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THE decision to keep the €10 travel tax after the announcement of the Finance Bill has been branded as “short sighted”.

Reacting to the publication of the Finance Bill 2010, Fine Gael’s Deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Clare TD Pat Breen has slammed what he terms “the short sighted decision not to axe the €10 air travel tax”.

“This air travel tax is depressing our tourism and aviation industries. It is a disaster, especially for Shan- non Airport where the airport is set to lose several European and UK destinations. Ryanair are on the brink of transferring several of their sun routes to Cork Airport and the franchise agreement which Aer Lin- gus has signed with Aer Arann will see that airline open up several new short-haul routes from both Cork and Dublin. Iam also expecting the year- end passenger figures for Shannon Airport for 2009 to show a signifi- cant decline,” he said.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has been a vocal critic of the tax, citing its introduction as one of his reasons for decamping aircraft to other cheaper cost-base destinations in Europe.

This week, O’Leary produced fig- ures revealed by Europe’s airline monitor, showing traffic into Ireland down by 18 per cent, while in Den- mark and Spain, where charges were reduced, traffic grew by seven and

two per cent respectively.

The criticism comes as the region’s tourism concerns prepare to hear what Shannon Development, Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland have planned for the region for the com- ing year.

The three bodies will brief tourism concerns on their plans on Thursday morning at a special conference in the Radisson Blu hotel.

“Much of the economy in Clare is

dependent on the tourism industry and with the trend in unemployment on the rise again in the county – up four per cent for January 2010, from 10,404 at the end of December 2009 to 10,818 at the end of January 2010 – this tax is affecting our competi- tiveness,” the Fine Gael spokesman renee

THE €1 million cost of refurbishing a community centre, described as “one of the best” in Clare, means En- nis Town Council is unlikely to take over the running of the building, a meeting has heard.

The future of the CYMS Commtu- nity Hall in Ennis was discussed at the February meeting of Ennis Town Council, following a motion submit- ted by Mayor of Ennis, Clir Frankie Neylon (Ind).

Cllr Neylon’s motion called on the council to state whether or not they intended to accept the offer of the CYMS Community Hall, Chapel Lane, Ennis, made to them by the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh.

Cllr Neylon told the meeting that he believed the council should take over a building he said was “owned” by the people of Ennis. Highlighting the

building’s town centre location, Cllr Neylon described it as “one of the best facilities in the county”.

Responding to Cllr Neylon’s mo- tion, Town Clerk, Eddie Power stated, “As you are aware, Bishop William Walsh met with the council in relation to the Ennis Community Centre. Consultations subsequently took place between officials of the council and representatives of the Diocese in 2008. The members were subsequently briefed on these dis- cussions. The building is used for a multiplicity of purposes involving a number of different tenants.

“The council is not in a position having regard to the availability of finance to assume responsibility, for the management, maintenance or the future development of this building. It is understood that the refurbish- ment of the building would require significant capital investment in the

order of €1 million, which is not cur- rently available to the council.”

Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) supported the proposed takeover of the build- ing. He said, “You couldn’t ask for a better location. The youth centre has been running a very successful youth OF Nem ORONO MNS Koma

Cllr O’Shea also requested that the council provide a full report on the costs associated with running the building.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said the council should not take over the building unless it is assured of “va- cant possession”.

“T don’t believe that we could run it given the way finances are at the moment. There are three or four dif- ferent organisations using it at the moment. We were told in the meet- ing with the bishop that we couldn’t get vacant possession,” he said.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) agreed

that the council would first have to be ensured vacant possession of the building before it could take owner- ship. He said money collected from development levies could be used for refurbishment. Cllr Flynn later pro- posed that the council purchase the building.

Town Manager, Ger Dollard told the meeting that it was costing the Diocese of Killaloe an estimated €150,000 a year to staff and run the building. “It’s not just a simple mat- ter of taking over the building. There are a number of complex issues as- sociated with it.”

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) warned that members should be “wary of what you wish for’, stating that itis a lot more expensive to repair a listed building than a standard one.

The proposal to purchase the build- ing was later withdrawn, pending a full report on costs.

THE NUMBER of people sign- ing on the live register in Clare last month is up a massive 2,336 on this time last year.

The latest breakdown of figures on a county-by-county basis from the Central Statistics Office shows that the numbers signing on jumped to 10,818 in Clare during January.

This is an increase of 414 on the numbers who were claiming dole in December.

The biggest increase was in Ennis, where the number signing on jumped from 10,404 in December to 10,818 in January.

The latest figures come as business agencies warn that action is needed if more jobs are not to go in the mid- west region.

