Blow to Galway Airport

THE future of Galway Airport is in doubt after Aer Arann announced last week that it is pulling its winter schedule from the Carnmore facility.
While management at the airport says it is not closing down, Aer Arann’s withdrawal means a serious downgrading of the airport, which will now have no commercial scheduled passenger flights for the next six months.
It also means that approximately 40 direct employees of the airport including check-in staff, security personnel, bar and retail staff, air traffic controllers and administration staff will lose their jobs.
“Aer Arann Regional and Galway Airport have been working closely together to explore all commercial options in an environment where passenger numbers and revenue have continued to decline. However, despite the best endeavors of both airline and airport, bookings have continued to deteriorate and all routes are projected to be loss-making during the thinner winter season when bookings are historically lower,” a statement from Aer Arann said.
Aer Arann’s chief executive Paul Schütz said that the announcement is necessary due to a number of factors that are outside the control of the airline.
“A number of issues have combined to bring about this decision but the biggest driver is the economy, which has led to fewer people travelling and a significant reduction in fare revenues, which is being experienced by regional airlines all over Europe,” he added.
Both Galway Airport and Aer Arann have confirmed the companies will continue to work together with a view to re-launching the Aer Arann services during the 2012 summer season.

Clare Champion


Smart Cabs

OVER 30 city taxi drivers recently signed up to be part of a pilot scheme aimed at giving members of the public the ability to confirm the identity of a taxi driver using their smartphone.
The pilot, TrustiD Taxi system, is due to run for four to six weeks, and many taxi companies around the city have shown major interest in the idea. The technology has been developed by Global Business Register Ltd. (GBR) which is based at ArcLabs Research Center in Carriganore, Co. Waterford.
Chief Executive Ben Cronin said that by using this software, a member of the public could quickly and easily identify the taxi driver and car by scanning the highly visible barcode displayed on the taxi’s rear windows with a mobile phone.
When a member of the public scans one of the barcodes they will receive the verified identity of the licensed taxi driver and vehicle back to their phone.
The app is available for free through the iPhone app store or Android marketplace.   Cronin said with the app there is now a way of verifying the taxi driver and car which will remove the fear of getting into a taxi for the customer, and, hopefully improve custom for the driver.
Eric O’Brien, manager of Rapid Cabs, one of the taxi companies taking part in the pilot, said if the app is officially launched it will increase people’s trust in the taxi industry and put an end to unlicensed taxis operating in the city.
“It will eliminate those who are unregulated and do not have the required licensing, and would get people using more licensed taxis,” he said.

Waterford News & Star


Cancer Treatment in U.S.
FAMILY and friends of a courageous young Southsider who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer are raising funds to send the teenager to a U.S. clinic in a bid to save his life.
Last Christmas Sean Lyne, 19, from Crumlin, began to have problems with his vision. By the end of March he was diagnosed with a brain stem glioma astrocytoma, which is a very serious and inoperable aggressive cancer.
However, brave Sean, who had been studying nursing at the Inchicore College of Further Education and had planned to complete his degree in England, did not let the debilitating disease get in the way of his career goal.
He took his final exams on the morning that he began chemotherapy and radiation.
Every morning he sat his exams and in the afternoon he received his treatment.
His mother, Moira, is a trained nurse who worked at Tallaght Hospital before she started caring for Sean full time.
She explained how the disease suddenly impacted her son and how he has been treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and steroids.
“Around Christmas he started seeing lights,” she recalled. “And then in January he dropped his weights in the gym and he found that his left side was very weak. In March the doctor sent him to the hospital to make sure his eyes were okay, and it was in the eye and ear hospital on March 28 that we were told that he had the brain tumor.
“He had an operation and had to wait four or five weeks to let the incision heal. Then he started the radiation and chemotherapy. He would do his exams in the morning and go in for chemo in the afternoon.
“It has affected his whole left side including his legs and his arms. After he had the radiation treatment of 30 doses a month he got what you call brain necrosis and his brain became swollen. That affected his left so much he couldn't walk and we had to get a wheelchair for him.”
Despite these extraordinary challenges, Moira said Sean has since passed his FETAC course with flying colors and received his diploma last week.
“Sean is a very kind person and would help anyone out,” she added. “I have heard such nice stories about him since we have been doing this fundraising that I feel very proud to be his mother.”
The Lyne family is now trying to raise the €120,000 needed to send Sean to a hospital in Houston, Texas where they are developing treatment for his particular condition.
“There are three phases of clinical trials,” Moira explained. “Right now they are at phase two and they are ready to go into phase three when they have the money.
“I think about 40% of the results that they have had have been positive. In order to get into the trials in the first place you have to have had the radiation and tried chemotherapy.
“All the documentation has been given over and we have sent a sample of his brain to the Life Sciences Institute in America. We are hoping that Sean will start his treatment at the clinic in February.”
A number of fundraising initiatives are underway. To contact Moira Lyne email [email protected].

Dublin People


Elderly Woman Assaulted

THERE was shock and outrage in Athy following reports that an 84-year old woman local woman was sexually assaulted and robbed in her home on a recent Wednesday night.
The Kildare Nationalist understands that the woman answered her door sometime between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. to two men, one of whom was white and one black.
It is understood that the men shoved in the door and entered the woman's home. Once inside the house it is understood that they proceeded to punch the woman before sexually assaulting her. The victim was on a list for a security chain to be fitted to her door in the very near future.
Reacting with shock to news of the horrific ordeal suffered by the woman, the chairman of Age Action Athy Martin Chanders said, “Any attack on a person that age is a despicable act perpetrated by cowards. Older people need to be a little more cautious about opening their doors to anyone they don't know without first using a security chain. Particularly now with the evenings closing in I would urge people to be particularly vigilant.”
Gardai (police) in Athy were unable to go into the specific details of the incident except to confirm that they are “investigating an incident of that nature.”

Kildare Nationalist

Man Smashes Window

A YOUNG man put his fist through a window in a restaurant because he "snapped" over bad news he had just received about a relative.
Dean Smith, 22, smashed in the window of the McDonald's restaurant with a punch when he received a phone call that his aunt had been taken to intensive care in hospital.  He was caught by Gardai as he fled from security near the scene in Tallaght.
Judge James McDonnell ordered him to carry out 240 hours of community service when he admitted a charge of criminal damage in the incident.
Smith, with an address at Corbally Heath, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to damaging the window at McDonald's in Tallaght on August 7. 
Sergeant Bernard Jones told the court Gardai saw two security men chasing Smith into the car park of the nearby Abberley Court Hotel at 3 a.m.  The security staff said the accused had punched and smashed the window.
Smith was "quite aggressive" and was arrested and taken to Tallaght Garda Station.
The court heard he had previous convictions for burglary, possession of drugs and criminal damage.
"He was in McDonald's and got a phone call which gave him some very bad news," his solicitor said. "He snapped after this phone call and smashed the window."

Evening Herald