Mayor Donates Christmas Card Allowance To Charity

The Mayor of Clare has donated his 1,000 euro Mayoral Christmas Card allowance to two local voluntary groups that provide services to children and adults with intellectual / physical disabilities.

Councillor Tony Mulcahy this week presented 500 euro cheques to both Clare Crusaders and the Shannon Flyers Special Olympics Club. The Mayor said: “We are fortunate enough in County Clare to have a number of services that offer supports to children and adults with intellectual / physical disabilities. These organisations require funds to continue operating which is why I am delighted to contribute my Christmas Card allowance to their respective fundraising efforts.”

Commenting on the work of Clare Crusaders, Mayor Mulcahy stated: “I am happy to pledge my support to Clare Crusaders which helps parents and families of children with special needs achieve a better quality of life. This wonderful organisation provides a variety of services to over 120 children with special needs in the areas of Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Down syndrome and a variety of other conditions. I wish to compliment the organisation, which is headed by Ann Norton, for fundraising in excess of 230,000 euro from voluntary contributions each year to sustain these vital services.”

Meanwhile, the Mayor paid tribute to the work carried out by the Shannon Flyers Special Olympics Club and its volunteers. He continued: “Volunteerism is an integral part of the Special Olympics ethos. The movement at local, national and international level would not exist today — and could not have been created — without the time, energy, commitment and enthusiasm of its many volunteers.”

Mayor Mulcahy added: “As someone with a lengthy involvement with Special Olympics organisations, I am very aware that Shannon Flyers Special Olympics Club is much more than just a sporting organisation. It is about the empowerment of individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition.”

The Mayor said his contribution of 500 euro to the organisation would help the Club in its preparations for the 2010 Irish Special Olympics being held at the University of Limerick next June. Five athletes from the Shannon club are participating in a range of events.

The 2010 Games are expected to bring an estimated 1,900 Special Olympics athletes from all 32 Irish counties to UL. They will be supported by 650 coaches and official delegates and cheered on by some 5,000 family members and friends.

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Clare Farmers Receive REPS 4 Payments

Tony Killeen T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has confirmed that payments under REPS 4 have commenced and that over EUR33 million has issued to farmers in the last week or so.

The payments represent the first of the two phasing arrangements under which REPS 4 payments are made under EU regulations. The Regulations allow 75 per cent of payments to be released once all detailed administrative checks on all applications, including plan checks, are completed.

Minister of State Killeen described the processing of REPS 4 claims as an enormous and complex task. He continued: “In order to meet the requirements of the EU regulations, all applications received this year, as well as those received in 2007 and 2008, have to be subjected to detailed administrative checks before any payments could issue at all. This involved checks on some 28,800 files and I am glad that we have managed to reach the stage where payments are now being made in such large numbers. Payments will continue so that as many farmers as possible will receive their entitlements before year-end or early in the New Year."

Meanwhile, the second phase of the REPS 4 payments for 2009, the 25%, has also commenced. This phase was triggered by the completion of the programme of on-farm inspections for the year.

Minister of State Killeen noted that there were also approximately 34,000 farmers still in REPS 3 who had been paid or would receive payments this year. The Clare Fianna Fail T.D. continued: "These payments have been going out continuously since January and as of today the Department has already paid out EUR220 million this year. These payments, too, will continue to issue right up to the last day of the year".

Minister of State Killeen said that REPS payments due to farmers in 2009 would reach the highest levels ever and this trend would continue next year. In the case of the Farm Waste Management Scheme, expenditure by the Department this year will reach EUR293 million which will bring total expenditure under the Scheme since its introduction in 2001 to over EUR900 million.

| posted in Ardnacrusha/Meelick/Parteen, Clooney/Quin, Ennistymon/Kilshanny, Kilfenora, Kilmihil, Kilrush, Tulla | 0 comments [ More ]

President of Ireland Mary McAleese To Visit Clare

President of Ireland, Mary McAleese will visit the Clare County Council HQ building in Ennis today to meet with members of the Clare Crisis Emergency Team that responded to the recent serious flooding.

The event also will be attended by families who were evacuated from their homes during the crisis.

President McAleese will be greeted by the Mayors of Ennis and Clare, as well as the Clare County Manager.

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Tim Smyth Park Amenity Facilities To Be Redeveloped

Minister of State Tony Killeen, T.D. has received confirmation from Ennis Town Council that it expects work on the development of amenity facilities at Tim Smyth Park to commence in April 2010.

According to the Local Authority, consultancy firm Commane Stratton Reynolds are preparing revised drawings for Tim Smyth Park and it intends to proceed to tender in mid February with work commencing on site in April 2010.

