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THE Carrigaholt water sewerage scheme is facing further delays, it ONE eL OM NADIR sle) ©

In a report on the progress of the west Clare schemes sought by Coun- cillor Oliver Garry (FG), Clare County Council officials said that a preliminary review has been re- ceived which shows the unit cost for this scheme is still at an unaccept- able level. A further review of the scheme is now required, to bring the unit cost to an acceptable solution for the water pricing policy.

“Studies of the Moyarta River and the possible use of constructed wet- lands in order to eliminate the fore-

shore discharge and further reduce costs will be examined. This will lead to further delays in the Carri- gaholt scheme,’ according to Senior Engineer Walter Walsh.

Initially a report was prepared for the Carrigaholt/Labasheeda/Coora- clare Sewerage Scheme bundle and submitted to the Department of En- vironment Heritage and Local Gov- ernment, but this proved unsucess- ave

Cooraclare was then separated from the grouped sewerage scheme and the submission of a revised and reduced proposal for the village was drawn up. As a result approval was received from the department for the Cooraclare sewerage scheme.

The council is currently going through the procurement process to appoint a consultant to prepare contract documents for the scheme, which when prepared will allow the scheme to proceed to construction.

Land acquisition is ongoing also in the village with the intention of carrying out a part eight planning application (council will seek plan- ning permission) for the wastewater treatment plant as soon as the site is secured.

The news for Labasheeda is also more positive than Carrigaholt.

The design review is now complet- ed for Labasheeda. It proposes a re- duced outfall length and the installa- tion of a tidal valve and storage tank

arrangement, allowing discharge of treated effluent on the falling tide. “The unit costs, we believe are ac- ceptable, but the proposal will still require a foreshore licence. We are now in a position to bring forward the Labasheeda scheme and we recommend the submission of this scheme separately from the Carri- gaholt scheme to the Department of the Environment Heritage and Local Government,” said Mr Walsh. Coun- cil officials have met two developers with regard to Ballynacally sewer- age scheme. A consultant employed by one of the developers is to submit information shortly to support a pos- sible solution suggested in the course of a meeting with council officials.

THE pupils from Kilmihil National School gathered in the playground on Monday evening last to welcome back their victorious rugby team.

The 15-person squad had taken part in the Munster Coca Cola Tag Rugby Extravaganza and received first prize for their participation in the pre matches parade.

The extravaganza includes more than 30 teams from around the coun- try and is referred to as an “extrava- ganza’ rather than a competition be- cause nobody keeps scores.

The aim of the event is for young children to display the rugby skills they have learnt and to show how they can “play fair’.

The emphasis on this day of rugby

was fair play, participation, team- work and skill, for once leaving aside the element of competition. Children were encouraged to show respect for the players, referees, and officials and to show good sportsmanship at PMB bO Noe

Prior to the rugby games a “Nations Parade” was held.

Each school had been given a na- tion to represent. Kilmihil National School paraded as South Africa.

After a hectic few days of effort and co-operation by the entire staff and pupils, costumes were designed and created and the team was trans- formed into “The Springbok” Rugby Team and traditional South Afri- ore

On the day of the extravaganza Kilmihil pupils were awarded first

prize – a trophy – and were compli- mented for their exceptional cos- tumes and tribal dance.

Fifteen pupils from fifth and sixth class made up the Kilmihil Tag Rug- by Team, which took on a team from Limerick, a team from Cork and a uaa rer-beee

This was the school’s first time in the competition, although it has been part of the tag rugby-coaching course organised by Munster Rugby Development Association for the past three years under the watchful eye of coach George Guilfoyle.

The school team participated in the local tournament held in Lees Road Sports Complex before being invited to join in the “Munster Coca Cola Tag Rugby Extravaganza” in Mus- grave Park, Cork.

