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A conference to discuss the future of scouting in Ireland will take place at the West County Hotel in Ennis next weekend. For the first time Scouting Ireland are hosting their annual commission- ers conference outside of Dublin. The two day confer- ence will be attended by 70 delegates including national officers who will attempt to outline how best the organi- sation can go forward.

The popularity of sports such as hurling, football and soccer has seen scout num- bers in Ireland fall consist- ently over the past few years. SUicor-KeReteCONUN A ReKoNIG dren enrolled in the scouts in Ennis along with 25 vol- unteers. The Ennis branch of the scouts opened in 1932 and will celebrate its 75th birthday in two years time.

One of the main topics up for discussion will be an evaluation of the organisa- tions Renewed Approach

Programme (RAP), a new initiative designed to make scouting more appealing in the 21st century. “Through RAP we are trying to make scouting more relevant to today’s society, because lets face it scouting isn’t cool an- ymore outside of the sphere of scouting. We are trying to make it appealing and relevant to a lot of other peo- ple. That would be one of the main challenges facing the scouts in Ireland today,’ said Julie Malone

Provincial Commissioner in the western region for scouting Ireland. To address the issue Scouting Ireland have already redesigned its uniform and released stick- ers and banners to make scouting more visible.

“Scouting isn’t just about hiking and the weekly meet- ing in the hall. There are life skills to be learned that other organisations don’t practice such as safety and first aid. These are important skills that you have for life”

THE Annual Competitiveness Report 2005, produced by Forfas, contains a wealth of information on key indicators for Irish busi- ness and industry.

GNP (Gross National Product) per capita in 2004 was €25,704, and GDP (Gross Domestic Prod- uct) was €30,691. Real GDP erowth was 4.9 per cent, while that for GNP was 5.5 per cent.

For the same year, labour force participation was 71 per cent. This refers to the portion of the population aged between 15 and 64 years that was either in em- ployment or actively seeking it.

The labour force is projected to grow by 1.3 per cent this year. There has been a substantial in- crease in employment in Ireland over the last decade, from 1.3 million in 1995 to 1.9 million this year.

With over one hundred pages of these and other statistics, the

report is well worth reading. It is wide-ranging, covering factors from quality of life to taxation and regulation, from environ- mental sustainability to entrepre- neurship and innovation.

According to Don Thornhill, chairman of the National Com- petitiveness Council, GDP is expected to grow by 5.3 per cent this year, more than double the OECD average of 2.6 per cent.

“The rate of economic growth is an important signal of com- petitiveness,’ Dr Thornhill stated. “Using this criterion, Ire- land is one of the most competi- tive economies in the developed world.”

He points out that there are challenges, however. Our rate of growth, while still high, has slowed down compared with previous years, and we are fall- ing behind our peers in North America and Continental Eu- rope in terms of prices and costs competitiveness. Costs are par-

ticularly high in the energy and waste management areas.

“Higher costs and the current weakness of the US dollar are making Ireland an expensive production location relative to our trading partners,” he com- ments.

In a foreword, An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says that competi- tiveness is a key focus of govern- ment policy.

“The Government is_ deter- mined that the conditions for enterprises operating in Ireland should be as favourable as possi- ble,’ Mr Ahern stated. “This en- compasses policies on the skills needs of the population, the knowledge capital in the econo- my, the physical infrastructure, the costs that businesses face, the utilities and services that businesses need, the regulatory environment and other factors.”

Many of these aspects are benchmarked in the report.

A SERIOUSLY injured man lay in agony for an hour after a road accident in Scariff on Sun- day night, because the Scariff ambulance was locked up.

Distraught locals did their best to comfort the injured man, who was thrown from his motor- cycle into a garden. The motorbike demolished the pier of a garden wall.

He is now in the intensive care unit at Limer- ick’s Regional Hospital and is being treated for serious lower body injuries.

The accident, which also involved a car, hap- pened at 7.30pm at Ballyminogue on the Scar- iff to Portumna road.

One local woman who tried to help the in- jured 28-year old said that it was “absolutely dreadful. The man was in terrible pain but he had to wait nearly 45 minutes for a doctor and a full hour for an ambulance to come out from Limerick.”

The local woman said that residents on the road “came out to do what they could, but it was terrible. He was obviously badly injured, but we didn’t know what to do. An hour is a very long time when you’re lying injured on the ground yet there was an ambulance just up the road. It’s a disgrace.”

