Category: Uncategorized

IRONING SERVICE

PEOPLE in Clare are 1.1 times more likely to live in poverty compared to the rest of the country.

According to a Combat Poverty report, the Midwest is at the highest risk of poverty in the country, with those living in Limerick City 1.3 times more likely to live in poverty.

The study used a combined meas- ure that looked at both income levels and levels of enforced deprivation of basic necessities.

The income level for an adult is defined as below 60 per cent of the average income levels for the popu- lation and basic necessities include the ability to afford adequate cloth- ing, food and fuel.

The report showed that the Banner County’s unemployment rate was be- low the national average of 8.8 per cent, at 7.6 per cent.

The study also reports that more than a fifth of the Clare population have left school with no education or only primary education, while a quarter have third level education.

A total of 34 per cent of the popu- lation are dependant on others for food and shelter.

Meanwhile 3.1 per cent of Clare people are over the age of 65 and liv- ing alone, a figure similar to Limer- ae

The aim of the statistics, gathered through the national census for the report “Mapping Poverty”, is to in- crease the understanding of the loca- tion of poverty. The higher poverty rates were found to be in the Border, Midland and Western regions.

IRONING SERVICE

THE IFA has reacted angrily to claims made by celebrity chef Richard Corrig- an that chicken produced in Ireland are sub standard and “full of antibiotics”.

Chairman of the IFA Poultry Com- mittee Alan Graham has dismissed the claims made by Mr Corrigan as false and incorrect. Mr Graham claimed that there are strict regulations in place when it comes to using animal rem- edies and suggested that Mr Corrigan may simply be trying to drum up pub- licity for his new restaurant.

“A Chicken Quality Assurance Scheme has been in place in this country since January 2003 that sets out strict regulations to safeguard the health and welfare of chicken flocks,” said Mr Graham. “Mr Corrigan may need some publicity for his new restau- rant but he should not abuse a platform afforded to him.”

Richard Corrigan grew up on a 25 acre farm in Meath but now runs the Lindsay House restaurant in London. He has been widely quoted in recent days as urging people not to buy Irish chicken and claiming that badly fed, poorly exercised and full of antibiot- ne

“Tm appalled at the standard of chicken in Ireland. It’s not good enough, people should demand better,” said the celebrity chef. He also claimed that some chickens were “stacked in some shed probably, fed a load of antibiotics and a load of crap.”

The IFA’s Mr Graham went on to challenge Mr Corrigan to examine

the Quality Assurance Scheme. He claimed that if he did he would find over 30 pages of detailed regulations for chicken producing that are aimed at protecting the welfare of chickens and providing consumers with a product that is produced to the highest stand- ards.

‘All houses must have a controlled environment, which ensures that ambi-

ent temperature, air quality and lighting meet the needs of the flock throughout the growing cycle,” said Mr Graham.

He also pointed out that the welfare and health of a flock depends on the implementation of good stock manage- ment and the provision of a suitable environment.

ensuite to let. Quiet country surroundings, Ruan area. Suitable to all amenities, non-smoker. Tel 087-6852678

THE residents of Shannon town could be sitting on pots of silver and gold and a Dub- lin-based mineral explora- tions company is set to find out.

The Minister for Communi- cations, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey has this week published a no- tice confirming that it appears that there are minerals, in- cluding silver and gold, under the lands in and around Shan- non town and that the miner- als are not being worked.

Some of the townlands that might contain silver and gold are well-known and include Ballycasey Beg, Ballycasey More, Tullyvarraga, Smiths- town and Clonmoney West.

The Minister has confirmed that he intends to grant a l- cense to Belmore Resources Ltd., a prospecting license in respect of silver, gold and Bartyes

The license will enable the company to explore the designated area for mineral deposit, though it does not au- thorize the holder to mine the areas in question.

Fine Gael councillor, Tony

Mulcahy remarked this week: “The people of Shannon could be sitting on a fortune and with the help of God there could be some gold or silver in our own back garden.”