New jobs in the mid-west will come from the existing base of mul- tinational companies in the region according to Bill Doherty, Chairman of the American Chamber Mid West Keres (OE

The focus of agencies such as Shannon Development and IDA Ire- land and local government should be on creating the environment which will allow companies in the region to flourish, he said.

‘The mid-west region has a higher proportion of its workforce employed in the manufacturing and industrial sector than any other region. The IDA Ireland client base in the mid- west employs in the region of 8,000 people. While it is absolutely true that Ireland must seek to become a smart economy and support knowl- edge based businesses, it must be acknowledged that core manufactur- ing is the foundation stone on which many additional investments are built,” said Mr Doherty.

SHANNON’S Senior Citizen’s Club is celebrating its 30th birthday this year by urging some not-so-senior people to get involved.

The group meets socially to organ- ise outings, art classes, swimming and offers various clinics as well as a dinner and meals on wheels serv- ice.

“We have great craic and it’s a great social outlet,” said Club PRO, Pauline Cronin.

Pauline explained that the club would love the see new members joining as well as some new volun-

teers to help out.

“We have our regular members but we would love to see some new, younger faces. We want to be sure there are people who will step up and help organise the club and take part after the older members step down.”

The club has it’s own premises at 9 Purcell Park and dinners are served there twice a week. Volunteers also bring hot dinners out to people who can’t make it to the club.

“We could do with new members and helpers. Members should be over sixty and you have to be a member for six months to take up a post on the committee so we’d love to see

people joining this end of the year,” said Pauline.

Volunteers to help serve and wrap dinners can be any age.

The club had its annual dinner dance at the weekend and now be- gins a year of fun, with walks in the Burren and outings to Galway, Knock and other destinations.

Members also arrange transport for trips into Limerick to socialise with the senior citizens club there and the club there comes out to Clare.

Members can also avail of the serv- ices of a chiropodists and a physio- therapist, both of whom have regular clinics in the clubhouse.

The newly elected committee from last week’s AGM are Kay Cosgrave, Chairperson; Tess Barry, Secretary; Treasurer, Mary Farrell and PRO, Pauline Cronin.

The chairperson thanked the outgo- ing chair, Loui Byrne for all his work of the last three years. The commit- tee also thanked the Health Service Executive for their support along with Frances Kelly who provided teams for the meals on wheels, Mar- garet McDonnell, the kitchen staff and all the volunteers. ““We’d be lost without them,’ Said Pauline.

Anyone interested in joining can contact Pauline on 061 472518.

BASED on the first division league table this cup encounter between first and second was always going to be an entertaining affair. However, the one-sided outcome which saw sec- ond placed Hermitage convincingly beat table toppers Mountshannon Celtic was far more unexpected. From the kick off the Ennis side waltzed along in cruise control as they dominated all over the field. Their east Clare counterparts never got out of the blocks for the whole 90 minutes and were shell-shocked

in the end.

Hermitage attacked from the out- set. Their winning margin could have been far greater if their early shoot- ing had been a bit more accurate.

As the ‘Tage missed chances mounted, the fear of Mountshannon punishing this wastefulness was a constant until the home side finally struck in the 20th minute.

It came via a penalty that was coolly dispatched by Davy Moloney after a handball infringement in the square. The floodgates seemed ready to open but half-time arrived too quickly be- fore Hermitage could double their

lead.

The second-half continued in the exact Same manner.

Hermitage pushed forward and ex- erted huge pressure on the already tiring Mountshannon defence. Five minutes after the restart the elusive second goal was found. Paul Dulla- ghan judged his run perfectly as he found himself on the end of an excel- lent cross to head home a very well worked goal.

The spirit killing third goal came along with a double blow. Hermit- age were awarded their second pen- alty of the afternoon but this time

Mountshannon had to suffer the dreaded fate of going down to ten men as key defender Ray Cahill re- ceived a straight red card for a delib- erate handball. Moloney once again finished it off to effectively kill the game as a contest.

Three rapidly became four — this time Eddie Killeen, a member of the Lifford B side who reached the cup final last year rounded the goalkeep- er before blasting to the net.

As often happens the dominant team then started to relax a bit more and with this Shane O’ Rourke pulled one back for Mountshannon.

Any hope of a miraculous come- back were dashed almost in the next play when Robbie Dunne completed his teams scoring and made it 5-1.

The game had one more goal left in it, however, as more sloppy defend- ing allowed Mounstshannon to grab another late consolation goal. This time Paul Dooley was provider but it was certainly a case of too little too Fre

A GRANDMOTHER picking up her grandchildren from school was one of the latest casualties on the coun- ty’s damaged roads.

