Month: January 2010

REVELATIONS that almost €10 million has been spent in three years protecting troops passing through Shannon Airport have caused outrage among groups opposed to the use of the airport by the US military.

Roger Cole, Chair of Peace and Neutrality Alliance, described the spend as “just the latest example of an Irish political elite wasting Irish taxpayers’ money and leading this country deeper and deeper into an even greater economic disaster.”

Department of Justice figures put the cost of protecting the troops and providing Garda security at €8.6 million between 2006 and 2008. This is in addition to the cost of Irish army patrols for the same period which came in at €964,702.

The figures also reveal that 243,000 US troops passed through Shannon in the first 11 months of 2009 – the equivalent of an army battalion a day. It’s believed that the business was worth €7 million to the airport bem Oet-lmm osu (eren

And one million military person- nel have passed through the airport en route to wars in Iraq and Afghani- stan since 2006.

It 1s too early to say whether there will be any impact at the airport from the recent decision by US Pres- ident, Barack Obama to deploy an extra 17,000 troops to Afghanistan in 2010.

Others who were critical of the spend include peace activist, former soldier and UN peacekeeper, Edward

Horgan.

He said there is “some small eco- nomic benefit in that it provides a small number of jobs at Shannon Airport. However, the fact that we are doing this, participating in or facilitating crimes against human- ity for economic gain, in my view makes it far worse than if we were doing it for free.”

He added that such use of Shannon “destroys any concept of Ireland as a neutral state”.

A spokeswoman for Shannon Air- port said that the airport is “not the only airport in Europe with this kind of business.”

She said the US military airline has “no real ties to the airport and can move to another location very easily. Therefore we do not see this business as providing the basis for long-term development of the airport. It is just an additional income stream.”

Justice Munister, Dermot Ahern said the annual bill for security for

the troops is more than justified.

“The deployment of Garda resourc- es 18 based on an assessment by the garda authorities of the measures necessary to ensure the safety and security of personnel staff, passen- gers and property at Shannon Air- port,” he said.

‘A waste of taxpayers’ money’

CLARE’S first baby of the new dec- ade was in no rush to get going and arrived at 7.l4am at the Regional Maternity Hospital in Limerick.

The 2.61 k delightful baby girl was born to Brian and Nollaig Minnogue from Poulagowan in Scariff. Her de- lighted parents took her home at the weekend after a brief stay for mum Nollaig to recover.

Parents Laura O’Neill and Joe Kiely from Bruff in County Limer- ick were delighted to welcome their baby daughter, Ava, who arrived at St Munchin’s at 2.5lam to become the first new citizen of the mid-west.

She was the fifth baby born in St Munchin’s on January 1, on what was a “quiet day” for the hospital. By comparison, there were 18 births in the labour ward of the maternity hos- pital a day previously, December 31.

December 31 was also a full moon and, according to many experts in labour and childbirth, this is a very common time for women to give birth.

Waterford claimed the honours of producing the first Irish baby of the decade. Little Ava Hennessy clocked in at just 28 seconds past midnight at Waterford Regional Hospital.

Parents Rebecca and Shane, from Dunmore East, Co Waterford, were aware that the clock was ticking down on 2009 but just wanted to lay eyes on her as soon as they could.

“The midwife said to me ‘would

you like her to be born in 2009 or 2010?’, and I said “I don’t mind’. That was 11.20pm. I just wanted to see her as soon as possible,” said Rebecca.

Ava tipped the scales at 91b 5o0z and is the fourth child for the Hennessys. She has a big brother Jamie (17) and two sisters Abbie (11) and Danielle (OF

Just pipped at the post was little Harvey Hetherington-Kelly who was born at Mount Carmel Hospital in Dublin at one minute past midnight to parents Tanya and Stephen from Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.

The third baby of the new year was delivered at the National Maternity

Hospital on Holles Street at 13 min- utes past midnight.

Tegan O’Neill, who weighed in at 91lb 50z, was born to overjoyed par- ents Carmel and Pat from Castle- knock in Dublin.

