The Clare Echo 02/03/23

‘Keep the doors locked and the windows shut’

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

THEFTS and burglaries are increasing across Co Clare and it’s up to the public to easily curb the rising numbers, the Chief Superintendent has said.

“Keep the phones hopping, keep the doors locked and the windows shut” were the famous closing lines from Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny in the iconic Crimebusters skit from D’Unbelievables. Yet a similar sentiment

was expressed by Chief Superintendent of the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division, Colm O’Sullivan speaking at a meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee on the subject of thefts and burglaries.

2022 figures for the county have shown an overall rise in thefts of 48%, thefts from shops are up 29% while burglaries have increased by 16%.

“Thefts can be easily prevented by ourselves. They are very easily

RAISING THE BANNER

preventable,” O’Sullivan stated. He flagged that a vast amount of such incidents occur when cars are left unlocked or doors open.

Possibly in the absence of an audience, Cork native O’Sullivan didn’t repeat Shortt’s other famous line ‘ye can’t be doing that lads’ but visibly Gardaí in the county are frustrated with the careless approach that is allowing thefts to easily happen.

FULL STORY pg 3

l Emma Keating and Thomas Meenaghan at the Banner GAA Victory Social which was held at Hotel Woodstock. Thomas captained the U21B championship winning Banner football side Photo by John Mangan

Magpies soar high

Enjoying the Clarecastle GAA Club Victory Social on Saturday at The Inn At Dromoland, (l-r) wer Molly Potter, Lauren Cusack, Zoe Ellingstad, Addison O’Loughlin, Nina Carey, Sadie Morgan, Evie Scanlan and Róíisin Halpin.

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Dooley slams short lets regulation

SENATOR Timmy Dooley has criticised recent plans to regulate short lets across rural Ireland, calling them farcical and misguided. Speaking in the Seanad, Dooley said that the proposed regulations would do more harm than good for the rural tourism industry.

Dooley said, “these regulations would be devastating for small businesses and property owners in rural areas who rely on shortterm rentals to supplement their income.

Many tourists who visit rural areas like parts of Clare prefer the flexibility and affordability of short-term rentals over traditional hotels.

“The government’s plans to regulate short lets in rural areas are nothing short of farcical,” said Senator Dooley.

“These regulations would hurt small businesses and property owners who are already struggling to make ends meet, and they would do nothing to improve the quality of

tourism in rural Ireland. These are very small units that come in all sorts of shapes in sizes scattered across people’s properties across rural Ireland. They certainly aren’t homes that will help solve the housing crisis.”

Senator Dooley called on the government to scrap its plans to regulate short lets and instead work with the tourism industry to develop policies that encourage sustainable tourism growth in rural areas.

Bishop to push on with sale on college grounds

by Gordon Deegan news@clareecho.ie

BISHOP of Killaloe, Fintan Monahan has confirmed that the diocese intends to press ahead with the sale of a greenfield site at St Flannan’s College in spite of the opposition by staff at the college to the move.

The sale is to facilitate a €25m HSE plan for a 100 bed community hospital on Church-owned green space at the college grounds.

Bishop Monahan confirmed the diocese’s intention to proceed with the sale as the HSE lodged new documents with Clare County Council to advance the controversial planning application.

In placing the proposal on hold last September, the Council demanded that the HSE clearly outline confirmation by school authorities or management that the subject lands are not required for any potential/future school expansion on the community zoned lands.Now, in response to the further information request, Fr Albert McDonnell on behalf of the diocese’s property arm, the St Flannan’s (Killaloe) Diocesan Trust has provided a letter which states that “this letter is to confirm that the St Flannan’s (Killaloe) Diocesan Trust do not intend to use this portion of land for the future development of the school”.

Placing the diocese at odds with the St Flannan’s staff, Fr McDonnell states that “this area is on the periphery of the campus and in the event that the school requires expansion in the future, the Trust believes that there is ample space in the remaining lands for this to occur”.

Asked if school staff or school management was consulted by the Diocese/Dioc-

esan Trust before the letter was provided, Bishop Monahan replied ‘yes’.

Bishop Monahan confirmed that he has had a meeting with College staff representatives on their opposition to the proposed land sale/planned community care hospital.

Bishop Monahan described it as “a cordial meeting”. Asked to say what the agreed sale price for the lands is, Bishop Monahan said “that is confidential at this point”.

Asked if the diocese intends to press ahead with the proposed land sale to the HSE to facilitate the hospital development in spite of the staff opposition, Bishop Monahan replied ‘yes’.

The new documentation lodged reveals that the lands were placed by the diocese for sale by private treaty in December 2018 and the lands were to be sold to the higher bidder.The document states that “the HSE bid was accepted and HSE proceeded to enter into a sale of contract with the diocese subject to planning”.

Last month in a statement, staff at St Flannan’s College contended that the proposed development “will have a seriously negative impact on the student population” for a number of reasons.

College staff stated that the green field development site at St Flannan’s College “is the last remaining site of its kind in Ennis”. They contended that “urban sprawl is taking up so much of our green spaces each year. Once this land is built upon, it will be gone forever”.

Staff at St Flannan’s will now be able to formalise their opposition to the scheme as the Council can now accept new third party objections on the application. A decision is expected on the application in April.

Photo by Chris Copley

Lock your doors and windows

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

BURGLARIES and thefts are rising across Co Clare with the public aiding this level of criminality by keeping doors and windows opened, the Chief Superintendent has said.

A 48 percent increase in thefts have been observed by An Garda Síochána in examining 2022 figures with 2021, jumping from 150 to 222.

87 more instances of thefts from shops were reported last year, the figure of 382 showed a rise of 295 (29%).

An increase in burglaries was also recorded, going from 130 in 2021 to 151 in 2022, a rise of 16 percent.

There has been a reduction in the amount of thefts from moving or parked vehicles. The 2022 figure of 110 is lower than the 145

of 2021 and represents a drop of 29 percent.

Chief Superintendent in the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division, Colm O’Sullivan said it was remarkable that a high amount of these thefts occurred when vehicles or homes were left unlocked. “All I’ll say is thefts can be easily prevented by ourselves. They are very easily preventable. Often cars are left unlocked at night”.

He told a meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that in many estates, criminals check a number of cars or

Celebrating a year to remember

homes before finding one that is left unlocked, allowing them to take a substantial amount of goods. Such a scenario is amazing but very easy to clamp down by following simple security measures.

Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) was concerned with the jump in thefts. “I think the footfall from shops has dropped because there’s more people buying online, these are reported thefts so it’s frightening to see”.

On this, the Chief Supt said the thefts from shop increase represented an increase of one and a half thefts per week over two years. “It has gone up but going back to 2021 shops would have been closed. A lot of the figures we’re seeing for 2022, the trend will probably continue to 2023 and bring us back to where we were in 2020”.

Mark Cleary and Isabella Pereira celebrate separate successes at the Banner Victory Social at Hotel Woodstock

Photo by John Mangan

Quin Rd land sale concerns business owners

by Páraic McMahon

BUSINESS owners at one of the county’s main hubs of employment have voiced their frustration, claiming the common land of the Quin Road Business Park “was sold behind our backs to a complete stranger”.

Plans of the Shannon Airport Group and its property wing, Shannon Commercial Properties to sell its 4.9 acre site and the management of the estate services and infrastructure were first reported by The Clare Echo in November. The land had been acquired by Shannon Development in 1979.

Shannon Airport Group had been responsible for the management and maintenance of services at the Quin Road Business Park in Ennis including public lighting, footpaths, and roads. It did not own or lease any buildings in the vicinity.

A slight delay in the sale was forced following the coverage in The Clare Echo and after the matter was flagged by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) firstly and then Michael McNamara TD (IND).

Correspondence dated February 17th was issued to tenants and business owners by solicitors representing Shannon Commercial Properties whereby they were advised that the subsidiary of Shannon Group had “disposed of its interest” at the Quin Rd Business Park which included the common areas and revisionary interests.

The Clare Echo understands that Shannon Commercial Properties sold their interests to a Galway company.

Barry O’Driscoll of Clare Self Storage told The Clare Echo, “We’re very disappointed that the common area was sold from under us, we’ve had businesses here for the last twenty years and we have paid several hundreds of thousands if not over a million in commercial fees to Shannon Commercial Properties. This has been sold behind our back to a complete stranger, we feel let down, we have interests in this Business Park and we should have been consulted”.