The 34 children from fifth and sixth class travelled to Cork for the event at 6.30 am on Monday with principal Carmel Coughlan, fifth class teacher Michael King and Eva Keane who looks after the school’s sports pro- eau-eabentee

“We got a great reception when we arrived back at 5.30pm on Monday. The children and other teachers pre- pared a welcome banner,” said Ms Orato

Speaking about the extravaganza she said, “After learning the skills this was the chance for the children to display them.”

SEVENTEEN teenagers from Kilkee went Dutch this week.

The second year students from St Joseph’s Community College, Kilkee travelled to Vlaardingen in the Neth- erlands on Sunday, March 25 as part of a student exchange. They arrived back on Friday.

The exchange was part of the Comenius Project.

A European initiative – in existence since the foundation of the European Economic Community, the Comen- ius endeavours to facilitate exchange of ideas, personnel, and students be- tween member states of the EU and

indeed between all countries in the continent of Europe.

Phase two of the project is Comen- ius 1.3, which began in 2004. Kilkee Community College was a co-ordi- nating school for the project.

It hosted the first meeting of the partner schools in October 2004. Each meeting was a three to four day gets together by teachers (only) to exchange ideas, compare and share strategies developed to ensure that all the school is an inclusive place of Kee Nesnneree

The other countries involved include Scotland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Spain, and Norway the project will end where it began in Kilkee later this

month.

In the meantime the students are making the most of the European ey sbaterernleyer

The Kilkee students lived with the Dutch students’ families for just un- der a week.

The highlights of the week included a tour of Vlaardingen, a visit to Rotter- dam that included a boat tour through the harbours of the city and a visit to Neeltje Jans, the polders on Noord Beveland and the Veersegatdam.

On Thursday the Kilkee students and their Dutch hosts attended a lec- ture on polder water management at the Kinderdijk pump and windmills. Later that day they spent some time

in the city of Delft.

In late May the Dutch students will make the return visit to Kilkee as cuests of the Irish students.

The schools selected each other as exchange partners as they are located in a region that is physically/geo- graphically quite different. The Kil- kee students were introduced to the physical features of deposition 1.e. the Polders of Holland and a flat land- scape. When the Dutch students visit Kilkee they will study coastal erosion and karst landscape.

The exchange programme was or- ganised by Geography teachers Jean Lorigan and Deirdre Kennedy who accompanied the students on the trip.

ENNISTYMON is shaping up for fashion today with all and sundry getting ready for the Ennistymon Annual Fashion Show which takes place in the Falls Hotel this evening at 8.30pm.

The show will feature a range of smart and casual wear for both women and men with clothes from a number of local shops on display. The evening will be hosted by Alo- ma McKay and all the models on the night will be local.

The fashion show is the main fund- raiser for the Ennistymon Agricultur-

al Show, which takes place in July. As in previous years, more than half of all the money raised will go towards a nominated charity, this year being the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital.

“All the four local boutiques — Noinin, Cloie, Off The Rail and Savanna — have all donated some lovely outfits for the evening,’ said co-organiser, Susan Harvey.

“Barry’s Mensware, the new men’s shop in Ennistymon, is involved as well, as is Mona Cheri from Ennis, who will have a range of hats, party and debs dresses on show. The Bridal Emporium in Miltown will have a couple of wedding dresses, bridesmaid

dresses and tuxedos at the show.”

A large portion of the proceeds from this year’s event will go to the Ennistymon Hospital.

“They are looking at putting in a new kitchen and some of this money will go towards that,” she continued. “They do a lot of good fundraising work up there and are always making improvements. The charity side is a very important part of the event. It is really nice to be able to give to the different local charities.”

Tonight’s event is the first official engagement of this year’s Ennisty- mon Show, which takes place on Sat- urday 2 and Sunday 3 of June.

“We have been getting the prize list together and have been sending it out to a lot of different people and especially to the schools,’ continued Susan.

“We have sent it to more than I5 schools in the locality and the youth section is a very important part of the show. We will have a few new events in this year’s show and the best dressed dog competition will return after being such a success last year.

“We are looking forward to a good show and hopefully it will be one of the best in years.”

For more information, call Mau- reen on 065 7071487.