Welcoming the news, Minister of State Killeen added: “Among the works to take place at the site, known locally as ‘The Fair Green’, is the construction of a new children’s playground and separate play area for young teenagers, the replacement of existing exercise bars, the development of walkways, and landscaping improvements. A pedestrian crossing will be provided at the northern end of Tim Smyth Park leading to the relocated playground. Furthermore, the existing dressing rooms will be demolished and replaced by new dressing room facilities.”

“While improvement works, such as the development of new playing pitches, have taken place at Tim Smyth Park in recent years, there is no doubt that the works scheduled to take place next year will greatly enhance the recreational infrastructure of Ennis town. This project will be further complemented by the construction of a playground at The Lees Road Sports and Amenity Park. The Council has confirmed to me that tenders for this project are currently being evaluated”, stated the Clare Deputy.

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Never Again Say County Board As O'Loughlin Is Appointed Clare Hurling Boss

Ger O'Loughlin's appointment as the new Clare senior hurling manager was ratified at the County Convention on Thursday night.

The former Banner attacker, who led Limerick club Adare to three county titles in a row, takes over from Mike McNamara, who tendered his resignation at Tuesday's county board meeting after a protracted, two-month dispute with his players reports RTE Sport.

O'Loughlin has been appointed on what is expected to be a two-year term, according to county secretary Pat Fitzgerald. 'What has disappointed me in all of this is the manner in which it has been dealt with,' Fitzgerald said in his address to the convention, in reference to the McNamara saga.

'The whole business should not have been transacted through the media - a much less confrontational and acrimonious approach should have been adopted. I am a firm believer in keeping the lid on internal sensitive issues. I feel that they should be dealt with in-house, in a private and confidential fashion and that such matters should be prevented, at all costs, from reaching the public domain. One can only suggest that it is time for everybody concerned from top to bottom to reflect on what has contributed to this current impasse and to set about putting a structure in place which will ensure that Clare GAA never again encounters such a dilemma.'

| posted in Clarecastle/Ballyea, Cratloe, Crusheen, Doora/Barefield, Ennis, Inagh/Kilnamona, Kilmaley/Inch/Connolly, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Scarriff/Tuamgraney, Shannon, Sports News | 0 comments [ More ]

On-Line Clare Programmes At Production 63 Find Audience

The decision some months ago by local media company Production 63, to concentrate on producing programmes on-line has proven to be a great success.

The shift from live events to on-line podcasting came about in light of the economic downturn. The company is headed by broadcaster Ger Sweeney who explains “people are being very cautious about what they spend their money on and we could see that live events were suffering. The whole area of podcasting is really taking off globally at present so with my broadcasting experience it was appropriate to see where we could position ourselves”.

The recent podcasts published on www.production63.com include interviews with some of the Mayors in Co. Clare who chat about their communities, memories of Christmas and their hopes for the coming year. Ennis, Kilkee and Shannon are featured and others are planned but schedules have delayed these coming on stream. Those logging on can find interviews with local people such as singer Vincent Di Placido who released his debut CD recently, Eoin O Neill who is known in music and broadcasting circles and singer/songwriter Mike Hanrahan introduces a beautiful song he wrote some years ago about clerical child abuse.

Other programmes include an interview with the incoming Director of the Ennis and Clare branch of the Samaritans as the Festive season is their busiest time of the year and a chat with Dave Marra from the Wine Buff about wine by way of helping people to understand it a little better. There’s an interview with an American author who has just published a book about the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and a series of Top 30’s by way of offering a wide range of listening options.

The company’s website is now home to almost 30 programmes of which many are Clare related. Podcasting allows a presenter great freedom and choice in relation to content and duration. It also means that at once the podcast is published it’s there to be accessed on numerous occasions and by anyone with a computer. Ger comments “our aim is to produce programmes that are different but have a definite Clare flavour. This is an encouragement for local people to log on and have a listen but it also allows those living abroad to be a part of the happenings at home”.

There are plans for additional programmes before Christmas and into the New Year since the reaction has been so favourable to date. The newest programme is titled “The Sound of Ennis” which is an audio presentation of the various sounds that are commonly heard around Ennis over the Christmas period. Ger concludes, “I’m very proud to be living and working in Clare and I’m keen to promote the county and the happenings here in a positive way. These programmes are designed to let us hear about some aspects of life in Clare, particularly at this time of the year. If nothing else it might give us all a much needed boost and bring a little bit of the Banner County to Clare natives across the world. We’re always anxious to have new content for the site so if anyone has anything of interest we can be contacted at info@production63.com.

For more see www.production63.com

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