Barbara Robinson was driving from Tullybrack Cross to Shragh when her car hit a large pothole, bounced off the road on to the ditch, and rolled over.

The car was a write-off, and Mrs Robinson escaped with minor inju- ries, some aches and a harsh realisa- tion of what could have been.

The frightened grandmother was left terrified but with a sense of relief that she was on her way to the school and that the children were not in the

ore

This accident has highlighted for many people the dangers of roads with uneven surfaces and hidden potholes.

John Robinson – Barbara’s husband – is one of a number of local people annoyed by the state of the roads.

“T usually go to pick up the chil- dren, but I was busy this day and asked Barbara to go,’ he said. ““When one of the neighbours came and said my wife was in an accident, I went down and saw the car. I was horror- struck.”

Local woman Nicola diLuici said that the road in question was danger- ous long before the freezing weather, although the sub-zero temperatures

did exasperate the problem.

The young mother of two said roads between ‘Tullybrack and Shragh and between Shragh and Monmore had buckled under the extra traffic endured during the laying of water pipes in Doonbeg late last spring. These roads were used as a detour for traffic during this time.

‘I drive this road six times a day to pick the children up from school. It is used by people working in Kilrush and the Doonbeg Golf Club, going to and from school and to Kilrush on business,” she said.

“The council did one section of re- surfacing after the waterworks and this is still perfect even after the frost, but they just filled the potholes

in the rest of the road and they have all risen again. We also have a prob- lem with subsidence,’ she said.

“I don’t feel we should have to pay road tax and then be expected to drive these roads. The west has been forgotten on all accounts,’ she added.

Ms diLuici said she is frustrated to hear from the council continuously that there is not enough money to do the road.

IS there something in the Miltown Malbay air that helps produce cham- joey eta

Remember way back in the 1940s when Miltown and particularly the football field was a home away from home for George Norton — he who became one of Ireland’s greatest ever rugby full-backs and who kicked Ire- land to Triple Crown glory in 1949.

And, it’s also a home away from home for another Dub who is no stranger to rugby internationals at Croke Park in recent years — not on the field but off it as a bouncer who doubles as a world wrestling cham- pion.

He’s Sheamus O’Shaughnessy — aka Stephen Farrelly — who in December became the first Irish holder of the World Wrestling Entertainment title. His grandmother is Mary Skerritt, wife of the late Tommie Skerritt of the famous golfing clan from Lahi-

eee

And, apart from his grandmother, his mother, aunts, uncles and cous- ins are also living in Miltown Mal- bay, something that has ensured O’Shaughnessy makes regular trips down to Clare.

“T used to go down the Miul- town a lot when I was young,” says O’Shaughnessy. “I loved going down there and was down recently for a flying visit. It’s great that they’re very proud of my achievements in Miultown and Clare,” he adds.

The 31-year-old, who has also worked as a security guard to the stars, such as Bono, won his world title by beating defending champion John Cena in early December. And, in winning the title in New York, O’Shaughnessy blasted the ster- eoypical view of the Irish still held by many.

‘“T wanted to get rid of of the stere- otypes of drunken Paddies and luck charms, and Irish lads and donkey

carts. | wanted to bring back a more positive image, and bring back in the day when Celtic warriors were the most feared in Europe.”

Now, O’Shaughnessy is a feared and respected name in the world of wrestling, having given up a career 1n IT to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler . “I sacrificed an awtul lot to get here,’ he says

“I worked a couple of jobs to save money. I slept in airports. I’d fly over to England on a Friday after work to wrestle, sleep in the airport and then fly back home. That’s how passionate I am about what I want to do. The most important thing for me was wrestling — always.”

It’s important to the Skerritt fam- ily in Miltown Malbay too, who are fiercely proud of O’Shaughnessy’s achievements.

TO the unobservant eye, the jerseys being presented to a group of under- age west Clare footballers are exact- ly that – a new kit with the name of a new sponsor on the front.

On closer inspection, however, these new jerseys are a symbol of the changing face of rural GAA clubs fighting to keep the game alive.

Shannon Gaels and Killimer GAA

clubs have ensured a new generation of west Clare footballers by joining forces to field underage teams as ru- ral parishes face population decline.

While the I1- to 20-year-olds of these clubs may now be taking on other teams as one, it is also impor- tant that they keep the identity of their own clubs.

For the past two years, the underage teams from Under 14 to Under 21 have been training and playing to-

gether, and now for the first time ever they have new jerseys that incorpo- rate both of their colours.

