The Clare People Archive

THE Shannondoc out-of-hours GP service suffered a slight financial loss for the second year in succession, ac- cording to its latest figures.

In accounts lodged to the Compa- nies Office, Shannondoc reported a loss of €40,000 to the end of 2006 and this follows an operating loss of €45,000 in 2005.

Asked if there were any concerns over the operating loss, manager of Shannondoc, Larry Maher replied, “No, not at all.”

The accounts show that in 2006,

Shannondoc handled 86,932 calls – an increase of 9,722 or 12.6 per cent over 2005. The Killaloe area showed the highest increase at over 30 per cent, while triage nurses dealt with over 20,000 calls as nurses advise without the need to refer the call on to a doctor.

“Given that Shannondoc provides out-of-hours cover for 274,000 peo- ple, the call rate per 1,000 population per week is up from 5.71 to 6.1 calls per 1,000 population per week.

“People don’t realise the scale of the operation. It provides a very com- prehensive service, but it must be re-

membered that it is a family doctor service, not an emergency service,” Mr Maher emphasised.

The accounts show that Shannon- doc had a turnover of €5.08 million in 2006 — an increase of €300,000 on the turnover for 2005.

However, administration expenses for 2006 amounted to €5.12 million and this resulted in an operating loss of €40,000.

However, Shannondoc’s overall fi- nancial state remains healthy with an accumulated surplus of €100,000 at the end of 2006, while the co-op’s net funds stood at €499,000.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) contributed €3.8 million — up €300,000 on the 2005 contribution.

Prior to this year, doctors paid €10,000 each to fund the service but, this year, the rate decreased to around €6,000 per doctor.

In 2006, Shannondoc received €1 million in doctors’ contributions.

The service is also a major con- tributor to the regional economy, with salary costs coming in at €3.2 million.

The accounts show that Shannon- doc employs 38 drivers, 53 medical staff and 35 administrative workers.

A NEW plans for the development of organic farming in Ireland was last week given a cautious welcome by the farming organisations. Speaking at the launch, the ICSA’s Rural De- velopment Chairman, Gabriel Gil- martin, welcomed the plan as a step in the right direction.

‘This is a positive step as it widens the choice of production possibilities for farmers and clearly shows that the Government is committed to de- veloping the sector,” he said.

“ICSA feels that, in the rapidly changing dynamics of food mar- kets and food production, providing farmers with another option is a posi-

tive step.

“However, it is all about the bottom line, and if the Department of Agri- culture is serious about achieving the five per cent target for organic pro- duction in Ireland, then the resources and commitment must be available in realistic terms.”

Farmers will not undertake the ex- pense and labour-intensive conver- sion process without solid, long term backing from the authorities.”

Speaking at the launch of the Organ- ic Farming Action Plan 2008-2012, Minister for Food and Horticulture at the Department of Agriculture, Fish- eries and Food, Trevor Sargent, said that he was committed to achieving the very necessary development of

the organic sector in Ireland.

‘The action plan was an important development in working towards achievement of the Government’s target’, and he thanked the members of the National Steering Group for their input into the document,” he SrHKGe

“The National Steering Group will have a crucial role in guiding and overseeing progress on the action plan. I intend to bring together key industry leaders, opinion makers, agricultural academics with some of Ireland’s top organic farmers and erowers to better appreciate what organic farming is and to dispel any misconceptions that may exist.

“The programme for Government

five per cent target is indeed chal- lenging. I am confident that, with the full support of all stakeholders, implementation of the actions out- lined in the plan will greatly assist in achieving the target.”

The action plan has four main ob- jectives; increase production in line with market trends, increase the knowledge base, develop the organic market at home and abroad, and en- courage the development of public procurement opportunities for or- ganic products. There are over 60 actions identified in the plan.

Since 2005 there has been an in- crease of more than 17 per cent in the area under organic production in Ireland.

AS Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, was in Washington last week celebrating the recent progress made in North- ern Ireland, the fruits of the progress were being born out in the farming community with a number of high profile cross-border meetings taking place.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fish- eries and Food, Mary Coughlan, ac- companied by her cabinet colleague Eamon O Cuiv attended the North/ South Ministerial Council Agricul- ture Sectoral meeting held in Fer- managh on Wednesday.

The Northern Ireland Executive was represented by Michelle Gild- ernew, MP, MLA, Minister of Agri- culture and Rural Development and Arlene Foster, MLA, Minister of the

Environment.

The meeting covered a range of 1s- sues including co-operation on ani- mal health, plant health, the Com- mon Agricultural Policy Issues and cross-border rural development.

