The Clare People Archive

THE number of house completions in County Clare for the first 10 months of this year are down almost 20 per cent on the corresponding period last year.

Figures from the Department of the Environment show that to the end of October, the number of house com- pletions in Clare totalled 1,825 down on the 2218 for the first ten months last year.

The drop of 393 in the number of house completions represents a 17 per cent drop on house completions last year.

The figures show that for the first three quarters of this year, house completions were down 20 per cent on last year.

The figures has shown that house building has slowed down through- out the year. In the first quarter, the number of house completions was 556, in the second quarter the number dropped to 539 and from July to Sep-

tember, the numbers dropped to 475.

Last year, house building in Clare reached a peak of 2,/27 completions and the annual total was steadily in- creasing since 2001.

The figures show that 1,487 homes were complete in 2001, in 2002, this rose to 1,466; in 2003, this rose to 1,679 and in 2004, this rose to 1,831 before reaching 2174 in 2005.

According to local auctioneer, Cor- mac O’Sullivan of DNG O’Sullivan Hurley said, “Much of the reason for the downturn in completions is increase in interest rates and uncer- tainty in the market.”

Mr O’Sullivan forecast that there may be a shortage of new homes around the Ennis area next year due to the drop in housing completions.

He added, “Some of the major sites being built by Keco Construction Ltd and Danny Devine Construc- tion have not seen any major hit in sales because they are producing an excellent product. Houses area being produced to a very high standard to a

very high specification.

“Developers that produced finished houses to a shabby standard two or three years ago are not getting away A 1H0 mlm DON ee sOKoe

Mr O’Sullivan described the move in last week’s Budget to reduce stamp duty as a good move. He said, “Any move that will save the purchaser money is a good change and this will have a positive impact on the hous- ing market. At the moment, there is excellent value in the second hand market.”

A NEW Irish eco-friendly retail chain offering printer cartridge re- filling services is set to open in Ennis in January.

Dublin based retail chain Cartridge Green has recently announced am- bitious nationwide expansion plans that includes a new outlet on Abbey Street, Ennis. This store, which will be located beside Enzos Takeaway, is expected to open at end of January and will be run by local business- man, Gerard Kelly and his business partner Jim McAnespie.

Cartridge Green aims to educate their customers to have a positive im- pact on the environment by helping them reuse and recycle their printer cartridges. Local businesses can also benefit from the environmental and cost savings associated with printer cartridge refilling. “We strongly em- phasise the recycling angle and we

will educate our customers about how they can save money doing this” Kelly said. All refilled cartridges are produced in store.

“We use the latest technology to refill each cartridge which ensures a high quality product everytime,’ McAnespie added.

Cartridge Green will also offer competitively priced printing serv- ices as well as stationary and office supplies with over 20,000 products available to order online via www. cartridgegreen.ie or instore.

Cartridge Green has established six stores in Dublin and Tipperary since it launched in September, and will open up to seven more by April 2008 with a further 20 coming online.

SHANNON based US-owned multi- national, Mentor Graphics increased the size of its business last year to $381 million.

However, the company endured a loss of $10.6 million at the end of paul eTes

The Shannon subsidiary — which employs 333 people — is part of Men- tor Graphics Corporation, which was established in 1981 with headquar- ters in Oregon.

Across the world, the company em- ploys 3,500 people and it is a tech- nology leader in electronic design automation, providing products and services used by companies world- wide in the design of the electronic content of their products.

The Shannon arm of the Mentor Graphics is an International Services and Distribution centre for Informa- tion Technology, Order Fulfillment, Finance, Purchasing, Facilities, Con- sulting, Customer Support, Legal and Human Resources for the European,

Middle Eastern and Asian business.

The accounts show that the turno- ver increased from $336 million to $381 million, while the cost of sales increased from $279 million to $313 wave en Ceyer

This resulted in the gross profit increasing from $57 million to $67 million, while the company’s oper- ating expenses increases from $50 million to $67 million.

This resulted in the company’s ‘op- erating profit’ going down from $6 million to $33,000.

The company remains in good fi- nancial health with the company having $26 million in cash in bank.

The accounts also show that there was a drop in the numbers employed at the company in 2006 with num- bers declining from 367 to 333 with 17 less people employed in produc- tion and 17 less in administration.

This resulted in staff costs being re- duced from $33 million to $32 mil- lion. The remuneration for directors during 2006 was $294,000.

According to a statement accom-

panying the accounts, the principal activities of the Mentor Graphics are the research, development and the manufacture of software and the dis- tribution of its software and services throughout the world.