The first baby of 2010 born in the west arrived at 2.27am. The little girl, was born to mum Fiona Cough- lan from Athlone at Portiuncula Hos- pital in Ballinasloe, County Galway.

HUNDREDS of homes across the county were left with no water for days over the holiday period, as mains burst, pipes froze and water reserves ran down.

Council water maintenance and repair teams joined road workers in battling to maintain services in the biggest freeze in five decades.

But while some areas had supplies restored in a couple of days, others were out for much longer.

An angry Pat Walsh from Loophead was one of many Clare residents who contacted

Combatting council low on true grit

THE Burren’s college is launching a new selection of courses this month from it’s base in Gort. Starting in early January, the Burren College of Complementary Therapy, is offering a host of courses on complementary therapies in a number of different skill levels.

The college is being run by Enid McAleenan, who is accredited by International Therapy Examination Council (ITEC) and has been prac- ticing in the field locally and in Dub- lin for a number of years.

“What I am really doing 1s courses in complementary therapy and there are a lot of thing that come in under that banner – from holistic massage,

anatomy, physiology, aromatherapy, hot stone therapy, dietary and nutri- tion,’ said Enid.

“I get a variety of different people coming along to these courses. I get people who are interested in holistic therapies for a number of different reasons – some people are just drawn to it for themselves while others are interested in setting up some practice for themselves from their home, and maybe making some extra money out of it. Most people come for the foundation course and that is really the basics for a number of other com- plementary therapies.”

Complementary therapies have become much more popular in re- cent years with lay people and some mainstream medical practitioners.

“This is complementary therapy and not alternative medicine. I think GPs, doctors and nurses are starting to look at different ways that people can look after their health more and more,’ continued Enid.

“Somebody who is attending the doctor for a wide variety of com- plaints may now be referred to peo- ple like me for therapy. It’s just an- other way of dealing with a problem – about looking at things through not totally medical eyes and thinking about other ways to treat a situation. I think people are looking at ways to take a little more control of their own health.

“People are starting to get more open-minded about it and in the past I have worked side by side with GPs

in treating conditions in different ways. This is about working with more mainstream medical practi- tioners. It’s not alternative, it’s not instead of them, it’s about working with them and enhancing the overall treatment for patients.”

Funding is also available for unem- ployed people to take courses at the college. For more information on all of this contact the Burren College of Complementary Therapy on 091 633878 or check out www.burren- courses.com.

CLARE County Council has told Doonbeg Golf Club that it has con- cerns over the fact that its scaled down €2 million coastal protection plan may lead to other parts of the coastline adjoining the site becom- ing noticeably eroded.

The council concerns are high- lighted in a raft of new information sought by the planning authority about the golf club proposal.

The club is seeking approval for a protection plan for the most vulner- able sections of dune fronting the sixth tee and the fifth, 13th and 14th greens on the golf course.

A previous 2003 proposal was turned down by An Bord Pleanala and the golf club has now told the

council that if it does nothing, the dune system will be further eroded and this would be detrimental to the club’s viability.

The application states that “essen- tial parts of Doonbeg golf course re- main at high risk from severe coastal erosion during extreme storm events with a combined high waves and storm surge’.

Putting the plan on hold, the coun- cil stated, ““There are concerns that proposal may lead to a situation whereby other parts of the adjoin- ing coastline may become noticeably eroded, leading to a situation where further coastal protection works may be needed.”

The council has invited the golf club to submit any proposals it may have for further coastal management

work and has asked why a revised layout of the course hasn’t been ex- plored as an alternative erosion man- agement measure.

The council has also taken into account a submission from the De- partment of the Environment which states that the appropriate assessment screening does not take into consid- eration the potential effects of the development on the the Mid-Clare coast Special Protection Area (SPA) and its conservation objectives.

The department pointed out that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) lodged with the application states that the proposal is unlikely to have significant effects on Carrow- more Dunes Special Area of Conser- vation (SAC).

