The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
COUNTY Clare VEC chairman, Councillor Tommy Brennan has made a plea that no member of the Ennis headquarters staff be unnecessarily moved to Limerick where the new board will be headquartered.
Councillor Brennan said that beside there being no reason why any staff based in the Ennis VEC offices should move unless they want to, it would also mean a real cut in earnings for individuals. Fuel costs and tunnel fees could amount to €100 every week, he added.
Approaches on this matter, Councillor Brennan said, should be made to the chief executive officer designate of the new board and Labour Party members should convey like feelings to the Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn.
Councillor Brennan was speaking at last week’s VEC meeting, which marked the end of an era. The other members present concurred with these sentiments and expressed their gratitude to the chief executive officer and his administrative staff for their valued and unfailing co-operation, acknowledging their expertise and pleasant collaboration.
Clare VEC is being subsumed next Monday into Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB). This body will also subsume Limerick City and County Vocational Education Committees as the Government reduces the country’s 33 committees of vocational education down to 16 new entities.
The committee has grown and expanded over the 83 years of its existence and has become an important part of both the education and social fabric of the county,” the chief executive officer, George O’Callaghan, said. He is due in time to fill the same role in the LCETB. Meanwhile, he is chief executive officer designate of Cork Education and Training Board.
He took the opportunity to pay tribute to everyone who has worked for the Clare committee in helping to provide a service to the people of the county, both children and adults.
“Many people have given excellent and dedicated service to the committee since its beginning, including teachers, administrative and support staff,” he added, going on to acknowledge members of the committee, present and past.
A link with the very first committee established in 1930 was identified by Councillor Pat Burke, who noted that his paternal grandfather, a county councillor at the time, was one of the members.