Mentor Graphics (Ireland) localises and distributes software and services in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia/Pacific mar- oe

“It is the intention of the directors to continue to develop the current ac- tivities of the company.

THE Burren Connect Project and Burrenbeo have launched an educa- tion programme aimed at opening up the Burren Region’s vast and varied heritage to primary school students.

The Eco-Beo education programme will be delivered between next Janu- ary and June to eight national schools in North Clare and South Galway, offering over 200 primary school students and their teachers a unique insight into the Burren’s world fa- mous karst landscape.

The primary schools participating in the 2008 programme are Kinvara,

Kilnaboy, New Quay, Corofin, Kil- fenora, Doorus, Kilshanny and ‘Tub- ber with additional funding being sought to extend the course to other Burren schools in 2008 and 2009.

The launch of the programme took place at The Michael Cusack Centre in Carron, where course tutors, spon- sors and participating teachers came together to finalise details.

It was announced that over the 10- week duration of the course, par- ticipants would learn about various aspects of the Burren – its animals, plants, monuments, landscape and culture – through a series of colour- ful classoom presentations.

This will be followed by weekly quizzes, e-newsletters and assign- ments.

Professional course tutors, all of whom are experts in their individual areas, will deliver each module. Stu- dents will be taken on a Burren field trip, where they will have the oppor- tunity to put their new found knowl- edge to the test.

Eimer McCarthy of the Burren Connect Project said that the theme of the Eco-Beo education programme would be ‘My Burren Heritage’ to increase awareness and appreciation of the heritage of the Burren among the children who live in this special

place.

The Eco-Beo concept was original- ly developed by Burrenbeo, which introduced the programme to six Burren schools in 2004.

The Burren Connect Project, for- merly known as the ‘Environmental Protection of the Burren through Visitor Management Initiative’, is funded by the Failte Ireland Devel- opment Fund, Clare County Coun- cil, Shannon Development, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Bur- renbeo and is working to link com- munities, environment and tourism to conserve the Burren.

Carol Gleeson, Project Manager,

explained, “The key aim of the project is to ensure the sustainable use of the Burren as a tourism des- tination, through a co-ordinated ap- proach to visitor management and environmental protection.”

The Burren Connect Project is presently progressing a number of other initiatives, including a series of traffic management plans, and driv- ing, cycling and walking routes.

The project is implementing con- servation programmes at Poulnab- rone Dolmen and Fanore beach, as well as exploring the potential for the development of eco-tourism in the Burren.

A LEADING A&E Consultant has claimed that many people who die from cardiac arrest or sudden car- diac death do so because not enough lay-people know basic CPR (Cardi- opulmonary Resuscitation).

Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Mid-West Regional Hospitals in Limerick and Ennis, Dr Cathal O’Donnell said, “We have a dismal outcome from cardiac arrest or sud- den cardiac death. Less than five per cent survive and on average, 14 people die from cardiac arrest every 24 hours. Many of them die because they don’t get CPR or a defi- brillator to them in the first four to five minutes.”

Dr O’Donnell, who is also Chair- man of the RESUS 2007, a confer- ence and skills showcase held in Limerick at the weekend added, “Irish lay-people do not know how to do basic CPR and this is the main reason that people die. Many more would survive if everyone could do CPR properly”.

The annual event aims to increase survival for cardiac arrest, trauma resuscitation, road traffic accidents and poisonings. 400 providers from

in-hospital and pre-hospital services as well as the voluntary ambulance sector gathered to hear national and international speakers outline cut- ting edge advances in resuscitation science and to see them in action

simulating emergency medicine pro- cedures in recreated A&E scenarios.

World renowned resuscitation ex- pert, Professor Douglas Chamber- lain of Cardiff University said that “In the absence of such life saving

community action, people will con- tinue to die. International research shows that heart attack victims who get CPR have a better outcome than those who are first defibrillated. Hand compression can sustain life

for 60 minutes. It is vital that more people are taught this life saving ey ReLeere LUN Kome

Ennisman, Dr Brian Maurer, Medical Director of the Irish Heart Foundation echoed a call for govern- ment action. “There are a number of challenges for the Government in improving the health outcomes of those in need of acute emergency care in Ireland. Making CPR train- ing part of the school curriculum would make a huge difference. The Irish Heart foundation has requested a meeting with Mary Hanafin, Min- ister for Education, to discuss the development of CPR training within schools”, he said.

Chief Superintendent John Farrelly of the Garda Traffic Corps outlined the success of the recent ‘random breath testing’ initiative which had saved 72 lives this year alone. More than 400 drivers are caught through random testing every week and the commitment to further reduce blood alcohol levels will save even more lives, he claimed.