“In reaching this conclusion, there

is no reference to the potential ef- fects on other plans and projects, in- cluding the existing golf course and associated developments and there 1s no reference to any impacts on the SPA and its conservation objectives.

“The impacts of reconfiguring parts of the golf course to facilitate the coastal protection works and the works involved, are not considered with respect to potential impacts on the SAC in particular and on habi- tats, flora and fauna in general,” the department submission concluded.

A decision is expected on the plan later in 2010.

THE coming year will see renewed efforts in Mountshannon to provide a second defibrillator for the village.

Already the community has man- aged to secure one life-saving device and this is now installed in its special security case on the wall of the pot- tery shop.

“We’d certainly like to get a sec- ond defibrillator and we’ll be work- ing towards that this year.’ said Jane Murray, one of the organisers of the committee effort which secured the

first defibrillator.

Twenty people are now fully trained in the use of the machine which could make the difference between recovery and a tragedy if someone experiences coronary problems.

The teams are on a rota which turns over every couple of weeks, with the emergegency phone (086-320997) being given to the person on duty.

Jane said the community is very pleased to have the defibrillator and to have a secure location for it.

But locals have proved so willing to train and do their part in protecting

lives that there could well be enough volunteers to warrant a second ma- chine. This could be kept at a dif- ferent location, making help close to hand wherever it is needed in the village.

Without any grants available, the community will be back on the fun- draising trail this coming year. “We will have to raise the money locally but people here are very genrous when it comes to something impor- tant,’ said Jane.

6,000 people a year die from sud- den cardiac death in Ireland. Two per

week will be under the age of thirty five.

The defibrillator provides a vi- tal link in the chain of survival as speedy combination of CPR and the defibrillator can often restore life which would otherwise be lost.

Statistically in Ireland, anyone whose heart stops has just a one in one hundred chance of surviv- ing. But if there is a cardiac first responder program in place involv- ing trained people using a defibril- lator, those odds are significantly INNO KeranNel ew

THERE was an upsurge in demand for support from St Vincent De Paul in Shannon in the run-up to Christ- jet kce

50 families in Shannon and Sixmi- lebridge requested support from the voluntary organisation.

Oil, coal, toys and food were among the demands of the people of Shan- non, who found it difficult to cope. Some families did not have enough money to buy toys for their children for Christmas and sought help from St Vincent De Paul with this. The poor economic climate, allied to the inclement weather, was a major fac-

tor in the increase in demand.

Christmas hampers and_ super- market vouchers were distributed to families in need in the run-up to Christmas, as the organisation did what it could to ease the plight of the poor.

Secretary of St Vincent De Paul in Shannon, Bridget Kirby said a lot of people were in financial difficulty this year.

“We were out until late on Christ- mas Eve. We helped 50 families. There was a huge increase in de- mand this year. People didn’t have the double money (social welfare) and they were really stuck. A lot of people lost their jobs and they

didn’t have toys for the children,’ she said.

Some parents are finding things so tough that they don’t have the money to pay for their children’s examina- tions.

“Parents don’t have enough mon- ey for the Junior Certificate or the Leaving Certificate. Parents don’t have money. It’s sad. There is a lot of poverty,” she added.

She paid tribute to the people of Shannon, who donated generously to the annual collection.

Some businesses donated toys, while individuals also donated mon- ey. Golf societies around Shannon also contributed to the fund, while

St Caimin’s Community School and St Patrick’s Comprehensive School helped out.

‘They were so good this year. Peo- ple were very, very generous. It was the best year we ever had. A lot of people gave us children’s clothes and we delivered those. We got a personal donation of €2,000 from one man. He said he had too much and felt sad for people who don’t have enough. That was the kind of thing that people did,” she said.

After a tough few months, St Vin- cent De Paul 1s predicting that 2010 will be equally challenging.

“It will be very tough this year,” said Ms Kirby.

Lifesavers lose out on funding