He said: “Any finds would be a source of welcome income for the people of Shannon and I would have no objection to

any exploration in the area as long as there are no risks and no disturbance to the local people.”

The move by Belmore to se- cure a license to prospect for gold and silver in the Shannon area is not the first piece of exploration the company has done in Clare.

Currently, the company is

giving priority to its zinc ex- ploration in Clare.

It has a 50% interest in eight prospecting licences covering 330 sq kilometres.

A preliminary report of its Zinc exploration activities in Clare show that it has com- pleted six holes of an ongoing programme on its zinc pro- spective licences in Clare.

Drilling started in March and a company statement said: “A resource of 400,000 tonnes grading 12 per cent zinc plus lead and 75 grammes per tonne of silver had previously been identified at Milltown.

“Because of its geological position at the base of the reef and the high grades in six of the previously drilled holes, the Milltown resource could represent part of an undis- covered ore-forming system SAUD DOM Mele KercalO) IE

“In the Milltown further drilling may add to the resource already delineated. However, holes now drilled elsewhere on the licences have intersected the Waulsortian Limestone which hosts most of the zinc- lead-silver deposits in Ireland including the resource de- lineated at Miltown.”

area,

OVER 5,500 drivers in Clare have acquired penalty points since the points system was in- troduced three years ago, the vast majority of which have been for speeding.

Out of penalty points issued to 5,677 Clare motorists, 5,140 were for speeding; 478 were for drivers not wearing seatbelts; 24 were issued as a result of chil- dren in front seats of cars not wearing seatbelts; and 34 were for children in back seats not

wearing seatbelts.

There were no points issued to drivers with addresses in Clare for careless driving, or driving without insurance.

The head of the Clare traffic corps, Inspector Kevin Moyni- han, said that despite repeated warnings, drivers were continu- ing to speed. “People are still speeding and the number of fines imposed for speeding are certainly on a par with last year. There have been well over 400 fines for non-wearing of seatbelts so far this year,’ said Inspector

Moynihan. Figures obtained by

NEXT week Lisdoonvarna Secondary School will open it’s doors on the tenth year of a successful adult educa- tion programme.

The North Clare school initiated its first courses for adults in 1995 through a hugely successful pro- gramme of night classes.

Since those early days the programme has grown year on year and now offers a wide range of training and qualifications.

The school, in conjunc- tion with the Further Edu- cation and Training Awards Council (FETAC), offers courses in Business Stud- 1es/Secretarial, Childcare and Community and Health Services.

Tuition is free and stu- dents can choose from a wide range of subjects within these courses includ- ing Computer Maintenance, Payroll, Sculpture and Pho- tography.

Three years ago the school added the BTEI (Back To Education Initiative) to its programme for adults.

This programme is partic- ularly suitable for the long term unemployed, those in the workplace with basic skills and early school leav- ae

The school’s night classes also continue for the coming year as does the Farm Man- agement/Farm Accounts, New Opportunities for Farm Families and Health and Safety on the Farm of- fered in conjunction with Sherer yer

Throughout the year the school also offers the FAS Safe Pass course for those in the construction industry while adults can also avail of the opportunity to take subjects at Junior and Leav- ing Certificate levels.

An Open Evening will be held at the school on Mon- day next, September 5th from 8pm to 9.30pm.

For information on the Adult Education Pro- grammes contact Marian O’Callaghan or Teresa Con- neely at 065 7075038 or 065 7074334.

SHANNON-BASED pharmaceutical firm, Schwarz Pharma incurred a loss of over €6 million in its most recent accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office.

The loss arose from €11 million the company spent on financing a restructuring programme, which in- volved the redundancy of 70 staff in a programme launched two years ago.

The accounts for 2003 show that the company had an operating profit of just under €5 million on a turnover of €36 million. This was marginally up on the €4.63 million figure for 2002. However, profit was wiped out with the restructuring costs totalling €11.207 million.

The loss of €6 million was the first loss that Schwarz Pharma made in a number of years, during which the company accumulated profits of €33 million.

