News

SIPTU and the TEEU, the two largest unions at Element Six, have both denied that the reason for a delay in the Labour Court hearing regarding the current dispute is because a union official is on holiday. Last week the matter was referred to the Labour Court after little progress was made at the LRC, with proceedings set to begin on September 17.

SPECULATION that this weekend’s three-day Cois Fharraige music festival in Kilkee was in jeopardy due to a dispute over money between the organisers and St Senan’s GAA Club, on whose grounds the festival is staged, have been dismissed by Kilkee GAA club chairman, Donal Hayes. The event, which is now in its third year and attracts thousands of visitors to Kilkee each September, will start on Friday evening and conclude on Sunday.

The threatened withdrawal of Government funding for public rural transport, such as the East Clare Accessible Transport (ECAT), has been condemned by a cancer survivor. Mary Dolan from Killanena, who had a successful operation for bowel cancer about two years ago, said she would be “devastated” if she could no longer use the service.

THE composition of the new Shannon Airport Authority is up in the air, with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions backing the abolition of the board in a row over ministerial halving of worker representation.Two weeks ago, The Clare Champion was first to reveal that Transport Minister Noel Dempsey had sent out a directive to the chairmen of the three State airport authorities cutting back on numbers to be seated around the boardroom table.

With the second vote on the Lisbon Treaty looming, all of the larger political parties are lobbying for a Yes vote, while a number of independent Clare politicians are set to do the same. Owen Ryan spoke to the seven Independent county councillors about how they will vote ENNIS East councillor Tommy Brennan said that he will be voting yes in the Lisbon Treaty Referendum, although he says he won’t be trying to make the case for the treaty publicly. “I’ll be supporting the treaty but it’s not up to me to tell anyone how to vote,” he said.Councillor James Breen (Ennis West) said he is still undecided but is leaning towards a yes vote. “I’m going to Dublin tomorrow for an information meeting with Marian Harkin and I’ll make up my mind after that. I’ll probably be voting yes,” he said.In the Killaloe Electoral Area, Councillor Michael Begley said he was strongly in favour of ratification. “I voted yes …

ARTICLES 11 and 28 of the Lisbon Treaty should be read by voters before they vote, according to Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, who was in Shannon last week. Ms McDonald attended a ‘peace conference’ organised by the Peace and Neutrality Alliance and the Irish Anti War Movement.She was speaking on the Lisbon Treaty clauses, which she believes are leading to a loss of Irish control over the country’s foreign policy and represent a drift away from neutrality.

A PACKAGE of ­measures including further bed closures in acute hospitals in the region will have to be introduced by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to save over  €8 million by the end of the year, it has emerged this week. The 10-bed Elderly Care Unit has been closed in Ennis hospital since the opening of the acute Medical Assessment Unit last April and it seems unlikely it will re-open due to budgetary constraints.

THE public perception that the Green Party may leave Government over controversial proposals to improve liquidity in the Irish economy through the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has been flatly contradicted by its solitary Clare councillor, Brian Meaney.