THE Santa Experience at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park will feature on RTE Nationwide on Monday, December 17 next when presenter Michael Ryan and an RTE Nation- wide film crew will be welcomed by the Shannon Castle Entertainers who will perform traditional Christ- mas carols for the crew.

The Bunratty Santa experience has been running for the past five years and is an important part of Shan- non Heritage’s calendar of events for the home market. The Folk Park has been transformed into a Christ- mas wonderland with activities and Christmas characters in every nook and cranny. Over 8,500 visitors from

all over will attend this year’s event. Although the Santa visit part of the experience is now booked out, visi- tors can still come to the Folk Park and enjoy the festive atmosphere. Also we will have the well-known Lambert Puppet Theatre putting on a performance of the Magic Toy Shop Puppet Show on December 28 to 30. Tickets are still available for this. The Folk Park Christmas experi- ence is designed for all the family, they can call in to see Mrs. Claus in her Kitchen as she prepares for Santa’s trip – making sure his clothes are ironed and he has plenty of food for his journey. A traditional Irish story teller is on hand to enthral both young and old as he recalls colour- ful tales of Christmas long ago. The

village street is decked with holly, and festooned with fairy lights and adorned with a Christmas tree. New this year is a polar bear exhibit which is causing quite a stir with visitors.

A troupe of Santa’s Elves will be on hand to welcome visitors and there are indoor play areas. Christmas themed shops selling traditional fare will ensure that visitors can get in a bit of last minute shopping. If the re- tail therapy is proving too much then a complimentary glass of mulled Wine awaits the adults in Corry’s Pub on the village Street.

A CLARE politician has vowed to go back to the streets to register the anger of women in the mid-west who may not be able to avail of the life- saving Breastcheck service in Clare or Limerick until 2009.

While eligible women can travel to Cork as of last week, mid-west TD, Labour Spokesperson on Health, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan has revealed there will be a two-year delay in roll- ing out the service here.

And Labour Councillor Paschal

Fitzgerald has pledged to go back on the streets of Clare to collect more signatures to add to the thousands he has already handed in at the Dail de- manding the service.

“Despite the news that the service will be available in Cork, it is still extremely disappointing that all eli- gible women in the greater mid-west will not be called for a screening service until the end of 2009,” Depu- ty O’Sullivan said.

Cllr Fitzgerald said that he and party colleagues “stood on _ the streets and collected thousands of

signatures calling for this service to be available in Clare and we will do ime: hex-0 00 ae

He continued, “The Government is ignoring the people of the mid-west. Broken promises are one thing but people’s lives are at risk here.”

The Breastcheck programme pro- vides a screening service for women aged between 50 and 64.

Since its inception, there has been an 80 per cent uptake by women of- fered the service to attend for screen- betes

Statistics have proven that where

a screening service 1S in operation, deaths caused by breast cancer have considerably reduced due to early de- tection.

The National Cancer Screening service spokeswoman could not say precisely when women from Clare might be called to avail of the serv- ice but said that the service is being rolled out as quickly as possible.

Deputy O’Sullivan welcomed the announcement that breast screening for eligible women started in Cork from last week, despite a delay of nearly five years since it was first

promised.

“T, along with my party colleagues, have been campaigning for a number of years to have the national free breast-screening programme extend- ed to the south and western parts of the country.

“While I welcome the announce- ment which will allow women throughout the mid-west to avail of the screening programme in Cork, the full roll-out of this vital service throughout the country must be pro- eressed without further unacceptable delays,” she said.

FARMERS organisations gave a lukewarm welcome to last Wednes- day’s budget with very mixed opin- ions of how Minister Cowen’s figures will effect farm incomes.

According to IFA President, Pad- raig Walshe, the increased capital allocation to the Department of Ag- riculture of €35m to help fund the major level of necessary farm invest- ment currently taking place is posi- tive.

“However, a significant shortfall still exists relative to the demand for the two main investment aid schemes, Farm Waste Management and the Farm Improvement Scheme,” he said on Thursday.

The IFA welcomed the Govern-

ment’s response to IFA’s proposal for relief from capital gains tax where joint ownerships of farms by family members are dissolved.

“However, no progress was made on the IFA proposal for targeted re- lief from CGT where a farmer sells and buys land for the purpose of farm consolidation.”

Macra na Feirme national president, Catherine Buckley, also welcomed the increased provision of €35 mil- lion for next year’s Farm Improve- ment Scheme, stating it was critical that young farmers and new entrants are supported in their farm develop- ment plans.