TRIBUTES were paid last week to Mary O’Loghlin, former teacher and musical inspiration at Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon, who retired from teaching last June. Mary returned to Scoil Mhuire one last time last Fri- day, where she was presented with a painting to mark her retirement.

Over the last three decades, Mary has been heavily involved in the mu- sical development of Scoil Mhuire. She has inspired countless musicals and recitals and put many students on the course to a lifetime of musical enjoyment.

“Mary was ahead of her time. She exposed us to a variety of musical

styles. She crossed musical bounda- ries, experimenting all the time, and I think that this was her most precious attribute,’ said a former student.

“No-one was better at finding, ex- pecting and demanding brilliance. Thank you, Mary, for the lifelong love of music — the welcome release from the books and the precious school memories.”

As a young teacher, Mary arrived in Ennistymon with a vision of a school which nurtured musical talent of the young.

“The magnitude of Scoil Mhuire’s musical achievement under her lead- ership is well known — year after year, her utter fearlessness in taking on enormous tasks, or at least tasks

that seemed enormous to the rest of us, was quite amazing,’ said Scoil Mhuire teacher, Mary O’ Flaherty. ‘As the absolute excellence of the end-product was of paramount im- portance to her, she demanded the highest standards in musicals which could only have been described as amazing. Though there were a few hell-raising moments for us of little faith, the students followed her with doe-eyed devotion and delivered out- standing performances.’ Throughout her career, Mary had a dedication which was recognised by all the students who learned under her. Indeed, months after her retire- ment, she 1s still involved with the musical development in the school,

helping to prepare the school choir before they sang at a tribute night to Irish Olympiad, Ronnie Delaney, in Dublin last December.

“We practiced in school, at her home and in dingy backstage rooms,’ continued one former student.

‘At competition, when she appeared before the choir, it was without sheet music. She had the uncanny ability to control the entire choir with one hand.”

WHAT was once nothing more than a distant memory, is now becoming a reality in North Clare as basketball is once again capturing the imagina- tion of the whole region. This week, hundreds of people, young and old, have been taking to the court in dif- ferent events as the big ball once again takes hold.

Gone are the heady days of the 80’s and National League Basketball but in their place the Clare Cascaders are beginning to emerge.

The reformed junior club has gone from strength to strength over the last two years and now boasts more than 120 members drawn from all over the north Clare area.

“We started in mid September with an introductory coaching course, some teachers and some parents. For

the first time this year we participate in the north Munster League at U-12 and U-14 boys and girls. We have six really dedicated coaches who put an awful lot into the club,’ said coach Mary Gleeson.

“The are coming from Inagh, La- hinch, Lisdoonvarna and Kilshanny down as far as Corofin and Kilnaboy. There is huge potential for clubs to be set up all over Clare. A group of kids from Kildysart came to us won- dering how to go about setting up a club. We helped them as best we could and they have now secured a hall that they can play in. We would like to encourage clubs to be set up all over the county and to help in whatever way we can.

“There is a great social element to the club as well. We have run a few teenagers disco which have been hugely successful. We’ve never had

any bit of trouble from any of the kids. Not at discos, not on trips away. They are involved in every part of the club. They have a real ownership of the club.”

After weeks of competition, the Cascaders emerged victorious over the Leopards in the final of the Lor- can O’Connor Cup which took place on Friday.

Meanwhile, the 15th Annual Frank Gallery Memorial Basketball Tour- nament will take place this weekend at the Ennistymon Community Cen- tre. The tournament commemorates the memory of Frank Gallery, who was a pivotal member of the Clare- mont Admirals national league club in the 80’s.

The initiation of the Frank Gallery tournament in 1992 has helped to keep alive the relationship between former team-mates and the memory

of Frank who died tragically in a car accident.

The clubs juvenile section will play for the Frank Kilkenny Memorial trophy on Saturday, for which former players will return from Poland, Ro- mania, Lithuania, Latvia, England, Canada and Australia.