Thanks to a local contractor, a new jersey showing off the green and gold of Killimer and the red and white of Shannon Gaels has been designed.

Pat Kennedy of Pat Kennedy Con- structions sponsored the jerseys in the new colours for the underage teams.

Now the people of Killimer, Knock-

erra, Labasheeda and Kilmurry Mc- Mahon can see their own colours in these young footballers when they come to support them.

ANY body charged with coming up with a fixtures structure that suits all clubs and players across the county is doomed to fail. It’s impossible not only in Clare, but in any county across Ireland considering that club games, aS we are well aware, are likely to change at short notice given the progress of the inter-county team through the championship in sum- nates

At least the members who devised the 2010 Masters Fixtures Plan had regard of this fact. “There are many difficulties in trying to put together a workable club fixtures plan against a demanding inter-county schedule in both codes,” the structures commit- tee rightly point out.

To illustrate the point, they use the gaps between the first and second rounds in hurling and football as an example.

The senior hurling championship 1s scheduled to begin on the weekends of May 8 and May 15. The second round will not go ahead until June Re

Likewise, the football champion- ship has been confirmed to start on June 10 but after this, the champi- onship fields will remain quiet until August 7. That’s two months without any senior championship football in Clare at the height of the summer. Clubs, here, will feel under serious pressure to keep players interested in training. This will be a serious con- cern for some.

However, the committee point out that the Clare senior footballers play AW Koy mw KOK me) EL NaPso meal OMB OCoMN ent ners to play Limerick in the Munster

semi-final on June 6.

‘As the Clare senior footballers are playing a quarter-final in 2010, un- like 2009 when their first game was the Munster semi-final, we have to provide for the possibility that Clare may enter the All-Ireland qualifier series at round one on June 26.”

In other words, there are a lot of permutations to consider and a lot of balls to juggle.

The committee have also aimed to keep dual clubs happy, trying to ensure that dual clubs will have at least five days between champion- ship games in hurling and football, which, they also point out, may not always be possible in the latter stages of the championship.

The county hurling final is sched- uled to take place on October 10 and the football final on October 13.

In terms of the domestic league, the committee have proposed to begin the Clare Cup at the end of March.

They point out some more difficul- ties they have encountered when try- ing to draw up an all-encompassing master plan.

“Much of the feedback in regard to the Clare Cup has centred on the late finish to the competition. However, clubs have also resisted proposals to start the competition earlier.’ Which, in effect, puts the committee some- Where between a rock and a hard place.

The Cusack Cup, Garry Cup and Division 3 will begin on February 20 to help ensure that county players are available to their clubs for each round.

The Cusack Cup final takes place on July 24, with the Clare Cup final down for August 21.

WHEN Bridget Beckley began paint- ing for this year’s ‘Art is for Every- one’ exhibition, little did she know that one of her paintings would be- come a form of art therapy and help her to mourn a terrible loss. Bridget’s life was devastated by

the death of her husband, Peter, in a horrific car accident last July on the Ennis-Kilrush road. Just before the accident, Peter had agreed to be the subject of the portrait Bridget was going to do for the exhibition.

“I knew the portrait course was coming up and doing a portrait is challenging, especially with a live

model and Peter graciously accepted the challenge of being a model and three weeks later, he was dead. I thought initially that I wouldn’t do i

After some time, though, she de- cided that painting his portrait was the best way to remember him.

“With each stage, each layer of paint I put on the page, I was trying to bring him back to life in some way and certainly with the techniques that I used, I had to use my fingers to blend the different shades and the different colours. It made it very per- sonal.”

For 10 weeks she worked off mem- ory, photographs and video footage. The result is indicative of the time, effort and emotion she invested. A fantastic piece of art that gives you a real sense of what the man was like.

“Certainly, doing the portrait has helped me a lot. You could say it was a form of art therapy really.

“The trickiest thing for me was to convey the kind of man he was, to capture his personality in his face, which 1s a difficult thing to do.

‘He was full of life and had a great sense of humour. He had a great presence about him and I was trying to get that across.”

Talking about her experience at the ‘Art is for Everyone’ school she said, “T feel really proud to be part of the art school and it’s great for the students who have never painted in their life, actually exhibiting their work and es- pecially in such a short space of time.”

You can see Peter’s portrait and four other paintings by Bridget at the ‘Art is for Everyone’ exhibition in Kilrush Library from February 18 to March 12. Opening night is Thurs- day, February 18 at 8pm in Kilrush Library. There will be refreshments served and a raffle will be held in support of the Clare Lifeboat Serv- ice. All are invited to attend.