One eye-witness who came on the scene said that the “bike was mangled. It looked as if it had been cut in half.”

One Scariff resident said that the “fire bri-

gade were there very quickly, way before there was any medical help for the poor man. We need that ambulance available to us and a lo- cal number that we can ring for a doctor when

something this serious happens. It took far too long for medical help to reach him.”

Local Councillor, Colm Wiley (FF) called just last month for a full-time ambulance serv- ice for the Scariff area.

“That ambulance is under lock and key from about 7pm until after midnight because there is no funding to crew it,’ the councillor said.

He said that the injured man might well have had to wait for an ambulance to come from even further away, if one had not been avail- able to come out from Limerick.

“It’s a very serious situation and lives are be- ing put at risk because of it. I am calling for funding to be made available immediately to provide 24 -hour crewing for the ambulance which is already here,’ he said.

East Clare Senator Timmy Dooley said, the Scariff ambulance service needs to be upgrad- ed as a matter of urgency.

A report on the ambulance services for the Mid-West Region, including the service in Scariff, has been submitted to the Health Serv- ice Executive for consideration.

“This is something we have been campaign- ing for, for a while and it has been brought to the attention to the Minister for Health,’ he Sr ntee

ENNIS Town Council has given the go-ahead for a commercial development that is expected to further reyuve- nate the Drumbiggle part of eTom Kenai e

Earlier this year, Pat Hans- bury, Alan Collins and Do- nie and John Dillane lodged plans with the Council for a four storey building to con- tain 18 apartments and four retail units, along with an underground car-park to ac- commodate 46 car-parking Sey: eke

Currently, the site is waste- land opposite Ennis town Council’s Drumbiggle head- quarters and was the former site of the rundown Drumbig- gle flats before they were de- molished by the Council.

The Council subsequently sold the property and plans were lodged for the develop- ment earlier this year.

In its decision, the Council ruled that the development would not seriously injure the amenities of adjacent dwell- ings, is acceptable in terms of traffic safety and is in the interests of proper planning and development.

However, the plan has en- countered opposition from residents in the Buttermarket

area of Ennis. In an objection lodged with the Council, the residents claim that “the de- sign of the proposed structure is more appropriate to a city or sea/harbour location than a central location in a medium size town with streetscape of traditional design.”

SU ileaar Uomo t-b bee mm ner:l mmm lets proposal bears no relation- ship to any development in the vicinity with respect to scale or density and the scale of the building is excessive and will be unduly prominent in its setting with respect to all developments in the gen- eral area.”

They also claim that the building detracts from the visual amenity of the Town SEV o eel Cebuetcanysavloe miei Ker Kor@] Coxe CLO MELCLRU KOR

The residents also raise concerns over the impact the development will have on traffic in the area.

They state: “access to the underground car park is off the side road and will result in large volumes of traffic coming up and down Butter- market Street.

“This street is not capa- ble of taking the volumes of traffic that would be gener- ated by the development. The Council should also note that this street is used extensively

by school children walking to the nearby schools. Traffic generated by the development in these circumstances would be a serious traffic hazard.”

The residents also pointed out that the proposal is lo- cated within Ennis’s archi- tectural conservation area (ACA) where new buildings will be permitted where it can be clearly demonstrated that that such developments reflect the character of the area and its streetscape.

In the planner’s report on the case, it is stated: “the development now proposed, contains 18 apartments. The scale and extent of the pro- posal has now been consider- ably reduced from previous applications.

“The majority of the devel- opment now faces Drumbig- gle Rd. Rear return section has been omitted thereby reducing significantly the im- pact of the development on the adjoining cottages.

“The basement holds 46 car-parking spaces. This is not considered to be of such number that it would give rise to traffic hazard.

The council granted plan- ning permission, subject to 39 conditions including that the developers contribute €217,000.

A MAN and three young children were dragged out of their burning home in Shannon after it was set alight in suspicious circumstances in the early hours of Sunday.

George O’Shaughnessy (30), seven-year-old twin boys Evan and Lee and three-year-old tod- dler Sophie were asleep in upstairs bedrooms when the fire broke out at the bottom of the stairs at their home at Purcell Park, at around 6am.

