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9 NEWS Irish Examiner Saturday 04.07.2009 XX2 - V1 O’Keeffe tells parents: I won’t help those who didn’t vote for me ■ Rathcormac classroom campaign snubbed by Conor Ryan Political Correspondent FRUSTRATED parents fighting to get their chil- dren out of prefab class- rooms have been told by their local Fianna Fáil TD they do not have his sup- port because they did not vote for him. Aggrieved Cork East deputy Ned O’Keeffe said he never felt welcome in the parish of Rathcormac and he preferred to help his own supporters. “(If they) want me to support them they should support me,” he said. He was speaking to the parents’ council of Scoil Bhríde in Rathcormac where there is a campaign to replace prefabricated cabins with permanent rooms. But he told Cork’s C103 radio that if Rathcormac wanted to rise up the pecking order it should re- consider its voting alle- giance. “I’ll prioritise, as a politician, my own area and the areas I think are right and are necessary and where I get my support from. Because I won’t be in Dáil Éireann if I don’t get that support. “I have to look at my sit- uation and I will not be in Dáil Éireann representing my political party if I don’t get support and I would be very far down the list if I was to depend on Rath- cormac,” he said. Parents’ council chair- person Claire O’Flynn said this attitude was not ac- ceptable and Mr O’Keeffe was just smarting because last month’s county coun- cil result was not to his lik- ing. “I am sorry, he is a Fian- na Fáil representative up here. Years ago he got his votes here in Rathcormac. Just because this time around in the local elec- tions he didn’t get the votes because we had a lo- cal man running; the local people are going to sup- port the local man. What is wrong with him?” she said. On the same radio show Fine Gael TD for the area David Stanton said the parochial nature of Mr O’Keeffe’s politicking was at odds with his own. “I am elected to support everybody and that is what I do. I can only speak for what I do and if somebody comes to me and they want assistance, advice or help or they want to advise me about their point of view I will engage with them and listen to them,” he said. However, Mr O’Keeffe took a cynical view of his Fine Gael counterpart. “I am delighted he is go- ing to work for everybody and if (he does) we’ll have no problem at all in east Cork and I wish him well in that. But it is important to get elected,” he said, adding that schools were not built by politicians and it was up to the parents’ council to get their house in order. “I haven’t ever been top of the list in Rathcormac and if Rathcormac want me to support them they should support me,” he said. Ned O’Keeffe: never “top of the list in Rathcormack”. ���� �� ��� ��� � ������� �����; ��� ����; ��� ����� ��� ��� �� � ����� ������� ��� �� ��� �������� ��� ���� �� � �����7 ����� ����� ���� �������� ��� ��� ��������� ��� ������ �� ��� ����� �� ��� �� ����� ��� ����� ���� �� �� �� ����� ��������� ���� ����� ����� ���� ��������� ����� ����M ���� ��������������� ������� �������� ���� ����� ������ ���� ������������ �� ��������� ��������� ������� ���� ����� ��������� ������ ������ ������� �� �� ��������� ����� ������ ����� ������� ����� ������ ��������� �� �������� ��� ����� ��� ������ ����� �� � ������ �� ��7�� Janet O’Regan demonstrating her home tanning service with Kellie Forde of Lockdown Models. Picture: Darragh Kane Corkwoman’s tan-tastic recession buster by Claire O’Sullivan PRAISE be the recession! This downturn is not without its devastating human impact but none of us can deny it’s firmly handing back the power to the consumer. One woman who has turned the belt-tightening to her advantage is Janet O’Regan, who was initially devastated when she found her working hours as an office administrator in Cork city were being cut. But with her recession- busting business plan in place, she is now struggling to get a day off. A long-time fan of the spray-on tan, she’d long thought that the salon treat was “outrageously overpriced” and it would be much easier if the tanner could just come to your home. And so she set up a mobile tanning company where she is selling tans to clients in the privacy of their own home for — wait for it— the princely sum of 20, a saving of more than 30. In business just a couple of months, there has been an overwhelming response from the public. “I always had thought that if I set up a business, that’s what I’d do and I did my market research so I knew that it would work but I’m still shocked at the demand,” she said. Hugely popular with busy mothers and entire families in advance of a wedding, she says girls are also holding tanning parties. Others are getting “tanned up” before their summer holidays and hairdressing chains have called her so staff can get a bronzing on Thursday nights for the coming weekend. “The whole process takes just 20 minutes and that includes putting up the pop-up tent that I use to protect surroundings,” she says. Spray tanning can last for up to seven days if the person exfoliates in advance and moisturises regularly afterwards, Janet says. “The big thing I suppose is the price. I priced it for the recession and people have reacted correspondingly. There is so much stuff priced outrageously — even still,” she said. Janet can