For the past 13 years, Barry’s Self Storage business has been based on the Quin Rd. “We would be concerned about the sewerage sta-

Shannon Heritage transfer imminent?

RENEWED confidence has been expressed by a Clare TD that “appropriate funding and a satisfactory resolution” is on the way for the transfer of Shannon Heritage sites to Clare County Council.

In December, following engagements with several unnamed Ministers, Cathal Crowe (FF) said that a funding package was “imminent” but the Council only received one sixth of the sum sought following a 600-page due diligence report.

tion which processes waste from the businesses and Bruach na h’Abhainn and if anything goes wrong, who is going to look after it. What will our fees be going into the future at a time of increased costs and higher inflation”.

Similar concerns were expressed by another well-established business man, “it is the unknown, we don’t know what will happen if there is an issue with the pumping station, who is going to be responsible for it now”.

Ennis Carpets has been in operation for over 45 years, the last sixteen of which have been in the Quin Rd Business Park.

Manager of Ennis Carpets, Pat McDaid was also critical over the level of engagement for business owners. “There was no consultation at all, worrying rather than frustrating because you don’t know what the next step is and we don’t know how it will affect us. Surely, the County Council will step in, that seemed the obvious solution but this is two Government bodies and one selling out to whoever, that is the thing”.

McDaid continued, “We’ve built the business up over many years, we’re sixteen years in this estate and it’s very daunting for everyone concerned and every business owner here. The amount of families and liveli hoods in Co Clare that could be affected by this decision is huge, no one has high lighted that so far, if this goes wrong, how many people could be affected”.

Increased charges are among the fears of business personnel within the Quin Rd Business Park. “Huge charges against companies in here for the upkeep of them legally by unscrupulous people, that would be the biggest worry. You would hope it wouldn’t happen and that sense might pre vail so that we could all work through this. Running a business is difficult enough at the moment, it’s not a straight forward task at all because we all have headaches,” Pat said.

“We’d have 15 sub-contractors look ing for a wage out of here every week between staff here, staff measuring, car penters, carpet fitters and contract fitters, they would all be affected if this changed. I

hope Clare County Council steps in and sense prevails,” he added.

One of the most recently renovated buildings in the Business Park belongs to Clare County Council and is used as the Clare Civil Defence HQ and also the location of the remote working hub operated by DigiClare. “Regarding the Quin Road Campus, any commercial rates and services charges that apply to the building are paid by Clare County Council,” a spokesperson told The Clare Echo regarding potential rate changes it might incur as a result of the sale.

A spokesperson for Shannon Airport Group defended the level of consultation carried out in advance of the sale.

“Quin Road Business Park was extensively advertised for sale on the open market from the 16th October 2022, including Daft.ie and through a local auctioneering firm with a substantial advertising sign erected at the site from Oct. The sale closed on the 17th February and the new owner is in the process of meeting with tenants at the site.”

Fresh optimism was voiced by Deputy Crowe and Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) following meetings with Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers (FF) and Clare County Council in Shannon.

In a statement, Crowe said “significant progress” had been made on negotiations to try facilitate the transfer of Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Knappogue Castle, Craggaunowen and a retail unit at the Cliffs of Moher. He said “both sides are close to honing in on a final funding figure with revised costings having been submitted by the Council”.

Representatives of Shannon Heritage staff also met with the Junior Minister on Friday. “December’s funding disappointedly undershot the mark but I am pretty certain that the coming weeks will deliver both appropriate funding and a satisfactory resolution,” Crowe acknowledged.

news@clareecho.ie

lDISPUTE: The Burren farmer surrendered his firearm to gardai in July, 2021 following an allged incident involving a neighbour

Housing for Kilkee & Kilrush Lahinch’s Aoife wins apartment in Castlegar fundraiser

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

PLANS are being advanced for the construction of 47 social housing homes in Kilkee & Kilrush, writes Páraic

McMahon

Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) says approval in principle has been given by Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien (FF) to Clare County Council for the construction of 22 new social housing units at Moore St in Kilrush.

A mixture of one, two and three bedroom homes will be included in the Kilrush development.

Kilrush based, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) said discussions were held with the County Council in 2020 “to see how we could address vacant and derelict properties in the town centre. We identified the possibility of developing housing on Moore St as a way to address this but also bring people back living in the town itself”.

Minister O’Brien is also advancing plans to build 25 new social housing homes in Kilkee. Deputy Crowe outlined that in clinics held in the area with Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) they have met “many local people struggling to find a home, hopefully these houses, when built, will be ‘forever homes’ for many families”.

Cllr Murphy said he was “absolutely thrilled” that the plans were progressing. “Every week I have many calls and messages with regard to social housing, so I’m delighted to see that 25 couples or families will be accommodated in Kilkee.”

A 25 year old from Lahinch is the new owner of a Salthill property after winning a fundraising draw.

Aoife Rynne who currently lives with her parents and two brothers in North-West Clare was the winner of Castlegar GAA Club’s ‘Win a Home in Salthill’ fundraiser. Ironically, their hometown of Lahinch was the destination for the ‘Win a Home in Lahinch’ fundraiser carried out by Clare GAA last year.

Presently studying a Bachelor of Science in Bioscience at the University of Limerick, Aoife who works part-time for network provider Circet said that she has been relieved of a lifelong responsibility.

She commented, “I definitely always knew that I wanted to own something, but I thought that it would be a lifelong thing, especially given how everything is going on in the housing market now, and how expensive it is and how there’s nothing to buy. The likelihood was getting further

and further away and now, I have my own apartment. I still can’t believe it”.

Moving to Galway had already been the plan for Aoife after she finishes her course in the coming months with her eye drawn

to prospective employers like Boston Scientific and Medtronic. Securing the one-bedroom apartment alleviates the need for her to conduct a search for accommodation.

Rynne outlined that she will

Dream Bigger!

relish the peace and quiet of her new home. “The area is everything that I love, the beach across the road and the cinema around the corner are perfect for me. I only walked around the corner from the apartment but there are so many good pubs and restaurants nearby. I just feel so lucky, I can’t believe my ticket was picked and I will always be so grateful to everyone who ran the fundraiser”.

Some 14,000 tickets were purchased for the draw with hopeful homeowners across all 32 counties, Asia, Australia, Europe and 45 states in America shelling out €100 for a ticket. As a result of the draw Castlegar GAA Club raised over €1.4 million from the raffle, making it of the most successful fundraising draws to ever take place on this island.

All proceeds from the draw are going towards the newly built state-of-the-art Arás at Castlegar GAA. The Club are also making donations from the draw to Galway Hospice, the Galway Rape Crisis Centre and to two local churches.

Ennis event marks year since Russia invasion

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

UKRAINIAN RESIDENTS IN

Co Clare gathered in solidarity in the county town to mark one year since Russia’s invasion of their native country.

Abouyt 150 Ukrainians assembled at the O’Connell Monument in Ennis on Friday afternoon. They sang rallies to acknowledge the ongoing efforts in the war while they also remembered the many people that have died in the past 12 months. The majority of those in attendance are residing in hotels and hostels in Ennis, a number of whom have taken up employment in the county.

So far 100,000 Russian and 13,000 Ukrainian service personnel have been killed, according to Western leaders and Ukraine’s armed forces. More than 7,000 Ukrainian civilians have died in the last year as a result of war, including at least 400 children.

More than 8 million Ukrainians have left the country and not returned, the majority finding refuge in neighbouring Poland and Romania, according to the

The Town Hall Bistro

Providing a welcoming environment with great value food championing local ingredients.

United Nations, an exodus not seen in Europe since the 1940s. It was an emotional occasion for those in attendance with some people left in tears. Placards reading ‘Puck Futin’ and ‘protect the rights of prisoners of war’ were also on display.

Tetiana Gnatuik has lived in Ennis for the past ten months, she was one of the main organisers of the anniversary demonstration, the entirety of the gathering was spoken and sung in Ukrainian.

She said the message they wanted to highlight the continued bravery of Ukrainian people.

“One year ago the war started in Ukraine, a lot of people from Ukraine meet here and we would like to say that we are brave, Ukrainian people are brave people, we are very friendly people”. She praised the Clare Local Development Company for their continued support of Ukrainian people over the last year.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Tetiana explained that both rallies sung by the group were about the war and a show of support. She added, “I’ve a lot of family

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The Poets Corner Bar

A traditional Irish pub that opens its doors onto the main town street of Ennis. Perfect for a pint, a bite to eat or traditional Irish music session..

is a traditional Irish pub that opens its doors onto the main town street of Ennis. Perfect for a pint, a bite to eat or traditional Irish music session.

still in Ukraine, a lot of people are still fighting for us, our husbands are fighting in Ukraine, my husband is a volunteer, he repairs the cars used”.