Gardai and rescue services were on the scene within minutes, after a neighbour heard the fire alarm going off. Gardai Stephen Ryan and Gerry Flaherty from Shannon Garda Station — which is a stone throw away from the home — attempted to gain access through the ground floor of the house, but they were beaten back by the flames. They managed to get a ladder from a neighbour, to reach the family and carry them out through an upstairs window at the back of the privately-owned house.

All four were taken to the Mid-Western Re- gional Hospital, Ennis, as a precautionary meas- ure. They were treated for smoke inhalation, before being discharged a short time later. The young children are currently living with their peau WeKebaelOlssCoMBDOMNyercvIveLe)IE

Two units of the fire brigade from Shannon brought the blaze under control within an hour.

There was extensive smoke damage to the inside of the home, particularly to the hallway, stairs and landing. The Clare Scenes of Crime unit has examined the O’Shaughnessy home and the results of this examination will be sent for

forensic analysis to Garda Headquarters in Dub- thee

The results of that will determine exactly how the fire started, according to gardai. Mr O’Shaughnessy works locally in Shannon, and has lived there with his family for the past year- and-a-half, having previously lived in another part of the town.

“But for the swift actions of the two gardai, all four people who were in the house could

have died. I cannot commend the gardai highly enough,’ said Supt John Kerin.

‘The fire at the bottom of the stairs prevented rescue services from going in through the door so they had to get the children out through the back window,” he added.

A garda investigation has been launched and Supt Kerin said that gardai were “following a particular line of enquiry” in relation to the in- cident.

this week, ““What could we do? We had to do this. We are very sad and the people of Ballyvaughan are very sad at what has happened.”

The two built the restaurant without planning permission and over the past 20 months tried to stave off a District Court ruling of December 2003, affirming a Clare County Council order to demolish their premises.

Sibylle said this week, “We never ex-

pected the restaurant to be such a suc- cess. It has been quite an experience. We don’t know what impact the closure will have on Ballyvaughan.”

The Holywell restaurant will relocate to the old Market building in Ennisty- mon and will be ready to open in late No- vember or early December. The workers laid off will have the option of working in the new venture.

Councillor Martin Lafferty (Ind) ex- pressed regret this week that a compro- mise could not be reached between the council and the Dietls in ensuring that the restaurant would remain open at Bal- lyvaughan.

“The restaurant will be a loss to Bal- lyvaughan, as the likes of B&B owners have told me that the restaurant was a tre- mendous asset to the place. What is Bal- lyvaughan’s loss is Ennistymon’s gain.

“IT can’t understand how they could

have spent so much money on something they didn’t have permission for.”

An Bord Pleandala has turned down two planning retention applications for the restaurant. Permission was initially se- cured from Clare County Council, only for a competitor to appeal the decision.

The couple borrowed €1.5 million to finance their Ballyvaughan venture. Their plans to transform it into a lan- guage centre were turned down by the County Council. They have appealed that decision to An Bord Pleanala.

The appeal against the district court decision was adjourned to the October sittings of Kilrush Circuit Court.

At the last hearing in June, the Dietls’ counsel Des Longe BL told Judge Carroll Moran, “The Dietls accept that this 1s the end of the road for operating a restaurant at this location and they intend to comply with the court.”

LADY Gregory will be hon- oured once again this week- end as the Autumn Gather- ing takes place at the Lady Gregory Hotel and Coole Park in Gort.

The gathering, which is in its eleventh year, will include a host of lectures, plays, cul- tural and social events to highlight Lady Gregory’s contribution to the [Irish Lit- eV AYA CAREY

The weekend will be of- ficially launched in_ the Lady Gregory Hotel at 6pm on Friday evening by Ben Kennedy, the great-grandson of Lady Gregory and Ronnie O’Gorman.

This will be followed by the launch of an Italian translation of Lady Grego- ry’s stories for children ed- ited by Dr Rosangela Barone and Melita Catald1.

Saturday will be domi- nated by a series of lectures in Coole Park chaired by Ki- Cie-NO Nye esre KYA

The lectures will cover topics including mythology, shrines and the supernatural and will feature professors Gearoid MacEoin, Miranda Aldhouse-Green and Patri- cia Lysaght.

SW rlemeeldetoubetcmalemeleneey tec pleted on Sunday by a trip to Thoor Ballylee for the pres- entation of a series of poems about Thoor Ballylee by Pe- ter O’Shaughnessy.

The weekend comes to close in the traditional way on Sunday afternoon with tea and barn brack at The Lady Gregory Hotel.