The action will begin at 12.30pm and will be followed by a presenta- tions and buffet at the Falls Hotel.

Anyone interested in starting a club in their own area can telephone Stephen Leigh at 065 7071729.

THE newly-appointed head of the Ennistymon Garda District is to meet with publicans in north Clare, in an effort to stamp out public disor- der in tourist towns during the sum- nerosupesleyelaeny

Carlow native Noel Clarke has suc- ceeded Eamon Dolan as Ennistymon Superintendent.

This is his first job in rural polic- ing, having been based in Dublin throughout his career in the force. He spent the past 11 years working in the Crime and Security section of Garda Headquarters. Prior to that, he worked in the Central Detective Unit and also worked 1n Coolock and Dalkey.

Public order issues emerge in re-

sorts like Lahinch and Miltown Mal- bay during the summer and the new Supt is acutely aware of this.

“We are not against people enjoying themselves but they have to respect the views of others. It is my intention Komp Oe leroy SUNOM Ab O1B OCS ucEaWLeler FIN (OO Ts and proprietors of licensed premises and discuss how we work together on reducing the problems of public order. It will be all of us working to- gether, not them and us,” he said.

“Our job is to prevent it and when we detect it, we bring it to the courts. The courts here and Judge Mangan have taken a strong line and we real- ise that. That is encouraging and that is what people want and expect. We don’t have a major public order prob- lem, but we have public order issues. Publicans have a responsibility and

we have a responsibility. It is a part- nership approach,” he said.

He is satisfied that sufficient re- sources are at his disposal, to deal with any issues that may emerge.

“We review policing on a weekly and monthly basis,” he said.

The new Supt is also mindful of the fact that many suicides have taken place in the Cliffs of Moher over the years.

“We have to be prepared for those issues. We will police it and we will deal with everything that comes along. If somebody decides to com- mit suicide, we are there on behalf of the Coroner to meet with the vari- ous agencies and we will put those in contact with the deceased rela- tives. There is very little we can do to prevent that type of action. They

are high profiled and get a lot of pub- licity and are tragedies for families. We have to deal with it as sensitively as we can,” he said.

He is keen to ensure gardai in his district continue to maintain a good relationship with the public. “The most important thing here is cus- tomer satisfaction and public confi- dence,’ he said.

Supt Clarke is one of a number of changes to garda management in Clare, in recent months. Chief Supt Gerry Mahon, Supt John Scanlan (Ennis) and Supt Declan Brogan (Kilrush) have all taken up their posts since the start of the year. He has worked with all of them previ- ously. “It is not as if I am a stranger coming to work with strangers,” he said.

A CLARE councillor has said that the problem of large numbers of red deer running wild in Clare could be turned to the county’s advantage, if game hunters can be attracted here to shoot detoeeF

Councillor Colm Wiley caused up- roar at a council meeting last week when he called for wild-life rangers to be brought in to cull the herds, add- ing that he feared the stags might mate with local cattle.

“They’re breaking down fences and grazing farmers’ grass. They graze during the night, and you don’t know what they’re at,” the councillor said.

Clir Wiley added that one of the most serious dangers of having such large numbers of deer 1s that they “jump out in front of cars as people are driving”.

One woman who contacted the coun- cillor, Mary McCarthy from Clarecas- tle, says a stag and about eight does are regular burglars in her garden.

“They break through any fences I put up and they graze the lawn and break

things. The stag is very big, and I’d be very nervous of him,” she said.

Councillor Wiley had asked that army sharp-shooters be brought in to cull the herds, but Minister Willie O’Dea said the soldiers had “better things to do”.

Meanwhile, Conor Kelleher, Chair- man of the Irish Wildlife Trust, said the prospect of deer breeding with cows “is scientifically and genetically impossible. It just doesn’t happen. I’ve never seen a cow out there with antlers — the man doesn’t know what he’s

talking about”.