“It’s a day of memory, it is in

memory of our emotions on this day”. Tetiana added, “Russia was our friendly country and we were friends with them, now it’s a terrorist, Russia is a terrorist”.

The Brendan O’Regan Restaurant

Ideal for special occasions. The menu features traditional cuisine with a modern day creative twist.

l SOLIDARITY: Ukrainian people and supporters in Ennis Town Centre on Friday

Honest John to be honoured at Ennis Patrick’s Day Parade

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

‘HONEST ’ John Purcell will be remembered as a hero of the past when PJ Purcell, grand-nephew of John, will act as one of the Grand Marshals at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ennis.

Deciding to honour Purcell’s memory in such a fashion follows a suggestion from the Mayor of the Ennis Municipal District, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF).

Born in May 1860 in Ballymaley, Barefield, John Purcell is regarded as one of the world’s greatest all-round track and field athletes during the 1880s. He competed for three athletic clubs in the Dublin area, the Metropolitan Hurling Club, the Civil Service Harriers Athletic Club and the Haddington Harriers Athletic Club before emigrating to the USA in 1888 and continuing his career there with the famous San Francisco Olympic Athletic Club. He was a versatile athlete, competing in the hurdles, sprints, long

jump and steeplechase among others, with the hop step and jump (triple jump) being his premier event.

An American Report selecting the top 10 greatest athletes of the decades up to the 1990s listed John Purcell at Number 9 for the decade of the 1880s. In the records for the various decades, names such as Babe Ruth, Don Bradman, Bob Fitzsimons, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis and Michael Jordan are mentioned. John Purcell was ranked with the very best and the Clare Journal once described him as “an Athlete of whom Clare is proud”.

It is understood that John earned the title ‘Honest’ John Purcell due to the high standard he imposed on himself, frequently requesting that record-worthy distances achieved would not be officially recorded, in one case questioning whether there was a downhill slope on the approach. John was his own worst critic and quickly earned himself the moniker ‘Honest’ John.

In July 1888, he set the Pacific Coast record for the shot put. He set world records in the long jump

at 7.3025 m (23 ‘ 11.5”), recorded in Monasterevan on 29th August 1886 and triple jump at 15.12 m (49 ‘ 7.5”) recorded in Cork on 7th May 1887.

John married Mary Emily Higgins in New York in 1888 and they had a family of four children. He died tragically in early 1904 and is buried in St Mary’s Cemetery in Oakland, San Francisco.

Efforts continue locally to enhance the current memorial to Honest John at Lees Rd where the athletics track is dedicated to his memory. In parallel, a book is being prepared by Seamus O’Sullivan on the achievements of ‘Honest’ John Purcell. The aim is to have the book launch at the athletics track where a more visible dedication to the World Champion would be installed.

PICTURED: Honest John Purcell is regarded as one of the world’s greatest all-round track and field athletes of his era

Road still rising for Hayes as activist launches memoir

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

ONE OF Clare’s most prominent activists launches his memoir this Saturday in his native Corofin.

Dermot Hayes will rise along the road in St Patrick’s Hall Corofin at 6pm and it’s sure to be attended by a crowd of people who have fought for a multitude of causes down through the years. He will also be signing copies at Ennis Bookshop from 1:30pm to 3pm on March 11.

Fighting for causes is what has endeared Dermot to so many. “There’s no point sitting on the couch, complaining about things,” comrade Hayes said of his activism. “You have to be raising the issue like if you feel strongly about it. Only for the people protesting about the HSE and Limerick, there would be nothing done, we got change from the PAYE marches, I believe that we

have to pay for water but those marches worked, people around Clare and other counties pay a fee for their local water scheme, it’s good because it is respecting the water. We have to stand up for causes, clerical abuse and cervical check are all very important, that is what civic spirit is”.

This civic spirit has been fuelled throughout his life. The boy from Kells has battled a debilitating illness for most of his life and instead of feeling sorry for himself, he has continued to fight for what he believes in.

He goes back to his days in the Corofin Youth Club for helping to develop his social conscience while his school days have left a lasting impression also. “The social conscience in the sense I could see people had different standards, the national school we got bate but the sons and daughters of the farmers, professional people and shop keeper never got hit”.

Joining the Trade

Union movement saw Dermot’s activism grow further. “I worked for a year on the Clonroad and I raised money and went to an electronic school in Cork, I paid all of my money which I saved, we were doing the exam in Christmas and the fuckers pulled the rug from under us, somebody caught them, they were faking the exams and they were not being sent to London, it came out in The Sunday World at the beginning of 1974, I was devastated. I lost £300 which was a lot of money at the time”.

In the early 1980s he was among the main organisers of a PAYE march at the Daniel O’Connell Monument in Ennis

Dressed to impress

which drew reported crowds of 5,000.

Recalling family events did stir up emotions for Dermot when working on the memoir with Breda Shannon, particularly how his grandmother ended up living in a workhouse in Corofin. He speaks with great fondness of his own mother, Anne, “she was a tough woman, tough in the sense she was strong, there was no violence in her. You wouldn’t be demonstrating your love in language. She was there and you know she was there.” Health issues have been a constant during the father of two’s life. It was his time in UHL during COVID that prompted him to write down his story for his daughters Aimee and Marese. “I thought to myself, I’ve come a long way, I’ve lived a long time, the end has to come sometime so I’m not afraid of death, I’m not one bit afraid of death but I don’t want to go today because I’ve a few things to do later on”.

Beach effigy in Kilkee to commemorate war

KILKEE residents were somewhat bemused on Sunday last to see a large burning effigy on the beach.

But their new Ukrainan neighbours were able to calm their fears and explain the mystery; this was ‘the burning of Masylana’, the traditional Ukrainian shrove celebration before the start of lent.

The idea of the effigy ceremonial fire is to burn away all the negativity of the previous year. And perhaps never was this needed more than for the people of Ukraine this last year.

On the last day before Lent, Ukrainians in Kilkee celebrated ‘Maslyana’ and also marked the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

More than 200 Ukrainians living in Kilkee and surrounding areas came to the Elliott Centre on Sunday to recreate the traditions of celebrating Shrovetide together.

There was plenty of pre-lenten food; pan cakes with cheese, meat, poppy seeds, rasp berries and sour cream.

“Volunteers united around this idea and to gether began to prepare treats on the eve of the holiday. We shared and took turns in the kitchen for several hours,” explained Svitla na, who also took part in the preparations.

Some products (purely Ukrainian) had to be found in Polish stores in Ennis. There were also native songs performed by Ukrainian girls.

However, the most anticipated event was the burning of ‘Maslyana’’s effigy on the ocean shore. And with it - all the negativity that was in the previous year.

The spectacle fascinated the locals.

“What’s going on?” asked passers-by at the moment when the two-metre flame rose on the beach.

The Family Resource Centre, under whose patronage Sunday’s holiday was held, is the organizer of many events for Ukrainians.

Local Kilkee and Ukrainian volunteers are also involved.

“Special thanks to our friend Tony, who helped with the most magical part - the burning. Without him, the holiday could not have taken place,” said Iryna one of the organisers of the event.

Rhian Sheridan, Fionn Morgan, Daragh Hickey, Cian Enright, Ruairí O’Loughlin, Conor Griffin and Mark Griffin (Captain) at the Clarecastle GAA Club Victory social held on Saturday at the Inn At Dromoland

Photo By Chris Copley

Violet-Anne will contest next General Election

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

CLARE TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) has confirmed for the first time that she will be contesting the next General Election and has revealed she would be open to supporting a Sinn Féin-led Government if a call came from Mary Lou McDonald (SF).

Of the 15 candidates in the 2020 General Election, Violet-Anne received the most first preference votes (15.1%) whilst under the Sinn Féin umbrella. She resigned from the party in February 2022 claiming there had been a campaign of “psychological warfare” against her, while most recently she has denied links with a potential move to the Labour Party.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Deputy Wynne announced she would be standing at the next General Election to try retain her seat.

“I didn’t enter politics for any other reason other than the sheer motivation of wanting to be able to stand up for people and for those who feel broken, those who feel exhausted or aren’t being directed in the right way.