Lady Gregory is_ best known for her work with Yeats and Synge in the for- mation of the Irish National Theatre and the Abbey The- atre Company.

A playwright herself, she gained notoriety not just be- cause of her artistic work but also because of her role as a patron for some of Ireland’s best known writers. She died on May 22, 1932 at the age fo) are OF

ANYONE who _ proclaimed that cars should run on vege- table oil, or batteries was nor- mally regarded as at best ‘al- ternative, at worst eccentric.

But these are anything but normal times.

With fist fights on the filling station forecourts and flood waters swirling as we melt the planet, the days when we can rely on fossil fuels for power and transport are surely num- bered.

So will the ‘green’ car idea finally have its day and, first and foremost, does it actually exist?

The good news is_ that whereas five years ago these issues were hardly on the in- dustrial radar screen, now all the world’s major motor man- ufacturers have huge ‘green’ programmes and boast senior executives with titles such as ‘vice-president, environment.’

The prize for the company which cracks the formula for the green car of the future, before its rivals, will be meas- ured in trillions of dollars.

The prize for the human race will be cleaner air.

The bad news is that those same companies have found that solving the technology problem of alternative fuels is taking more time and money than they expected.

With petrol prices going through the roof, motorists are understandably looking for an instant solution to rising fuel eyeN KS

Even the most ambitious automobile §manufacturer’s admit that it will be late 2007 before hydrogen cars appear in showrooms and even then there probably won’t be any- where to re-fill them.

SUC Kmoormalunes off it seems, with significant implications for motorists not expected for another ten years Or SO.

So what is the solution?

The first and most straight- forward route is to join the droves of Irish motorists and convert to a diesel engine –

diesel models now represent 42 per cent of all new car sales in the Republic.

Alternatively, manufactur- er’s like Toyota and Honda offer hybrid petrol-electric models which again use less fuel than conventional petrol eran Nee

More and more manufactur- er’s look set to follow this ex- ample with Mercedes promis-

ing to unveil models in their showrooms come January 2007.

Significantly these models will reduce consumption by anything up to 25 per cent.

If you are determined enough you could really slash your fuel bill by going elec- tric. That is if you don’t mind also cutting your top speed to about 40 miles an hour.

The Reva G-Wiz, which is manufactured in India and is distributed in the UK by GoinGreen.co.uk is the only mass production and afford- able electric car on offer in Europe at the moment.

Fully-charged (which can take about six hours) the G- Wiz can manage about 40 miles. This however can also depend on temperature and driving conditions.

Although this doesn’t sound too encouraging at first, con- sidering the following – this electric model will still run at about one third the cost of a normal petrol car.

GoinGreen.co.uk have en- joyed significant interest in the G-Wiz since they launched the vehicle in May, 2004.

They have already sold 250 and have a further 50 on order at a nominal cost of £8,000.

For those who still want the bit of power, performance, prestige, electric windows, comfortable seating and the ability to travel decent jour- ney without having to seek out a handy road side socket, then maybe converting your car to run on liquid petroleum gas (LPG) might be just the thing for you.

Conversion companies can

charge anything up to €2,000 to carry out the required work on your vehicle, but it might well be worth it with LPG costs per litre running at about 40 per cent of typical petrol costs.

It’s worth noting though that this advantage is purely down the difference in VAT charges.

The British Motoring As-

sociation estimate that there are 100-125,000 vehicles in the UK running on LPG, and thankfully this fuel also cuts down on carbon dioxide emis- sions by twenty per cent when compared with petrol. Con- venient availability of LPG can prove a problem however.

On the continent LPG is widely available, particularly in Italy, Holland, Germany and France.

As usual, in Ireland, we’re well behind.

If you’d prefer to escape de- pendence on dissipating fossil fuels and third party suppli- ers entirely, you can then join

the growing ranks of people running their diesel cars on biodiesel.

Biodiesel is made from crops such as oilseed rape and sunflower seeds.

In the UK at the moment, biodiesel is currently being sold as a five per cent blend with conventional diesel at a growing number of supplier stations. Some motorists how-

ever are concocting their own 100 per cent blend, or buying it from independent manufac- turers to run their own vehi- cles. Few problems have thus far been reported.

Green Fuels, a_ biodiesel technology specialist, have been selling DIY biodiesel kits for about the last eighteen months in the UK.

James Hygate, Green Fuels MD, has been running his Audi A6 on biodiesel for over a year now.