The council noted progress on the activities in the draft All-Island Animal Health and Welfare Strategy including an agreement on a com- mon chapter in the respective epi- Zootic contingency plans for Foot and Mouth Disease with common chapters for Avian Influenza and Bluetongue in the pipeline, on-going development of a report on the po- tential for joint data sharing and con- tinuing examination of the feasibility of a joint approach to the electronic identification of sheep.

The ministers approved further specific measures to progress the all-

island approach relating to Aujesz- ky’s Disease in pigs, and, in conjunc- tion with respective food safety and standard agencies, consideration of the hygiene package with respect to the transmission of food chain infor- mation with animals going to slaugh- ter and of the feasibility and priority of an all island approach relating to Trichinella in pigs.

The council discussed an innova- tive and strategic approach to col- laboration and co-operation on rural development programmes aimed at fostering improved community rela- tions in remote rural areas and com- plementing the economic regenera- tion of disadvantaged cross-border regions.

In relation to the EU Programmes, the ministers noted the development of proposals for a Rural Enabler

Project for submission to the PEACE II] Programme. This project aims to bring together rural people from both traditions and migrants to in- crease understanding and to work to address issues of sectarianism and racism in a rural context. Meanwhile, northern and southern hill farmers meet last week to dis- cuss to discuss a united approach to property rights and protection.

THE story of one of north Clare’s least celebrated superstars will be brought to dramatic life this evening at Glor in Ennis. “Submarine Man” tells the story of Liscannor’s John P Holland, inventor of the submarine and one of Ireland’s most remarkable engineers.

Written by Aidan Harney and di- rected by David Horan, the play tracks Holand’s life from his time as a school teacher in Clare to his in- volvement with the Fenians in New York, and his development of the submarine with the US navy.

“Holland, to me, is as intrepid an explorer as Sir Edmund Hillary on

Mount Everest, Neil Armstrong on the moon or Ernest Shackleton the great Antarctic explorer.

“Towards the end of the 1800s in the United States, in particular, but around the world there was a real race on to see who could conquer the mistress of the deep,” said writer Aidan Harney.

‘His story 1s simply the story of a man who had a dream and pursued it until he achieved it – although it nearly killed him along the way. I decided to write the play to try and make the life and times of this little- known man more accessible to peo- ple and to explore his contribution to Irish history.”

Harney’s early career was as a

journalist and actor, but he is now with Engineers Ireland. This love for engineering, writing and the stage made him the perfect person to bring Holland to the stage.

“It’s really an amazing story and the Fenian connection is incredible. When he arrived in New York in the 1870s, he got involved with Clan na Gael and, particularly, the famous O’Donovan Rossa.

“Rossa was so fascinated by Hol- land’s constant ramblings about the submarine and its potential as a weapon to solve the Irish question that he gave John Breslin, another very famous Fenian, and John De- voy, another huge figure of Irish his- tory, the job of working with Holland

to see if it was possible to build,” LoyeTebaLeCcremawlerIF

‘Fenian backers got nervous when Holland’s early prototype sank to the bottom of the Hudson river and almost killed poor Holland himself. They claimed he had built himself a coffin.

“When Holland spent a huge sum re-surfacing and repairing the sub- marine, the Fenians had a falling out and John Breslin, one night, actually stole the submarine from its moor- ings. Breslin forgot to seal the turret, the Fenian Ram, as it was known, subsequently flooded and sank.”

Submarine Man takes place in Glor this evening, May 6. Tickets are priced €18/€16.

A BRAND new solo exhibition of paintings from north Clare artist, Sara Foust takes up residence in he Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon this week.

The exhibition which is entitled The Other Place, includes a number works painted by Sara over the last 12 months. After focusing on coast- al areas in her last exhibition, Sara has decided to turn her attention to woodland for this latest collection of V0) 0.@

‘“T wanted to explore a different sub- ject matter with this exhibition. One of the main reasons that I focussed

on trees was that it can be really hard to find a nice woodland around here – it’s fairly barren. They’re there but they’re tucked away,” said Sara.

“My own way of working with colour is far more vibrant than what you might see with your own eyes. At times it’s riding that line between representation and abstract – a lot of people are scared of abstract art, but my work can straddle that line a lhit- tle bit.”

The exhibition features a number of scenes taken from woods in the Clare area. The paintings span dif- ferent times of the year and attempt to capture the woods as they pass through the different seasons.

This collection attempts to create the feeling that the woodland is a distinct arena to other areas.

‘The idea of the other place was a combination of a lot of other ideas that I have been playing with. One of the main ones is that we are still here in Clare, we’re still in a local place but it’s a very different feeling out in the woods. It a completely different personal feeling of nature,’ contin- ued Sara.

‘There is so much a sence of pro- tection, enclosure and quiet. It’s a really different feeling and experi- ence of nature. I learned a lot as I was working through the exhibition and different aspects became really

fascinating.