As someone who has that experience, I didn’t want anyone to have that experience ever again and that’s what brought me into politics. I don’t think that has changed, it has probably got worse for people since the elections with all the emergen-

cies we are facing as a country, we’ve the cost of living crisis, the levels of poverty and deprivation in this region has been the most deprived in the country, I can’t see that changing unless Ministers start stepping up for Co Clare”. This time round, she will not have the backing of a party machine when it comes to canvassing but Wynne is confident it will not have an impact. “I’m not sure if it’s going to make a massive difference going for the next one, that’s all I can really say on that one, it’s not going to be a massive difference.”

She added, “I’ve had quite a few people who’ve said ‘let me know when you’re going and they’ll come with me’, all I can do is hope that people jump on board, if they don’t I’ll do the very best as I have done every other time, often sometimes by myself. There may have been a group on one particular day and in another area another time, the rest of it was pretty much as it is now.” Relations with Sinn Féin and Deputy Wynne are non-existent but she wouldn’t rule out propping up the party in in Government.

“I’ve always been of the opinion, if the people democratically elect X, Y and Z as Government, I’m not someone to say I refuse this system, you work with whatever the people have put in place, really and

truly the public will decide how that transpires, it will be really interesting.”

Likewise she would be open to discussions with other parties. “It would be the same no matter who gets into Government and that is what they can deliver for Co Clare, it is the only thing I’ll be interested in

and I’ll be up for having that conversation with anyone willing to listen, that is all I’m going to care about”. Although she has come under scrutiny and pressure, Violet-Anne has not considered walking away from politics. “I don’t mind scrutiny or any of that, I came into that knowing it was part of the role but

the personal bit has been difficult, your family don’t put themselves forward for election and don’t want to be a public representative, most often your families keep to themselves, love their privacy and want to get by in the way that they do, that can be hard and listening to others speaking on this as well, it’s

No elephant in the room following advisor’s

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

UNIQUE as the county’s only female TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) was also inimitable when it came to the conclusion of The Clare Echo’s fourpart series sitting down with Clare’s representatives in Dáil Éireann.

Deputy Wynne was the only one of the four TDs to bring an advisor with her to the interview. Her parliamentary assistant, Mike Taylor was seated beside the TD for the entirety of our conversation at The Old Ground Hotel.

Such an occurrence is unusual and rare when it comes to interviews, especially in the local media.

Explaining her rationale for bringing her PA, Deputy Wynne stated, “I suppose I asked Mike was he interested in attending. I think in some ways, it’s just we were working together in the office and it just seemed appropriate to bring Mike, that’s really it, there’s nothing more to it”.

“With COVID we wouldn’t have had many opportunities for even this interaction to take place, so I don’t have a lot to go off of. But yes, I would bring Mike along to a lot of meetings that I have. Now, that’s for two reasons. One, so is that anything that I might not remember, Mike will remember or else anything else that I have said that I am going to do he’s there to remember to take note of it and all of this stuff but that is the working relationship we have”.

When Deputy Wynne was asked what her relationship was like with fellow female politicians in the county, Taylor gave his views on the question, “that’s one I don’t think you’d ask a male member”.

Exactly a year to the date of our interview which took place on Monday, Wynne’s PA called for her resignation. He tweeted, “the circus that has unfolded in Clare over the last two years since the Deputy was elected has completely distracted from the serious issues at

hand in the constituency. Another day another sideshow, two years of ridicule. The best thing now would be for the Deputy to step aside”.

This stance was previously covered by The Clare Echo at the time of the Kilkee man’s appointment in November, at the time Violet-Anne said they hadn’t discussed the incident. The duo were both unsuccessful candidates in the Kilrush electoral area in the 2019 local elections.

They have yet to have a conversation on the call for her resignation in the intervening three months. “It is a distraction away from the work, if we were to sit down and have a good aul chinwag, it would take a good conversation to have a chat about it,” she said while Mike gave his input, “we haven’t found the time”.

Violet-Anne added, “That is not me just saying that, it is 100 percent the truth, we’re just always trying to cover an issue that we haven’t yet covered

l Violet-Anne Wynne’s advisor Mike Taylor

not just TDs and Senators, it’s county councillors, you don’t want mind yourself being scrutinised but it can be difficult when it’s your family, there isn’t a need for that kind of scrutiny on your family members because what’s go-

ing on in your personal life or what’s happening in your family’s life does not have any impact at all especially if you’re grounded in trying to stand up for people and speak up for people, that’s your motivation in politics”.

remarks on Wynne

because there is so many there, that is all we actually get time for”.

She didn’t believe that the failure to address it left an elephant in the room. “I don’t think either of us would like to work with an elephant in the room, I’m of the opinion that I’m big enough and bold enough to understand that I was just like Mike before becoming a public representative, highly critical and scrutinising but rightly so.

“As a public representative it is what people are supposed to do and also media may have had a part to play in all of that as well, articles were put out about myself and my family that we now know are different.

“I think the media had a huge role to play in painting me in a certain way or my family, sensationalising things, anyone who gets to interact, meet or talk with me has a whole different opinion.

“Myself and Mike may have seen each other at Kilrush Mental Health

Wynne says housing situation no longer up for public discussion

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

CLARE TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) has said her own housing situation is no longer up for public discussion.

In June of last year, Violet-Anne said she, her partner John and their six children were homeless after receiving a notice to quit from the Kilrush property they had been renting.

As a TD, Violet-Anne is paid €101,193 and as a Clare-based representative, she is entitled to €31,365 a year in travel and accommodation allowances. However, she said in an interview last June that failure to pay rent at a previous rental property and her partner’s use of medical cannabis may be preventing them from finding a family home.

Violet-Anne and her partner John had rent arrears of €12,126 over a four-year period dating to June 3, 2016 for a property at Tullycrine. A commercial loan of €12,126 was given by Sinn Féin to Deputy Wynne. Rural Resettlement Ireland (RRI) took a case against Ms Wynne over the failure to pay rent but the housing charity no longer existed when details of the TD’s debt emerged after her election to the Dáil in February 2020.

When asked this week by The Clare Echo what is the up-to-date position on her housing arrangement, Wynne’s parliamentary assistant advised, “we’ve decided on foot of what happened with the Ceann last week that there will be no discussion on the hous-

ing situation or anything like that. The only address that is important is 64 Parnell Street, the constituency office, people’s private housing is something else”.

Deputy Wynne stated, “There is a need to broaden the definition on homelessness, I’ve had conversations with the Simon Community around this, they spoke of their Locked Out survey which found one in four had experienced some form of homelessness or somebody in their family had experienced homelessness, the reality is about 290,000 people in this country have experienced some form of homelessness but because our definition is so restrictive it doesn’t allow for those people to be included and that is an issue, if you don’t have a secure home for anybody, if they have to go live on couches or anything where they don’t have their own shelter or family, I would consider homelessness”.

It was then put to the TD that the 8,987 people in Clare who gave her a first preference vote three years ago would surely have an interest to know if their elected representative has secured permanent housing, the Kilrush woman said such questioning was never put to her by the public.

“I don’t get asked those questions from the public, it is just media who raise it with me but constituents don’t, they only want to engage with me about my work and what I’m doing”.

community meetings, we never had the opportunity to have proper discussions, now that we have, I’ve realised where we have the exact same desires and wants for Clare, it is quite shocking”.

Taylor added, “Peel it back and it’s all about common ground, in politics you can get so concerned about Ministries being appointed here and things going on there, visits here but if you don’t have access to the basic services like houses and healthcare, somethings are above party politics, a county that you sometimes look around and see people dying on their feet because they are completely abandoned, that is a bigger issue to climb over than whatever would have been tweeted exactly a year ago”.

l REPRESENTATIVES: Violet-Anne Wynne with Sinn Féin Councillor Donna McGettigan on the weekend of her being elected to represent Clare as a TD

Photo by John Mangan

‘Hedge cutting from hell’ - Fountain resident

ENNIS residents have slammed “a hedge cutting job from hell” carried out by contractors of Clare County Council.

Dark hedges in Kilcurrish, Fountain in Ennis were cut by Council contractors on Wednesday last and the finished job has left locals seething.

Teenager Maisie O’Connor who is a student at Gaelcholáiste an Chláir labelled it as “a hedge cutting job from hell”.

She explained, “Down the road where I live, there’s a small hill, that previously had

the most beautiful curved ‘tunnel’ of trees on the hedge. In the summer, the sun would filter through the curved avenue, which led to a friend describing it as ‘nature’s subway.’ It was so beautiful”.