Now Cllr Wiley says that what is a problem could be turned to an advan- tage “if we brought in stalkers who have proper licences to shoot game. There are plenty of them, here and in England. We’re already very well known for our excellent fishing and we could develop the shooting and fishing tourism and get the numbers of deer olen yia tae

Clir Wiley said that there are cur- rently 2,000 deer culled in Ireland every year. “The advantage of venison

is that it’s edible all year round,’ he Sr BIOR

But Clir Wiley’s call for a cull has not met with unanimous approval.

Environmentalist Colin Wilson of the educational charity, CELT, asked which species did the councillor want culled? “Why not just take out any- thing that moves – and a few things that don’t,” he said. “Let’s do away with nature and science altogether and pretend everything will be fine! Or we could try another solution – cull a few old farts.”

A ONE-WAY traffic system is being considered for the town of Scariff to ease the traffic congestion which is blocking the streets there on a regu- lar basis.

Councillor Colm Wiley was told, in answer to a question he posed at last week’s area council meeting about means of alleviating the snarl-ups, that various methods are being con- sidered. These include making the village one-way, putting down double

yellow lines and introducing parking restrictions at pressure points.

“There will have to be negotiations locally about a one-way system. There can be a lot of resistance to that. But we would also hope that a new shopping complex development which is coming on-stream for Scar- iff will provide extra parking,’ the councillor said.

He added that he is also asking the local authority to buy up land if it be- comes available to create parking for the town.

Meanwhile, the councillor was giv- en good news in relation to a number of problems in Tuamgraney.

Recent severe flooding near the school had created a hazard for cars and pedestrians alike, Councillor AAU CCA Yat BCG

He was told by Council Engineer, Sean Lenihan, that the problem was with a stretch of drain which had col- lapsed underground, leaving the wa- ter nowhere to go.

This is to be repaired in the near future, the engineer said.

‘“l’m very pleased to hear this. There was a considerable amount of water on the road near the school which was terrible for people trying to avoid getting soaked and a hazard for cars that had to drive through it.”

And ugly, heavy wires to provide street light will soon be redundant in Tuamgraney, Councillor Wiley was Ke) (en

The overhead wires and their poles are to be decomissioned in favour of underground wiring and silver metal lampstandards.

PLEAS have gone out to Clare Coun- ty Council to put safety measures in place at a school before a car ploughs into a child.

In a chilling warning to the local authority, principal of Scoil Mhuire National school in Meelick, Dan Gra- ham, said it will be “too late when a four-foot coffin is being lowered into the ground and people are laying flowers on the roadside. Something is always done after a tragedy but that will be no comfort to a child’s griev- TbOrcap ec Ree DOA VAM

The entrance to Scoil Mhuire Na-

tional School is situated on a deadly bend, where cars regularly slam into rele emelealss

Some years ago, a driver was killed when his car went out of control and hit the front gate of the school.

The tragedy happened during the summer when there were no children around but Dan fears that a similar tragedy “is waiting to happen when children, staff and parents are walk- Tbeycaelel mae

“The road is used as a rat-run by motorists rushing to work and throughout the day. All it takes is for a five-year-old to step out and, between the poor visibility and the

speeds these cars are doing, that will be it. Over.”

The school’s request for a lollipop lady has been turned down. “I’ve been here 23 years and this needs to be tackled now. It’s urgent and if there is a fatality, then the council will be responsible,” the principal said.

Dan says he cannot understand why neighbouring Parteen National School “has all kinds of safety mark- ings and precautions, which is what should happen. Yet they are on a side road and we are on a very busy main road and we can get can noth- ing done”.

Local councillor, Cathal Crowe, 1s

a teacher at the school, which has 15 staff and 146 pupils.

He is calling on the local authority to put a footpath and safety railing in front of the main gate.

‘Almost three years ago, flashing lights were erected approximately 100 metres either side of the school gate. These lights tell the law-abid- ing motorist to slow down but they do very little to protect the school chil- dren and passing pedestrians from speeding cars,” he said.

“I feel that a footpath running the length of the bend and linking the school to the church would go along way to making the road safer for all.