“In some painting the interesting thing was to focus in on something small like a section of bark and it’s texture, while in other ones I became fascinated on the dabs of light locat- ed underneath the tree. To see how the shadows of the trees flutter down in the undergrowth and the play of the different shades of light.”

‘The Other Place’ runs in the Court- house Gallery until May 24, from Tuesday to Saturday each week.

THE deadline for entries for the first ever Burren Marathon Challenge is fast approaching – and event organ- isers are expecting a great crowd to turn up for this historic walking event.

The marathon, which takes place on Saturday May 24, will take in some of Ireland’s most spectacular NEMA

Crossing the heart of the Burren, walkers will trek from Ballyvaughan to Fanore through the Cahir Valley before returning to Ballyvaughan via Blackhead.

The deadline for entries is this Sat-

urday, May 10.

“Preparations are all in place and we are delighted with all the support we are getting locally – from the resi- dents and the farmers to all the peo- ple who have come on board to do stewarding for the day,’ said Mary O’Brien from the Ballyvaughan-Fa- noe Walking Club.

“We need at least 30 stewards on the day and I’m delighted to say that we have the most of them already. We will be looking for help. To make this a success we will need lots of help on the ground on the day but we are getting great support.

“We’d love for as many people to get involved as possible – we really

want this to be a event for the whole locality.

“Entries have been coming in the whole time but in the last 10 days or so the pace has really upped. We will do our best to take any entries after the closing date but we really would like to avoid that if at all possible for logistics reasons – so that everyone can have a T-shirt and so that we can have everything ordered and printed Ko) mn na om eth VA

The marathon has been organised by the Ballyvaughan Fanore Walk- ing Club with the support of Clare Sports Partnership, the Atlantis Group including the Burren Coast Hotel and various local businesses.

Registration for the event takes place on Friday May 23 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and on Saturday May 24 from 6.30am to 8.30am at the con- ference Centre of the Burren Coast sloroe

Each participant has a choice of full, half or mini marathon. All three challenges start at the Burren Coast Hotel in Ballyvaughan at 9am sharp and all three routes will take you back to the finish line at the Burren Coast Hotel for an evening of enter- Bb On eetes OL

For more information or to down- load an entry form check out www. ballyvaughanfanorewalkingclub. com.

CREATING energy awareness has earned a school in Sixmilebridge major honours – its second ever PARI E ENE

St Finnachta’s National School won the flag, after it put in a major effort in relation to energy saving.

The previous green flag was achieved in 2006, after the school focused on targeting litter and waste. For the second flag, their task was to focus on energy while not forgetting to take care of litter and waste.

A committee of staff and students at the school, along with local tidy towns committee member Rita Higgins, put together a plan for the

project.

“We began by carrying out a sur- vey on heating and electricity in the homes. There were two different surveys and the results were very in- teresting. We found that most homes use oil for home heating, followed by solid fuel and then gas,” said teacher, Frances Downes.

“The most used electrical appli- ances in homes were chargers of all descriptions,” she said.

Under the initiative, the school as- sessed its oil and electricity usage over previous years and then put measures in place to save energy.

“We checked our expenditure one year later to see if things had 1m- proved. We did very well on oil. We

had halved the oil bill in the school. We had turned down the heating by one degree. Even though the school got bigger, we reduced the amount of electricity used. This was partly due to things like closing the doors and turning off lights when we weren’t using them,” she said.

She paid tribute to the students at the school, who showed a great inter- est in their environment.

“There were energy wardens in every class, to keep an eye on things,” said Ms Downes.

While everyone enjoyed being in- volved, it also took a huge effort on the administrative side of things. An application, submitted to An Taisce, included details on all the work car-

ried out at the school. This contained graphs and descriptions of the work involved.

A representative from An Taisce visited the school and spoke of the importance of keeping the environ- ment clean. The good news that the green flag was to be presented to the school was relayed in January, but it was not unveiled until last week.

Hopes are high that the school can now make it three-1n-a-row and earn its next flag in 2010.

“We will be going for it again in two years’ time, when the theme will be water,” said Ms Downes.

Every effort will be made to ensure that the impeccable standards are again met, with the next project.

A SHANNON woman who special- ises in physical therapy is expanding her business, to incorporate pilates.

Caroline Hannan from ‘Tradaree found that many of her physical ther- apy clients would benefit from doing pilates and decided to organise class- es in Shannon and Sixmilebridge.

She felt that while treating muscle injuries and back pain was of huge benefit to clients, they also needed some type of rehabilitation in order to facilitate a full recovery.

“Pilates is an excellent treatment method for muscle injuries and back problems. The pilates exercises can be modified to fit the needs of each client,’ she said.

Caroline is extremely busy as she works at Halifax Insurance during the day and organises pilates classes in the evenings. As a physical thera- pist, she treats injuries including chronic neck and back pain, sciatica and sports injuries.

