News

Two adult learning organisations have been short-listed for the AONTAS STAR awards, which highlight outstanding examples of adult education each year.Ennis CDP Parent Support Programme and Scariff Community Garden Project are two of the three projects short-listed in the Munster local category. The Ennis CDP Traveller Parent Support Programme was established in 2006 as a response to the need, identified by Traveller parents, for more supports with their children’s education. The aim is to support Traveller parents with their own and their children’s educational development. Meanwhile, the Scariff Community Garden Project is aimed at creating a community space where people with an interest in gardening can work collectively and learn the necessary skills to promote the community. They are a voluntary led group who, over three years, have developed a community garden at the back of the East Clare Co-Op in Scariff. Speaking on behalf of FETAC, Ann Devlin, one of the 16 judges adjudicating, said. “The standard of nominations …

Two adult learning organisations have been short-listed for the AONTAS STAR awards, which highlight outstanding examples of adult education each year.Ennis CDP Parent Support Programme and Scariff Community Garden Project are two of the three projects short-listed in the Munster local category. The Ennis CDP Traveller Parent Support Programme was established in 2006 as a response to the need, identified by Traveller parents, for more supports with their children’s education. The aim is to support Traveller parents with their own and their children’s educational development. Meanwhile, the Scariff Community Garden Project is aimed at creating a community space where people with an interest in gardening can work collectively and learn the necessary skills to promote the community. They are a voluntary led group who, over three years, have developed a community garden at the back of the East Clare Co-Op in Scariff. Speaking on behalf of FETAC, Ann Devlin, one of the 16 judges adjudicating, said. “The standard of nominations …

A new business soon to open its doors in Ennis, has the potential to create up to 10 jobs in its first year and up to 30 in its second year at its base of operations in the Clonroadmore Business Park.CRS Bookings, a company aimed at hoteliers in Ireland and the UK, will offer a one-stop solution to total online revenue generation and management for the hotel industry. It is set up by Clonlara man, Michael O’Dwyer with managing director Shane Mansell who is experienced in the hospitality industry in the US and Eugene Harris as a non-executive director, who has also held a long career in the hotel industry in the US. The business is based at Fergus House in the Clonroadmore Business Park and claims it is uniquely positioned to offer a booking engine, Global Distribution Service (GDS), and Alternate Distributing System (ADS) channels consolidated into one easy to use web-based system. Through the service they aim to …

I don’t think Fianna Fáil will get too carried away by the latest public opinion poll in this week’s Sunday Business Post that showed them narrowing the gap with Fine Gael.The main point of the poll is that if a general election were held now, Fine Gael and Labour would romp home with a good overall majority. It also showed Fianna Fáil leaking seats all over Dublin.The poll does not surprise me. I have spent all the past week in Bertie Ahern’s constituency of Dublin Central and have spoken to a lot of people that I know voted for Fianna Fáil down through the years. I was amazed at the change of attitude among those people over the past year or so. The bulk of the people I spoke to – and remember these were what I would have thought were dyed-in-the-wool Fianna Fáil supporters – would now vote for anybody but Fianna Fáil. No wonder Bertie Ahern’s brother Maurice …

THE Mid-West Task Force shouldn’t be hijacked for political gain, according to Clare TD Timmy Dooley. At last Thursday’s Dáil debate he said that it was a topic that shouldn’t be used for political point scoring.   “I had the opportunity to discuss with Denis Brosnan, the chairperson of the task force, his views on these issues and his concerns about the advancement of some of the elements identified in the report. “He made it clear to all of us that he wanted a co-operative approach across all political divides and stressed the necessity of avoiding political point scoring. Politics being politics, perhaps he as a former chief executive could carry off that suggestion. However, it has not happened and there has been a level of going for the soundbite rather than taking action.“This is unfortunate because this is not about the task force nor the recommendations. It is about the lives of men, women and children who have been …

IT’S been a week of mixed news for Shannon Airport.  The good news – all legal requirements have been met to enable private aircraft avail of the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) pre-inspection station at Shannon. It’s a development that signals enormous revenue and opportunities for the airport.The bad news – both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have announced plans to fly to a total of 15 new destinations from Cork this summer. For many of the routes, it will be a simple matter of Shannon’s loss being Cork’s gain. To rub salt into Shannon’s wounds, Ryanair has also announced a new summer route from Knock to Reus-Barcelona.Shannon has fallen victim on two fronts. Ryanair has engaged in a long-running row over the Government’s €10 travel tax and charges at Shannon, which it claims are uncompetitive. The second blow comes by way of Aer Lingus’ decision to enter into a franchise deal with Aer Arann to provide feeder points into …

Never too far from the limelight, our international religious celebrity is back on our screens with more snippets of infallible nonsense. Yes, the vocal and vociferous pontiff Benedict XVI has unleashed another of his vocal forays into the world, tinged with all the veiled invective we have come to expect from the former member of the Hitler youth.In his latest outburst, Pope Benedict has rounded on the British Government for their equality legislation introduced last year. This legislation prevents discrimination against homosexuals on the grounds of their sexuality. In addressing British bishops, the Pope began by sugaring the pill. He praised Britain’s “commitment to equality of opportunity for all” but then proceeded to say that the aforementioned equality legislation ran contrary to “natural law”. What is upsetting him is that Catholic adoption agencies cannot discriminate against homosexual couples on the grounds of their sexuality, thanks to the legislation. Ironically, in criticising this reasonable approach to equality, the Pope bemoans the …

AN inter-agency approach is needed to provide a permanent solution to flooding in the Ballycar area, which has led to prolonged closures of rail services on the Ennis-Limerick line over the past two years, according to Clare TD Pat Breen.   “This is the only way that this problem can be resolved, otherwise when we have further heavy downpours we could be facing further disruption,” said Deputy Breen.He said he raised the issue with Martin Mansergh, Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the OPW.“Following the extended closures on this line again recently, I wrote to Dr Mansergh outlining my fears that consumer confidence in this rail service could be eroded because of the ongoing disruption to this service and urging him to permanently address flooding on this section of the rail track. “Dr Mansergh has assured me in writing that he is concerned about the disruption to services on the Ennis/Limerick service line. He …