be contacted at [email protected] Drug dealer loses claim over 171k stash in home by Elaine Keogh THE man convicted of killing a Slane Castle game- keeper nearly 20 years ago yesterday lost his battle to have more than 171,000 cash — most of it believed to be the proceeds of drug dealing — returned to him. The 18 bundles of cash were seized when gardaí raided the Drogheda home of Michael Hodgins, 38, in 2005, where they also found cocaine and amphetamines. The money was in a locked briefcase hidden underneath the bath in his Pearse Park home. In Dundalk Circuit Court yesterday, Sgt Tom Quinn said: “I firmly believe it’s the proceeds of drug dealing.” Hodgins claimed it was money he had saved from working as a bricklayer and doorman since he was re- leased from prison in 1998, having served time for the manslaughter of Timothy Kidman. He was jailed for 12 years in 1990. He told Judge Michael White he had made the money from “nixers,” and not declaring his income to the taxman. After he was sentenced to nine years for drug dealing in 2006, he began to try and have the cash returned. He lost his case in the dis- trict court and appealed to the circuit court. The court yesterday heard that gardaí found 16 bundles of 10,000, one of 5,000 and another of 6,500 — a total of 171,500. Sgt Quinn told the court Hodgins had been registered as unemployed for a year be- fore his arrest and the gardaí believed he was “right at the top of the league” of drug dealers in the north east. While in Garda custody Hodgins had told him how he would buy 1oz of co- caine for 1,000 and then mix it with other materials before selling it on for a total of 10,000. Defence barrister Peter O’Keeffe said Hodgins “worked as a bricklayer during the height of the construction boom”. He showed the court a list of names drawn up by Hodgins detailing where the cash had come from. Two people on the list gave evi- dence yesterday. One of them was Shane O’Brien, best man at Hod- gins’s wedding, who said he gave him 30,000 cash to renovate his mother’s house. Asked by the state solicitor Gerald Daly why he would give money upfront for work he replied: “I’m an al- coholic and knew I’d drink it.” He said he paid Hodgins shortly before he was arrest- ed and the work was never done, the court heard. Another man Brendan Carragher said: “Micky worked with me and for me from 2001 up to a month Study: Google users ignore ads by Kevin Cronin ONLINE information might extend to infinity and beyond, but most of us only look at the top four results in a Google search, accord- ing to a new study. More worrying for Google, most users ignore the ads on the right-hand side — casting fresh doubt on the effectiveness of online marketing. The National E-learning Laboratory (NELL) and Enterprise Ireland conduct- ed an eye-tracking test to record the vision move- ments of 27 people, charting the eye’s path over the web- page to see where their gaze lingered the longest. Abi Reynolds, manager of the Centre for Research and Innovation in Learning and Teaching, explained that the test subjects had to sit in front of a computer which projected an infra-red beam at them from inside the screen. As part of a calibration process, the respondents were asked to look at differ- ent points onscreen so the software could pick up their gaze. It then recorded eye movement like a form of heat-mapping. The research showed that people’s attention was fo- cused on the top four results only, with most ignoring the sponsored links on the right-hand side of page. “Our studies show that if a website fails to deliver or live up to the users’ expecta- tions, they won’t waste time hanging around,” she said. Ms Reynolds identified a new phenomenon of “web rage” to explain our impa- tience with websites. “Research has shown that if users can’t figure it out within the first eight sec- onds, they’ll get frustrated and leave,” she added. Damien Mulley, from Mulley Communications, said: “For those that had considered advertising on Google as effective, this sur- vey shows it’s not perfect. While people may still click on your ads, the vast major- ity won’t.” Ms Reynolds maintained that Google is still king of the internet, but that this re- port sheds new light on us- er’s behaviour patterns. Google: Most users ignore the ads on the right-hand side. Shane O’Brien, left, and Brendan Carragher, top left, gave evidence for Michael Hodgins, above. before he was arrested.” He said he always paid Hodgins cash for work done. In giving his decision, Judge White said, excluding the 30,000 from Shane O’Brien, it was said that 141,500 was accumulated from his work as a doorman and a bricklayer: “I don’t find it credible, that that sum could be accumulated and left in such a way. “The scale of evidence tips towards it being the proceeds of crime and pro- ceeds of drug dealing.” He found the 141,500 was the proceeds of crime and must be forfeited to the state. In relation to 30,000 claimed by Mr O’Brien he would treat it as a separate claim and ordered it to be held until a later date so the state can investigate. Have you come up with a new business or idea as a result of our changing economic circumstances? Or have you any tips on how to beat the recession? Mark your submissions “recession busters” and email us at . . . [email protected] How are you surviving the recession?