This ‘tunnel’ was “absolutely destroyed” as part of the works, Maisie said. “It seems a Council contractor cut the hedges, and in doing so snapped every single tree and bush in two. Whoever did it cut the hedge so short that the trees don’t even curve anymore.

“I nearly started crying when I saw it. It was a horrible shock to find our beautiful tunnel absolutely ruined. It will take years for it to grow back.”

O’Connor said neighbours viewed what happened as “a hack job”. She continued, “I’m aware that there was a need to cut some of the hedge, since two of our neighbours have planning permission on the road frontage, but there’s absolutely no way that all the hedge needed to go. We’re all devastated at the loss of such a natural wonder, which was home to a lot of animals as well.”

In a statement to The Clare Echo, a spokesperson for the Council said that yearly inspections of roads are completed by the Council. “The road at Kilcurrish, Fountain, was inspected in 2022 and was found to be in sub-standard condition and, as a result, has been put forward for restoration mainte-

Historical Society’s Parting gift

l Following the recent cessation of the Clare Archaeological and Historical Society it was decided to donate its remaining account funds to the library. This funding will enable the purchase of historic material relating to County Clare. This material will then be available to the public for research purposes at Clare Local Studies Centre in Ennis. The Society would like to thank all who were involved over the many years of its existence. Pictured are (L to R): Mary Kearns, Frances O’Gorman and Eileen Conlon, (committee members of the Society), Helen Walsh, Clare County Librarian and Dolores Meaney, Snr. Executive Librarian.

nance for 2023. Upon inspection it was noted that the hedgerows and trees were severely overhanging the existing roadway and were impacting on the safe passage of heavy goods vehicles and school buses as well as

farm machinery, pedestrians and road making equipment. It was necessary to rectify this issue in advance of carrying out restoration works to the road surface.”

O’Byrne announced as new Director at glór

by Stuart Holly editor@clareecho.ie

The Board of glór has announced the appointment of a new Director. Ennis native Marie O’Byrne will begin work in glór

in June 2023 and joins the organisation from the Hawks Well Theatre in Sligo where she has been in the role of Director since 2011. Marie has over 20 years’ experience in the arts and culture sectors including her 12 years in the Hawk’s Well Theatre.

Throughout her time there, her mission has been to produce and present inspiring, innovative, and engaging performances and to provide a welcoming, creative space for performance, collaboration, artistic development and learning. Year on year, she delivered a vibrant programme, spearheaded a variety of imaginative artistic initiatives and was consistently passionate about championing the work of local artists. During her time in the Hawk’s Well Marie produced many large-scale performance projects including The Second Coming, a co-production with Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Company and commissioned the multi-award winning The Man in the Woman’s Shoes and its sequel, I Hear You and Rejoice by Mikel Murfi.

Prior to her role in Sligo, Marie was production manager at glór where she also held responsibility for traditional arts programming for a number of years. She has worked in technical and production roles with festivals such as Open House Festival Belfast, Éigse Carlow and Doolin Folk Festival. Marie holds a degree in Architectural Science, and Masters in Music Technology and Traditional Irish Music Performance.

Ann Marie Gill, Deputy Chair of glór’s board, comments, I am delighted to welcome

Marie to glór, and it is particularly appropriate that she will be taking on the role of Director in her hometown. Marie will be joining glór at a pivotal point in the organisation, as it develops a strategic plan to bring it into 2027, continuing and building on the work of her predecessor Orla Flanagan, in championing local artists and making innovative and exciting work available to Clare audiences. We look forward to many years of her stewardship in glór.

Marie comes to glór at an exciting and busy time and is thrilled to have joined glór at a stage when many of the organisation’s Artists’ Development and Support initiatives are launching.

Marie says “I am honoured and delighted to be taking on the role of Director at glór. I am excited to return, not just to my hometown of Ennis, but to a venue I spent many happy years in previously, working in the areas of traditional arts and production. I am also thrilled at the prospect of working with the great team at glór in continuing to embed the venue further in the hearts of Clare’s diverse communities and connecting and collaborating with the rich artistic community in the county.”

SHANNON NEWS

in association with

Chamber launches ambitious Shannon plan

by

SHANNON Chamber has launched its first strategic plan which aims to strengthen the town’s reputation as a forceful business hub.

Six key objectives underpin the plan, they include promotion of sustainable renewable energy, positioning the Chamber as a leader on issues affecting Shannon and the region, promoting the Shannon brand to grow the region’s economy and connectivity, to champion the delivery of the Shannon Town Centre masterplan, to grow and deliver value to its membership and to be a lobbyist for business in Shannon. A total of 23 actions back up the objectives. The actions have been given a hierarchy ranging from level one to five based on what Shannon Chamber can deliver on its own and what it needs to collaborate on with key stakeholders. The actions will be monitored at every board meeting to ensure the implementation is completed within the three year window.

Speaking at the strategy’s launch in Dromoland Castle, Shannon Chamber President, Eoin Gavin noted that it was the first

time since it was founded in 1995 that the Chamber has published such a plan. He said Shannon Chamber was set up “by several pioneering executives who saw the need for an organisation that would be a voice for everything synonymous with Shannon. The Chamber has grown considerably in the in-

Minster visits Shannon

tervening 28 years. It has become more than the voice of business. Representing over 330 companies with an extended reach to their 15,000 plus employees, it now offers a diverse range of services to its members and the wider business community.

Chief Executive of Shannon Chamber, Hel-

en Downes stated, “Plans are but words on paper if they are not implemented or measurable against attainment in a defined timeline. At the end of 2026, we want to know that, through delivering on every aspect of this Plan, we will have initiated and influenced change that will have positively adjusted the conditions for business and the environment in which our members operate.

“We want to have increased our membership so that every business sector and companies of all sizes can benefit from the collaborative benefits that membership offers. We want to have played an active role in ensuring that the plan to enhance the ‘living town’ aspects of Shannon, contained in the new Shannon Town Centre Masterplan, has been successfully delivered and that housing stock in Shannon will have been aligned to the needs of business. We will have worked to publicise and promote the expansiveness of Shannon’s offering: the benefits accruing to using Shannon Airport; the amazing work and output from enterprise in Shannon; the talent available to business; and the education being provided by our third-level colleges,” Helen added.

JUNIOR Minister, Jack Chambers (FF) made his first visit to Shannon Airport since his Department of Transport appointment. Chambers who is a Minister of State toured Shannon Airport and met with staff on Friday. During his visit, he also met with Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) staff at its air traffic control centre in Shannon and Department staff who are based within the town. Speaking on RTÉ Radio on Saturday, the Junior Minister said no discussions focused on drone activity outside Shannon Airport.

Chairperson of Shannon Airport Group, Conal Henry and CEO Mary Considine greeted the Dublin West TD, they briefed him on the facilities and operations at the airport and activities across the broader Shannon Campus. They also gave a presentation on the Group’s activities and its strong recovery as it rebuilds its business in the aftermath of the pandemic.

According to the Junior Minister, “County Clare is an integral part of our transport network. Shannon Airport highlights this as

it continues to expand its range of destinations”. He pointed to the passenger numbers of 1.51m last year in emphasising “the importance of this airport to the region’s connectivity and trade”.

Customers can avail of “world class facilities” at Shannon Airport, the Galway native maintained. He added, “We know the impact the Group has as an economic driver for the region in attracting both FDI and indigenous business, along with providing vital air connectivity for the Midwest and beyond.”

Commenting on the visit, Mary Considine, stated, “It was great to welcome Minister Chambers to Shannon Airport, and to have the opportunity to highlight the progress we have made since the pandemic, in providing vital connectivity for the region and our plans for growth. It was also great to showcase the upgrades we have made to our core infrastructure, with thanks to Government support and to update the Minister on some of the exciting and innovative developments taking place across the Shannon Campus”.

Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

l Conal Henry, Chair the Shannon Airport Group, Minister Jack Chambers and Mary Considine, CEO the Shannon Airport Group Photo by Arthur Ellis

Get on your dancing shoes with ex-Riverdance star

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

FORMER Riverdance member

Colin Dunne will lead a daylong dancing workshop in Kilkee this weekend.

Cultúrlann Sweeney welcomes Colin Dunne, a leading figure in the world of traditional irish dance for la day-long workshop in improvisation for traditional Irish dancers this Saturday. Sharing aspects of his

own practice and vast experience, Colin will guide the participants through a series of tasks and strategies for improvising with movement, sound, and gesture, which will encourage a sense of autonomy, creativity, and deeper connections to music.

