commercial banks – which have borrowed money at a rate of three per cent and which will now gain access to this money at a rate of 1.5 per cent – will repay their original debts instead of allowing credit flow to customers who badly need it. I will cite the example of Parnell Street in Ennis, County Clare. Ten business- es have closed there in the past 12 months with the loss of more than 50 jobs and there are 20 vacant premises on that street now. The question must be asked whether NAMA will make any difference to the aforementioned traders on Parnell Street or to other traders throughout the county or na- tionwide.”

In September, traders told a meet- ing of Ennis Town Council that Par- nell Street was “dying” due to a com- bination of factors including the poor condition of the street, lack of invest- ment, poor lighting, drainage and the overall impact of the recession.

Speaking at the October meeting of Ennis Town Council, Town En- gineer, Eamon O’Dea said the coun- cil was currently examining how best to deal with drainage problems on Parnell Street. He said that this would involve “substantial elements of work”.

Aer Lingus drops axe on Shannon

A TOTAL of 46 jobs in ground op- erations are to go at Shannon.

Meanwhile workers faced with re- dundancy at one of the handling com- panies have been told that if compul- sory redundancy is necessary, those with the best skills and performance will be kept while people who have been late or absent may go regardless of seniority of service.

Servisair workers are currently vot- ing on whether to accept a proposal from management that there will be 20 full-time voluntary redundancies at the company, which looks after

baggage handling and other ground operations for many of the airlines using Shannon.

A SIPTU representative said that the union is not making any com- ment on the matter at the present as the ballot is on-going. There are cur- rently 65 people employed by Serv1- sair, 40 of them full-time.

In a letter to the union last week, Servisair management outlined it’s proposals, which include a redun- dancy package of statutory plus two weeks per year of service, with the weekly calculation capped at €600.

The company has said that if it does not get enough volunteers, it will ap-

ply a “matrix” selection process, which is not the tradition ‘first in first out’ redundancy process.

A spokesman for the company said this would be based on factors in- cluding workers’ “level of training, their skills, attendance record and any disciplinary matters.”

Sources in the company have de- scribed the process as too objective and a “carte blanche” for the com- pany.

Citing the “dramatic downturn in business at Shannon” as the reason for the cuts, Servisair management said its preferred option “is to secure as many positions in both the short

term and the long term and to mini- mise any redundancies.”

If agreement is not achieved on the proposal by October 26, all staff will be put on short time, the letter WEN @ Ole b

Meanwhile, Shannon Airport suf- fered yet another jobs blow with the news of 26 lay-offs at Sky Handling lantoe

The company says it has been forced into the decision because of a decline in air traffic at the facility. The company provides ground and cargo handling services and employs around 350 people in Shannon and DTV) ere

SCORES of budding GAA stars turned out across the county over the last two weeks to pay a special trib- ute to one of Ennistymon’s sporting aera

Youth teams from every corner of the county togged out for the first an- nual Joe McCaw Memorial Cup or- ganised by Bord na nOg Peil and the Ennistymon GAA Club. The final of the U-11 mixed tournament drew a host of players and spectators to La- hinch and Ennistymon last weekend.

“We had great interest in the com-

petition, from every corner of the county. So much so that we had to organise heats in west Clare, En- nis and north Clare before the final weekend, with the final eight teams getting through to the final in Lahi- nch and Ennistymon last week,” said Gerry Murphy, secretary of Ennisty- mon GAA Club.

“We had great interest from all the clubs and a lovely atmosphere at the events. For the final we had tea and sandwiches for everyone, with all the parents helping out, and there was a great family atmosphere about it. The sun was shining, what more

could you ask for.

“The children had a great time and there was a great following from each club. It’s from the family up to the club, that is the whole ethos of the GAA. The matches were very sporting affairs, the referees were very good and everybody had a good mbes

There was also a large measure of home success in the competition with Ennistymon overhauling Wolfe Tones to win the shield while St Breckan’s returned to Lisdoonvarna with the overall cup.

The competition was organised

in the memory of Joe McCaw, who passed away in 2007. Joe was in- volved with Ennistymon teams at all levels throughout his life and served as club president before his death.

“Joe was involved in the club for years and years, the club was really in his blood. He also trained the U- 12’s before he passed away so a youth competition like this was very appro- priate for him,” continued Gerry.

‘This is the first time that we have held the tournament in his honour but we are hoping to continue it on from here and make it into an annual event.”