However, she said she was disap- pointed that the Minister for Finance hadn’t taken the opportunity to in- troduce a direct support for young

trained farmers to allow them re- structure their holdings without be- ing liable for transfer taxes.

‘“Macra had lobbied for changes in relation to Capital Gains Tax and Income Averaging issues for milk production partnerships. I welcome the fact that these issues are to be ad- dressed,” she said.

“The number of anomalies has acted as a significant disincentive for some people who wish to engage in Milk Production Partnerships and pointed out that all remaining bar- riers to genuine farm partnerships must be removed to allow farmers to gain economies of scale by farming in partnership.”

Reacting to Budget ‘08, ICSA Pres- ident Malcolm Thompson said that it contained little of any use to cattle

and sheep farmers.

‘‘A number of key issues still remain unresolved, such as the discrimina- tion against farmers and other self employed people arising from the failure to amalgamate the PAYE and persona tax credits,” he said.

“Although the additional money for the Farm Waste Management (FWM) scheme is necessary, many cattle and sheep farmers have been badly affected by the premature closure of the Farm Improvement Scheme (FIS).

‘Measures on farm partnerships are necessary, but the reality is that it is of no benefit to the vast majority of farmers. Most farmers who wish to expand their holdings will continue to pay very high levels of stamp duty on agricultural land.”

MINISTER for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, has welcomed the provi- sion of more than €1.9 billion for her department in 2008 in last weeks budget. In addition to voted money, the department will spend approxi- mately €1.4 billion in EU funding, primarily in the form of EU direct payments.

“This 1s an increase in voted ex- penditure of six per cent over the equivalent gross estimate for 2007.” “When the carryover of capital sav- ings from 2007 to 2008 is taken into account, and allowing for the adjustments to include fisheries ex-

penditure, it involves the net addi- tion of €91 million to the funding announced when the pre-budget out- look was published in October,’ she Sr BKOE

“The key priorities for this addi- tional funding are the Farm Waste Management Scheme, the Suckler Welfare Scheme, afforestation and the White Fish Vessel Decommis- sioning Scheme.”

Coughlan said that this Budget, in circumstances where economic con- ditions were tighter than they had been for a number of years, marked a strong commitment by the Govern- ment to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food sectors.

“The ongoing Government invest- ment in Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will enable Irish operators to capitalise on the surging demand for and increasing price of food global- ly,’ she continued.

“In the current climate, it 1s more important than ever to ensure that such investment is focussed on ena- bling operators to improve competi- tiveness and innovation.

“This investment and the additions announced on budget day focus on measures which I consider to be crit- ical to the development of a sustain- able agriculture, fisheries and food sectors into the future.”

A particular emphasis has been

placed on the continuing need for productive capital investment, to enable Irish operators to gear up to meet the competitive demands of an increasingly globalised market place.

With this in mind, the Munister said that more than €238 million had been provided in subhead H for capital investment in development of agriculture and food.

“I am satisfied that the estimate as framed would support the strategic priorities outlined in the National De- velopment Plan and help to prepare the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food sectors for the challenges ahead.”

A FINE Gael TD yesterday raised the spectre of criminals with outstand- ing warrants for their arrests roam- ing free in the Clare countryside.

According to Deputy Joe Carey, the criminal justice system is failing people living in these rural areas who are becoming increasingly afraid of being victims of crime. Deputy Carey was responding to revelations that there are over 2,100 outstanding warrants in existence from the Clare area.

In the Dail last week, the Minister of Justice, Brian Lenihan revealed that there are 2,145 outstanding war- rants in Clare.

The breakdown of the figures show that there are 1,521 penal warrants outstanding, 541 bench warrants and 83 committal warrants.

Committal warrants relate to peo- ple convicted of offences in their ab- sence and who should be in prison but have not been arrested, while bench warrants are issued for people who have not turned up in court to answer a charge against them.

In response, Deputy Carey said, “I think these figures clearly show that the Gardai need increased resources to help them do their work compre- hensively and effectively.”

He added, ““The increases are wor- rying particularly as the number of warrants are increasing by about 25 per cent each year. In rural ar- eas, people are rightly worried that criminals with outstanding warrants, who should be in prison, are roam- ing free.

“These people should be brought to justice otherwise they will con-

tinue to re-offend and be a menace to society.”

Deputy Carey added, “The number of outstanding warrants in Clare is equivalent to the population of a large rural town. That is not accept- able. The system is failing people, particularly in rural areas, who are increasingly afraid of being victims of crime.”

A total of 111,453 court warrants remain outstanding nationally, in- cluding 36,000 bench warrants, is- sued after arrested people have failed to turn up in court.