Dancers across the full spectrum of traditional dance styles are welcome to attend the workshop. There are a small number of places remaining and all danc-

ers aged 16 and above are welcome to attend.

Running from 11am to 5:30pm, the workshop gives the small group of participants an intimate opportunity to learn from Colin throughout the day. The workshop fee is €45 and booking can be made through www.clarearts.ie or by calling 065-9060769. Perhaps best known for his performances and choreography in Riverdance and Dancing on Dangerous

Inis Cathaigh Feis Cheoil returns

Ground, Colin has been working as an independent performer, maker and teacher since 2001. His most recent solo show, CONCERT, based on the music of Irish fiddle player Tommie Potts, premiered in Paris in 2017. Based in Limerick, Colin was Artist in Residence at the Irish World Academy, UL, in 2001 and 2011, and was Traditional Artist in Residence at UCC School of Music in Cork, for 2017/18.

Kildysart Drama: Love Thy Neighbour

DUE to the pandemic Kildysart Players lost out on two performances, but they are back ready for action once more.

Some six new members will take to the stage following a succesfull ‘Open Night' with many more are involved in different areas of the production. The play this year is ‘Love Thy Neighbour’, a three act Comedy by Jimmy Keary.

Large attendances are expected to attend the comedy which is in the capable hands of experienced director Jane Casey.

The performances take place at the Community Centre, Kildysart on March 4th, 5th, 11th and 12th. Door open 7:45pm, curtain 8:30pm.

AFTER a lapse of three years, Inis Cathaigh, Kilrush Music Feis returned on Saturday last at the Adult Education Centre. 120 children from seven counties took part. The Shield competition winners were as follows.

Tom Rynne Memorial Shield for Accordion: Katie Joyce. Ballybunion, Kerry.

Inis Cathaigh Shield for Tin Whistle:

Juliette Kerin. Ballina, Tipperary.

Elizabeth Crotty Shield for Concertina: Orla Cusack. Tulla CCE.

Peadar Crotty Shield for Slow Air:

Juliette Kerin. Ballina, Tipperary.

Mick Eustace Shield for Fiddle: Mark Rosney, Ballycumber, Offaly.

Noel Bermingham Shield for Banjo: Emma Fitzgerald. Borrisokane,

Sive marks Shannonside return

CLONLARA based Shannonside Drama Group are ready to thread the boards with their production of Sive.

John B Keane’s play had been due to be performed by Shannonside three years ago but a global pandemic disrupted the plans of the South-East Clare crew who are now delighted to have the chance to showcase their production in front of an audience.

Newport’s Tim McInerney is the director and he also plays the role of Sean Dota, he has produced several plays with Shannonside.

Aoibhe Ward Murphy was a student in St Joseph’s Tulla when the play was cut short but the Broadford woman who has the leading role is now a student at the University of Galway.

One of the founding members of the drama group, Eddie Dillon plays Thomasheen. Eddie is a dairy farmer but has competed in and won All-Ireland finals with the group. An Irish and English teacher at Glenstal Abbey, Patrice Madden plays nana, she has been involved with the group since 2017.

Ciaran O’Connell is the second dairy farmer forming part of the cast, he has been described as the life and soul of the party when it comes to rehearsals. Denis McKeown, Norma Hussey, Barry McMahon and P at Delaney complete the cast.

After their three year hiatus, the group are hoping to have visible strong support from the public. Sive runs at Clonlara Community Hall on March 4th, 5th, 11th and 12th. Doors open at 7:30pm with the performance commencing at 8pm. Admission is €10, tickets can be booked by calling or texting

0874197517.

Written in 1959, Sive has become an Irish classic and one of the nation’s best loved plays. It is a story about a battle of generations, a country in flux, exploitation, greed, love and tragedy all told with John B’s lyrical dialogue and great Irish humour.

Tipperary. Inis Cathaigh Shield for Harp: Amy Hogan, Inis Cathaigh. Kilrush CCE Peig Martin Shield for Singing: Aoife Shannon. Miltown Malbay & Inis Cathaigh CCE.

PJ Crotty Shield for Flute: Juliette Kerin. Ballina, Tipperary. 2023 Overall Feis Champion 2023: Kilrush Credit Union Shield: Emma Fitzgerald. Borrisokane, Tipperary.

Pictured: (front, l-r) Amy Hogan, Orla Cusack. Aoife Shannon, Katie Joyce, Mark Rosney, Emma Fitzgerald, Juliette Kerin. (Back, l-r) Kieran Moroney, Colm Browne, Sean Browne, Diarmuid Donnellan, Liam Browne, Jesse McNamara.

Wall honoured at awards

QUIN’S John Wall was an honoured guest at the Irish Cancer Society Research Awards.

Held this Monday in Dublin, John was also host for the awards where top honours were claimed by Dr Janice Richmond (Senior Researcher of the Year), as well as Ashley Bazin from the Clinical Trials Unit at Tallaght University Hospital who scooped the Support Staff of the Year title. The prize of PhD Researcher of the Year went to Rebecca O’ Brien from Trinity College Dublin.

Patients and survivors’ central contribution innovative research projects that help to improve the lives of those impacted by cancer were celebrated at the event. This was reflected in the category of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Champion of the Year, which went to breast cancer survivor Kay McKeon for her valuable input across a number of cutting-edge programmes.

A prominent advocate since his diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2017, John was on hand to declare the winners at the annual event. He said he was grateful to all recipients for the work they do.

“It's truly an honour to have hosted these awards; cancer research is the very reason I'm still alive & to be part of such a prestigious event is indeed a privilege. It’s fantastic to see the research communities being acknowledged for the sterling work being done, more often than not quietly in the background but in the surety that their impact is immense. With progress comes hope and for cancer patients worldwide, that's priceless,” John stated.

Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu encourages customers to recycle in-store

FITZPATRICK’S SuperValu

Ennistymon is encouraging customers to help the environment and raise funds for Ennistymon TidyTowns and Mol an Óige Community National School by availing of its new in-store Reverse Vending Machine.

Ahead of the introduction of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme in 2024, Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu Ennistymon is among seven SuperValu stores and four Centra stores nationwide leading the way in offering a Reverse Vending Machine Trial to its customers. The trial began in Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu on 3 February and will run until the end of March.

For the duration of the trial, Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu Ennistymon will incentivise customer usage by splitting a donation of €200 between Ennistymon TidyTown’s commit- tee and Mol an Óige Community National School for every 2,000 containers recycled at the Reverse Vending Machine in-store.

The max donation is €1,000 per month, therefore a €2,000 total donation by the end of March is possible.

Products accepted in the scheme

are:

• Beverage PET plastic bottles and aluminum cans between 150ml and 3 litres.

Products excluded from the scheme are:

• Bottles and containers for dairy-based products i.e. milk, yoghurt etc.

• All household plastics and food aluminium cans.

Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu has installed a Reverse Vending Machine capable of taking in 949,000 beverage containers annually.

Speaking the about the machine, Store Owner, Jackie Fitzpatrick said: “At Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu Ennistymon we are committed to playing our part to reduce our impact on the environment. We are continuously making positive changes to give customers the chance to shop more sustainably and in turn help us build more sustainable communities. We are delighted that we are giving our customers easy access to a Reverse Vending Machine ahead of a Deposit Return Scheme being introduced nationally next year. The trial will empower customers to increase their recycling in a practical way and reduce their carbon footprint, as well as enhanc- ing instore customer experience.

We look forward to paving the way for the roll-out of the scheme in SuperValu stores nationwide.”

Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu Ennistymon has also introduced LED lighting which uses 60% less energy than the standard bulbs. The upgraded lighting has contributed to an in-store carbon footprint reduction of 7.2% and energy savings to power 15 homes annually. New digital price tags have also been introduced to the store which save 7,000 sheets of paper annually. Work is currently underway to upgrade the refrigeration in store to energy efficient fridges with doors, which will see a further 10.8% reduction of carbon and save enough energy to power a further 23 homes annually.

Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu Ennistymon is committed to creating sustainable communities and is proud to support Ennistymon TidyTowns.

PICTURED: Mol an Óige CNS pupils Elsie Minihane & Cillian Burke with Ennistymon TidyTowns members Mary Byrne and Josephine Quigley.

GREEN CLARE

Reopening of Crusheen rail stop not in Dept’s plans but still under review

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

Moneypoint a major part of our 'untapped potential'

Clare TD, Tony Killeen (FF) for the provision of a rail stop but this never materialised.

PÁRAIC MCMAHON paraic@clareecho.ie

NO PLANS exist to reopen the railway station in Crusheen, senior officials in the Department of Transport have said.