Biodiesel DIY kits start at £4,106. The kit can produce biodiesel in batches of 150 litres. The process involves

mixing heated vegetable oil with other chemicals and then filtering off the end product.

In comparison to current petrol prices, you should once again save yourself about 60 per cent on your fuel bill.

Be warned however. If you do decide to switch to biodie- sel it could affect your vehicle Wee ETO ATe

Many car manufacturer’s are, as of yet, completely hap- py to endorse this fuel alterna- tive completely.

Despite this manufacturer reticence don’t be surprised if in a few years you look out your car window and see acre upon acre of golden oilseed rape.

These will become the 21st century oil fields and farmers will become oil barons as cli- mate changes and diminishing oil reserves turn plants like oilseed into a wonder fuel.

The above was once the fan- tastic vision of biofuel lobby, but now its closer to reality than we first suspected.

Technically there are two kinds of biofuel.

One is made from plant oils and the other, bioethanol, is made by fermenting grains.

Both can be used in unmodi- fied diesel and petrol engines When blended with conven- tional diesel and petrol.

Last month the EU increased pressure on Ireland to meet its biofuel targets – a request of course the coalition govern- ment have largely ignored.

In the UK the number of garage forecourts stocking biodiesel and bioethanol fuels while car manufacturer’s may also be converted.

Early this summer in Swe- den Saab released its first flex- ible fuel model and it is an- ticipated that more will follow this example.

Right now the dream of a clean biofuel future may be just that, but with the momen- tum created by the EU and the public the vision may become increasingly plausible with every field in Ireland becom- ing a practical oil field.

A 16-year-old Kilrush youth threatened to kill three gardai and said he would find out Where every garda lived, it was alleged in court.

The accused, who cannot be named, is charged with engaging in threatening, abu- sive or insulting behaviour at Kilrush Garda Station on September 20.

Detective Garda Michael McDonagh told Lisdoonvarna District Court last Wednesday that the accused arrived at the garda station to sign on, as part of his bail conditions as- sociated with another case. He told the garda that he knew where two shotguns were.

The garda told the court that two shotguns, stolen in Kilrush, were still missing. The ac-

cused is alleged to have said the guns were being ‘kept for something big’, otherwise, they would be let off every night.

He allegedly said he would kill three Kiul- rush-based gardai. The youth also allegedly said he would find out where “every one of ye lives.”

In court, the accused said he did not have a solicitor.

“T want to speak for myself… Sure I did nothing.” He said he had taken tablets the previous evening and could not remember what had happened.

“I’m sorry but I don’t know what I done,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan granted an applica- tion to remand the accused in custody, to ap- pear again in court later this week.

can reveal.

The castle, which was built in 1306 by the O’Connor family, has developed a number of deep cracks over the last few years which now Web usrelKo) /MMOOCoMECIE-1OyEDIA MOJO Os loMIINUECOr neko

Dough Castle lies between the seventh and eight hole of the La- hinch Castle Golf Course and has been the subject of a major archi- tectural investigation in recent weeks.

Secretary Manager of the club, Alan Reardon, is currently await- ing the results of the investigation before action can be taken to rein- force the castle.

“We are looking into the situation

at the moment,” said Mr Reardon.

‘There are some cracks that have been developing over the years and we are investigating what is the best way to deal with them. It’s not in danger of falling down too soon.”

The investigation will also at- tempt to uncover as much informa- tion as possible about the castle’s long and proud history.

“We are trying to find out as much as we can about the castle and see if it is a protected struc- ture,’ continued Mr Reardon.

“At that point we can see what kind of grants are available to help fund the work.”

While it is impossible to say for sure the castles current state of dis- repair is blamed by many on the sandy foundations on which it is built.

Sections of the building have col-

lapsed at various times during the nineteenth century and at present only one wall remains fully intact.

Dough Castle was originally founded by the O’Connors at the beginning of the fourteenth cen- elas

Its original name was ‘Dumhach Ui Chonchtir’ which translates roughly as O’Connor’s Sandbank.

The O’Connors were ousted from the castle by the O’Brien family in the time of Elizabeth the first of England.

The current castle dates back to the sixteenth century when it was the property of Sir Donal O’Brien and his family.

The castle was save from dem- olition by ‘Commissioners for overthrowing and demolishing castles in Connacht and Clare’ by a Cromwellian officer named Colo- nel Stubber in 1654.