She has worked with the Sixmileb- ridge senior hurling team for the past two years.

Caroline has specialised in physi- cal therapy for the past two years. She was awarded her qualification with the Pilates Institute through the National Training Centre in Dublin.

She explained her decision to ex- pand her business: “There were four or five people who came back to me with issues. I felt I was referring them on to pilates so I decided to get into teaching pilates myself. I love it. My aim is to get into it full-time,” she added.

“The classes are very mixed and cater for all ages,” she added.

Caroline is well-known in Shannon, not least for her involvement with the special needs youth club, of which she is one of the main organisers.

The pilates classes take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at the leisure centre in Shannon and on Thursdays at the old courthouse in Sixmilebridge, between 7pm and Spm.

If you are interested in joining one of Caroline’s pilates class- es, phone her on O87 6163384, or alternatively, email her at carneuromuscular@yahoo.co.uk.

THE opportunities available through the family resource centre in Shan- non are set to dramatically expand, due to a number of key appointments in recent months.

That was the message relayed by the outgoing chairperson, at the an- nual general meeting last week.

Trish Fallon-Barry was replaced as chairperson by Greg Duff.

In her outgoing speech, Ms Fal- lon-Barry said the centre went “from strength to strength” during the past year.

“In many ways this was a year of transition. The year began with no co-ordinator in place, though we did have tremendous commitment from the voluntary board and the admin- istrator,’ she said.

She said that despite the absence of a co-ordinator, the work plan was completed with the assistance of some outside voluntary support and some paid consultancy work.

The appointment of an _ out-of- schools co-ordinator, a full-time co-ordinator and a part-time devel- opment worker will augur well for the centre and ultimately the entire community.

“With these staff in place for this year, the opportunities and work of the centre is expected to increase dramatically in the coming year,’ she said.

“The voluntary board underwent changes in membership due to vari- ous other commitments of individual members. However through success- ful active recruitment and training, the result is a much consolidated

board of directors committed to the work going forward,’ said Ms Fal- lon-Barry.

“Work has recently been done on the current plan and members of the board have visited at least one other centre and undergone various pieces of training,” she added.

She said that ongoing projects, in- cluding out-of-schools and parent- and-toddler groups, have continued to flourish at the centre.

A new homework club is also being initiated, under the auspices of the centre. This will cater for both set- tled and Traveller children.

‘The centre continues to support and foster the needs of the communi- ty by facilitating interest groups with use of rooms, while the Le Cheile In- ternational Club fosters the integra- tion of foreign nationals,’ she said.

“In the case of Le Cheile Interna- tional Club, the centre is not merely assisting with the provision of a ven- ue, but is grateful that much-needed Support and encouragement on the eround has been forthcoming from the co-ordinator Marie Rowland,” she added.

“Groups have been integrated pro- viding mutual support when possi- ble, for example, out-of-school chil- dren providing art work with various themes,” she said.

IT’S taken almost ten years to be- come a reality but the determination of a few people backed by a whole community was being celebrated in Tulla at the weekend.

The people of Tulla came out to see the official opening of their new soc- cer pitches and clubhouse, on what was once a bog field in Cragg.

The aim to get a facility, which is second to none started with Christ- mas raffles 10 years ago.

€3 a ticket didn’t seem a lot at the time, but over 10 years the raffle brought in €100,000.

Five years into the plan, the pitch committee found a piece of land to suit the purpose and their ambitions were helped along with some fund- ing from the National Lottery.

“That was great but we still had €750,000 to fundraise,’ said Tulla United’s Michael Moloney.

“But all credit to Denis Cory, Mike Hoey, Stephan Brady and the com- mittee. They were the people who worked all the way to make this a re- ality and the people of Tulla were so generous and supportive. There was unbelievable work done but it would never have happened without Denis and the committee,” said Michael.

200 people linked to the club sup- ported the development, committing €20 a month to a club draw for three and a half years.

And there were also thousandaires, coffee mornings and sponsored all- sorts to boost the fund.

The result is two of the finest sand- based pitches anywhere in the coun- try, one which is floodlit.

There is a clubhouse which will allow players to change in comfort, space for meetings to take place, gear to be stored and a proper park- ing facility.

For the 100 under age and 50 adult players, it makes all the difference.

The facilities were officially opened by John Delaney, CEO of the FAI on Saturday after a dedicated Mass and parade through the town, led by the Tulla Pipe Band.

“This is a shining example of what community spirit can do,” said Michael.

‘“We’re hoping now that these fa- cilities will act as a magnet for peo- ple who want to play the game and for people who don’t have a club and we’ll be focusing on blitzes for the seven to Il age group, getting more youngsters involved. Now we have these facilities we can do these things,” said Michael.