However, when accounts for 2004/5 are published, the profits are expected to be hit by the company in- vesting €6 million in new technology aimed at im- proving the company’s environmental performance.

The spend follows the company shutting down its production processes for six weeks earlier this year,

in response to local concerns over air emissions from the plant. The company is now compliant with its Inte- erated Pollution Control (IPC) licence.

The accounts also show that the company’s intan- gible assets are valued at €157 million at the end of 2003 — a massive increase of €84 million on the 2002 figure. Tangible assets stood at €35 million in 2003.

In an attached note, it’s stated that milestone pay- ments were made on the achievement of certain results involving research and development.

The company is in the process of a €70 million in- vestment at its plant over the next five years. The com- pany’s Director of Environment and Health and Safety, Dermot Hanrahan recently said that clinical trials in relation to new drugs “are going very well”.

It is upgrading its treatment plant and spending over €10 million on new equipment and the upgrading of existing equipment for new products.

Shannon owns the intellectual property and, corre- spondingly, the distribution rights for some of the new products and is currently preparing for the launch of these products. The first new product launched will be for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and is sched- uled for the end of 2005.

A STARTLING new survey shows that the majority of women have no personal life insurance – although it would cost more than €37,000 a year to pay someone else just to do the work they do in the home.

Of the women quizzed for the Ark Life Insurance survey, 57 per cent said they had no personal life insur- ance, although almost half of those asked said they contributed to the household budget by working in paid employment.

Forty six per cent of those asked

said their partners had no life cover on them, while four in ten women’s partners had no life cover for them- Noone litle

Ark Life, AIB’s Life and Pensions Company, which commissions the annual survey from Behaviour and Attitudes Market Research, said that the results show that many families would be left financially vulnerable if the female partner died unexpect- edly.

The number of uninsured women is up 4 per cent on last year, based on 400 women interviewed for the SUA

The survey found that when asked to specify the hours they worked in the home, women worked on average 17 hours a day looking after the chil- dren, cooking, cleaning, laundry and looking after the home.

To pay for that work, based on the current minimum wage of €7.65 per hour, would cost €780 a week or over €37,000 annually, based on a six- day working week, the researchers involved in the survey discovered.

In addition, the research revealed that the majority of women working outside the home (63 per cent) are not provided with a lump sum death

benefit by their employer and in 43 per cent of cases, the partner’s em- ployer did not provide a lump sum benefit either.

“It must be of concern that such a high proportion of women do not have life assurance cover. Those that do have very modest cover – the median value is just over €62,000. This is despite the fact that 38 per cent of women believe that the lump sum needed in the event of their own death would be €100,000”,, said Ber- nard Lynch, Marketing Manager, Ark Life.

A NORTH CLARE group which set up it’s own broadband scheme have been so suc- cessful that next month, residents and busi- nesses in Liscannor and Lahinch plan to sign up bringing to 200 or more the number of subscribers.

The North West Clare Broadband group was born out of the disinterest of the big providers in extending the scheme to an area which would not initially have large numbers of subscribers. A number of En- nistymon locals decided to investigate go- ing it alone in the broadband stakes after they were told by Eircom that they would have to have a minimum of 394 connections and even then, the area would have to wait 18 months for the facility.

Locals came together and sent representa- tives to meet with several other large service providers, but could raise no enthusiasm for providing the service to around 60 potential subscribers.

So instead, they went about raising the in- vestment to link into the AI Bridges-built link to Smart Telecom’s cable network in Shannon.

They were helped along by a small Gov- ernment Grant from the Group Broadband Scheme.(GBS)

The GBS provided 30 per cent of the first year capital cost and less than 20 per cent of the cost of setting up the network in effect.

The group is run as a co-operative on a non-profit basis and, a spokesman said, this enables them to “be in charge of ourselves. We can put money back into the company. It just results in a better product for every-

body.”

Now the network has been up and run- ning for six months and users report that the smaller numbers mean the service is under less pressure than in urban areas.

Their next step is to sign up nearby towns and villages and this is expected to happen in a matter of weeks.