Originally built in the 1860s, Crusheen railway station closed in 1976 for passenger traffic and in the 1990s for freight traffic. Funding of €1.5m was announced by former

MINISTER for the Environment, Eamon Ryan (GP) has pinpointed Moneypoint as a vital component in Ireland reducing its energy emissions.

Members of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce are currently assessing the strategic strengths and comparative advantages of the Estuary will be assessed by the Taskforce while also scoping out potential economic opportunities. The group is to have a report compiled by the end of November.

Chairperson of the Taskforce, Barry O’Sullivan recently met with Minister Ryan and for the Green Party leader their engagement hammered home the possibilities for the entire region surrounding the Shannon Estuary.

During his time as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2007 to 2011, Ryan set a target of 40 percent of the country’s energy com-

ing from renewable sources, this was met in 2020. Now, he wants this doubled to 80 percent by 2030.

Repeated efforts have been made by local representatives in the Killaloe Municipal District to try bring the station back to life in some capacity. Now, the Department of Transport have said there is no plans for the Crusheen stop to return.

Senator Martin Conway (FG)

“I’m convinced we can do it, one of the ways we can do it is by switching offshore, our sea area is seven times our land area, there is a limit in Kerry as to how much turbines you can put up in any area but at sea, the resource is huge and the wind power is really strong,” he stated.

Offshore wind energy by Moneypoint is central to this. Speaking on Radio Kerry’s flagship current affairs show, Kerry Today, Minister Ryan outlined, “We will have a lot of offshore wind which will come into shore at the Shannon Estuary, that’s where we have the deep-water port.

"If you look at what the likes of ESB are proposing and look at Moneypoint on the other side of the Estuary and similar with Tarbert on this side, you’ve all you need there, you have a really good deep water jetty so any ships can get in, you have a platform there which you could deploy turbines out but what the ESB want to do, you bring the offshore wind in there, you use the grid which we have, there’s major electricity wires

raised the matter on two occasions in the Seanad last week. He argued that “it is not a big issue to reopen it. It should be reopened simply because the rail line between Limerick and Galway is now extremely successful. I take the train from Ennis to Dublin every week. I take it in both directions. I get it from Ennis to Limerick and on to Dublin. Sometimes I get it from Ennis to Athenry and on to Dublin. I return

connecting to both Tarbert and Moneypoint, you can put that electricity onto that grid to power the country.

“When the wind isn’t blowing, the ESB are saying we should do and everyone in Europe is now talking about and starting to do, you convert the electricity into hydrogen and use electrolysis, it is a new but advancing technology, when the wind isn’t blowing you burn the hydrogen to generate power and you run the power out on the same grid, you have a continuous stable electricity source,” he explained.

on a Thursday evening both ways again, regularly. I have noticed in the last number of years, excluding the years of the pandemic, that the rail line between Limerick and Galway is extremely busy”.

An auction for the country’s first “major offshore projects” is to commence this year on the east coast, Minister Ryan said. “Most of them you drive the turbines into the sand banks on the coast, we’re now planning phase two which goes to the west and south-west, it can be done”.

Students in Limerick and Galway are using the train frequently along with young professionals, he said. “About 15 years ago when the western rail corridor was opened, there was much criticism that it would not work or be viable. The facts and figures speak for themselves. On a Thursday evening, in particular, one can just about get standing room on the trains between Limerick and Galway”.

In the past fortnight, the Irish government approved the procurement of 450 megawatts of emergency generators to help close the gap over winter if there was no wind to generate power and one of the larger power stations experienced a shutdown, this will cost

He added, “The Crusheen railway station is about six or seven minutes on the rail line between Ennis and Galway. A number of housing estates have been built in Crusheen in recent years and there is potential for many more. People living in communities around Crusheen, such as Corofin, Ruan and other areas closer to Ennis, would be more inclined and attracted to using Crusheen railway station.

BYE-LAWS ENSURING A CONSISTENT A PPROACH TO MANAGING WASTE ACROSS IRELAND ARE IN PLACE

In order to comply with these Bye-Laws:

• You need to demonstrate that you are disposing of your waste in a responsible and legal manner;

• You must segregate your waste correctly.

YOU MUST USE ONE OF THESE OPTIONS OR KERBSIDE COLLECTION AUTHORISED WASTE FACILITY

“My question is simple. We are not talking about building a new railway station but recommissioning an old station. That would be of enormous benefit to the people of Crusheen and the surrounding areas, and to County Clare and the rural areas of Ennis. It would be a statement by the Government and Iarnród Éireann that they are committed to people living in places like Crusheen and commuting. It would provide people with an easy way of commuting. Many of these railways stations are unmanned and automatic. The station in Oranmore, I understand, is automatic. There is no reason the station in Crusheen could not be automatic”.

Junior Minister in the Department of Transport, Dara Calleary (FF) flagged that “the operation, maintenance and renewal of the rail network and stations on it, including the station at Crusheen, is a matter for Iarnród Éireann in the first instance”. An all-island strategic rail review co-commissioned by the Department with the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure is at “a very advanced state”, this will force Iarnród Éireann to show that any project hoping to get funding aligns with transport and public policy and it must also have “a robust business case”.

According to Calleary, the Minister for Transport was “not aware of any plans to reopen the station at Crusheen” but said the matter could be kept “under review in line with future demand trends, but at present there is no provision for a station with the current funding profile”.

€350m.

Minister Ryan insisted that this was necessary. “We will have emergency generators to provide back up as well, we do need that, the really big strategic option by 2030 what we’re planning to have is 5GW of offshore wind and to put that in scale, that is equivalent to the amount of energy we’re using at the current time.

"We by 2030 can deliver that level, then the following decade and this is the really big industrial plan for the country, we can use that to go further to really tap into the scale of power that is available”.

Opening a rail line between Ennis and Shannon as well as Shannon and Limerick is “an excellent proposal,” Senator Conway acknowledged but felt reopening Crusheen “should be considered much sooner than the opening of rail lines between Limerick and Shannon. It should be done first because, sadly and unfortunately, we all know we will wait a long time for a rail link between Limerick, Shannon and Ennis. This is something that could be done quickly”.

Calleary responded, “operational issues such as the opening of stations are a matter for Iarnród Éireann, not the Minister for Transport”. He encouraged Senator Conway to pursue the matter with Jim Meade of Iarnród Éireann.

While addressing Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan (GP) in the Seanad on Thursday, Senator Conway reinforced his belief that extra railway stations such as Crusheen would help a ‘ballooning’ service.

Minister Ryan was open to Conway’s views on Crusheen. “Senator Conway mentioned Crusheen where the rail station is not being used. He made the point that since it is there, it would be very easy to go to the next stage and open it and have a rail stop there. We should do a little bit of thinking like that.

Again on the rail service, the Minister and I spoke about the bridge over the Corrib where the old Clifden line was. Would it not be wonderful to have a train service going out to Clifden and the number of tourists it would bring? It would be a rail service that would join Clifden and Westport.

“I know that I am going way beyond where the plan is but it was done a couple of hundred years ago with the British. We had trains going all over this country and then we ripped them all out. Now thankfully someone with vision is putting back in as many as we can. I would love to see the Minister grow that and I support him in any way possible in his vision for that”.

Find out more at www.mywaste.ie

More commitment to protecting water needed in County Development Plan

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

MEMBERS OF FUTUREPROOF Clare are calling for more protection to the people and ecology of Clare in the County Development Plan.

Representatives of the environmental group travelled to the headquarters of Clare County Council on Tuesday afternoon to ask the Chief Executive, Pat Dowling “to keep to his promise and afford more protection in the new County Development Plan for the people and ecology of Clare against the negative impact of the extractive industries, including mining”. In the draft County Development Plan, the Clare Groundwater Protection Scheme classifies the majority of Clare’s ground water as having “extreme vulnerability”. 80% of drinking water sources in mid and east Clare are

from groundwater bodies.

At a workshop between elected members and Council staff, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) asked for the wording which was supported at the December meeting of the local authority to be strengthened in the draft to include a proposed ban on the use of mercury, sulphuric acid, cyanide and cyanide compounds in the county.

Futureproof Clare have said promises from Dowling in response to the December meeting have not been kept. Emma Karran of the group stated, “We are asking the Chief Executive to keep to his word – including adding the ban on the toxic chemicals cited above in the new County Development Plan. Leitrim Council have already added the ban in their new Plan. Donegal and Sligo are considering it and other County Councils are following”.

