Month: March 2012

THE leading agency linked with the proposed public-private partnership takeover of Shannon Airport has heard the whole process to chart a new future for Clare’s international airport described as “a complete farce”.

Condemnation of the Booz and Company report into the future of the airport, which was commissioned by transport minister Leo Varadkar and published last Wednesday, has come at Clare County Council level.

Councillors and officials delivered a withering response at a specially convened meeting of the local authority’s Special Policy Committee on Enterprise and Tourism.

“The report before us is a complete farce,” blasted former Mayor of Clare, Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind).

“They are treating us like mushrooms – keeping us in the dark and feeding us you know what,” said Cllr PJ Ryan, amid fears that the local authority might pull back from a commitment to embrace a takeover of the airport.

“What are they trying to keep back from us? Did they keep back stuff from us about the figures? Did they keep back from us how the DAA were milking Shannon over the years? What is the real story? We don’t really know,” added Cllr Ryan.

These fears have been backed up by Clare County Council Director of Service, Ger Dollard, who said “the biggest issue” was that “all financial data is effectively taken out of the report, which it makes it very difficult to make any type of assessment whatsover”.

PATIENTS and visitors to the Mid West Regional Hospital Ennis will soon have to leave the hospital campus and walk to the public roadside if they plan to light up.

Despite the purpose built covered shelter which is in place for smokers on the grounds and just yards from the main entrance of the Ennis hospital, smokers will have to leave the hospital grounds to light up according to new regulations.

This raises the distinct possibility of patients in dressing gowns, pyjamas and fluffy slippers being visible to passing traffic and the elements if they must smoke.

From May 1, all hospitals in the midwest, including the maternity hospital in Limerick, will become smoke-free, following in the footsteps of other HSE West hospitals.

Sister hospitals in Galway have been smoke-free for more than two weeks, although not everyone is a fan of the new regulations that must be imposed in all Irish hospitals by 2015.

Chairman of the HSE West, Pádraig Conneely (FG) asked if the HSE had gone a step too far by banning smoking on all hospital campuses.

“Is it not a far walk all the way to the road?” he asked. He also raised concerns about policing the new ban.

“How are you going to stop people outside accident and emergency in an inebriated state who are smoking, or a person dealing with a tragedy who wants to go outside to smoke,” he said.

According to the most recent figures available, the annual security costs at the Ennis facility are € 34k.

Clare representative to the HSE West Forum, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said he agreed with the policy, but raised concerns about hospitals like the Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis, which has a psychiatric unit.

“It is more than a dependency for people with psychiatric problems,’ he said. He asked if the HSE now plans to extend the practice of allowing unhealthy behaviour on campus, by ceasing to sell sugary foods in its hospital shops, given the rise in typetwo diabetes.

Fellow Clare representative Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) asked about the size of the hospital campus and was told it was a 150-acre site.

“If there were 1, 5000 acres, would you have the same rules? Where does it stop?” he asked.