Emma Karran of Futureproof Clare

You beauty!

Paul Patton (Director of FET); Aoibhin Garrihy (Entrepreneur, Wellness Advocate, Actor, Voice Over Artist) and Leona Murphy (Beauty Therapy Curriculum Support Officer ) pictured as Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board launched a new Beauty Therapy Training Salon in the College of Further Education and Training, Ennis Campus this week

Council bags award

by

CLARE County Council’s commitment to workplace wellbeing has been recognised at the CIPD Ireland HR Awards 2023.

The local authority was named winner of the ‘Embedding a culture of workplace wellbeing’ award in the small/ medium category on Friday (24th February) at the Round Room in the Mansion House, Dub-lin.

The award recognises organisations which place employ-

ee wellbeing centre stage and have embed-ded a strong culture of workplace wellbeing.

Clare County Council was shortlisted in the category along with the Department of Defence, the Na-tional Treasury Management Agency, Seetec Ireland and William Fry LLP.

The judges felt that Clare County Council “came across with the passion and excitement to deliver pro-gressive wellbeing supports from induction to retirement”.

“Aligned to corporate objectives, Clare County Council showed a high level of engage-

ment and input from management, trade unions and staff. A long-term approach delivered consistent improvement, building a climate of inclusion, embracing technology, with access to resources,” the judges said.

The Leas Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr Ann Norton, congratulated the Council’s Human Resources staff on winning the award: “I wish to pay tribute to and congratulate the staff and man-agement of the Council on this tremendous achievement.

A high-quality work environment supports staff to deliver high-quality services to the people of County Clare. Council staff deliver important public services and I would like to acknowledge their hard work and adaptability in responding to very chal-lenging circum-

stances during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Pat Dowling, Chief Executive, Clare County Council, said: “Staff are the engine and heart of this organi-sation. The level of commitment demonstrated by all our personnel is crucial to being a successful and a responsive organisation. This award is a reflection of the central importance that Clare County Coun-cil places on employee wellbeing. We will continue to grow and develop the wellbeing of our staff well into the future.”

People-centred wellbeing initiatives delivered by the Council include health screening, grief and loss support, mindfulness, health and wellness, and a counselling service. Wellbeing is embedded in the staff performance management development system and wellbeing supports are communicated through a range of channels including the staff newsletter, the staff intranet and extranet, email and SMS.

Noeleen Fitzgerald, Director of Finance and Support Services in Clare County Council, said: “A culture of workplace wellbeing is firmly embedded within Clare County Council. We aim to support and em-power our staff to keep well through our various initiatives and workshops by providing them with take-home skills and resources to manage their own physical, mental, social and financial wellbeing. Each of our wellbeing initiatives meets a need identified from staff engagement or through welfare support.”

Clare County Council is currently inviting applications from suitably qualified persons for the below competitions. Clare County Council will, following the interview process, form panels for the areas set out below from which future relevant vacancies may be filled subject to sanction approval from the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage.

• GRADUATE PLANNER PANEL, 2023

Completed applications must be emailed to: recruitment@clarecoco.ie not later than 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 21st March, 2023.

• EXECUTIVE QUANTITY SURVEYOR PANEL, 2023

Completed applications must be emailed to: recruitment@clarecoco.ie not later than 4.00 p.m. on Wednesday 22nd March, 2023.

Closing Date Extended to Thursday 16th March 2023

• DUTY MANAGER, ACTIVE ENNIS LEISURE COMPLEX, 2023

Completed applications must be emailed to: recruitment@clarecoco.ie not later than 4.00 p.m. on Thursday 16th March 2023.

RETAINED FIRE-FIGHTER PANELS (PART-TIME)

Clare County Fire & Rescue Service is currently recruiting staff for inclusion on panels for the following stations:

• Kilkee

• Kilrush

• Shannon

• Killaloe

• Ennis

Candidates must live and work within 2.4 km of the Fire Station and be available to attend drills and fire alerts.

Garda vetting will apply prior to any appointment(s) that are made.

Completed applications must be emailed to: recruitment@clarecoco.ie not later than 4.00 p.m. on Thursday 30th March, 2023.

Application forms and further particulars may be obtained by requesting same from the Human Resources Department, Clare County Council at 065-6846250, via e-mail: recruitment@clarecoco.ie or can be downloaded from the following website: www.clarecoco.ie

Clare County Council is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sectors of the Community.

Scriobh chugainn as gaeilge más fearr leat.

Stuart Holly editor@clareecho.ie

Photo by Brian Arthur

Clare radio host doing 3,000 push-ups for MS

DR SUSAN Coote, MS Ireland’s Exercise and Physiotherapy

Co-Ordinator launched MS Ireland’s 3,000 Push Ups in March Challenge on Clare FM’s Morning Focus Show this week. To highlight this fundraiser Morning focus’ host Alan Morrissey will be taking up this great challenge in March.

“Speaking of the upcoming challenge Alan Morrissey, the host of Clare’s most listened to radio show said “I’m delighted to be taking part in the 3,000 Push Ups in March Challenge. Not only will it help support the vital services provided by MS Ireland, but from a health viewpoint it will also really benefit those taking part. I am really hoping that by the end of March I will have shed some of the extra pounds which made themselves at home on my body over Christmas. I would encourage as many people as possible to take part in the 3,000 Push Ups in March Challenge.”

The Push Up Challenge is MS Ireland’s most accessible challenge yet with MS Ireland’s Physio team putting together five different variations of push ups for all levels of ability, strength and fitness. So there is a push for everyone no matter the levels of fitness and flexibility.

There are many great benefits to health and fitness through doing push ups on a regular basis. Push ups improve muscle strength by working on the many muscle groups in the arms and they are great for activating weak muscles which can potentially improve with

bone strength.

MS Ireland is calling on people across Clare to challenge themselves and get active to raise vital funds for MS Ireland in March. MS Ireland is asking for your support to help to continue to provide information, vital services and support to the MS community and provide vital services including Regional Community Worker programmes for one-to-one support; physiotherapy; symptom manage-

ment courses; newly diagnosed sessions and the MS Information Line. MS Ireland also provide the only national respite and therapy centre for people with MS in Ireland.

Commenting on the challenge, Melanie Cunningham, Senior Fundraiser with MS Ireland said: “At MS Ireland we are working to support every person with MS in Ireland. By taking part in this challenge, you will make a real impact on the lives of people with MS from all over Ireland. The vital funds you raise will be put to work where they are needed most to enhance our Multiple Sclerosis services. Every project our fundraisers support to help MS Ireland is only possible through the generosity of our supporters. Thank you to everyone who continues

to fundraise, volunteer, and donate to support MS Ireland”.

To learn more and sign up for the Push Up Challenge in March, simply visit https:// www.ms-society.ie.

Macalla an Chláir

le MACDARA Ó CONAOLA

An Clár as Gaeilge Teo Togra Páirtnéireachta Forbairt Teanga Pobail do Chontae an Chláir

Tá Seachtaine na Gaeilge buailte linn

Seachtaine Na Gaeilge is here

Bhuel, tá Coicís Go Leith Na Gaeilge buailte linn / Well, Irish Fortnight And A Half is upon us! Is ón gcéad lá de Mhárta go dtí Láil’ Pádraic fhéin a bhíonn an ceiliúradh teangan / The language celebration is from the 1st of March until St. Patrick’s Day itself.

Beidh go leor imeachtaí Gaeilge ar siúl ar fud an chondae / There

Thought for the week: Be a lighthouse

Spreading the word of positivity

RONAN SCULLY

will be many Irish events happening all over the county. Coinnigh súil ar ár gcuid leathanacha meáin-shóisialta agus ar Peig.ie / Make sure to keep an eye on our social media pages and on Peig.ie.

Beidh an t-imeacht SAOR IN AISCE ‘’Spraoi le Rugbaí’’ ar siúl an Dé Sathairn Beag seo ag 2pm ag Ennis RFC / Ennis RFC are hosting the fun FREE EVENT ‘’Spraoi le Rugbaí’’ this Saturday at 2pm.

THE candles I light each day for people who ask me to are the luminous reminder of my daily vow, as much as I can to muster up the courage to follow the Light of Christ to the end. My thought for the week prayer candle sits in front of me daily as I write this column each week. It is the living memory of the light in my soul that brought me to where I am now at this present moment. This candle that I light for everyone daily including for myself is a reminder that its light h must help others to find their own ways through life. Candles, for all their fragility, are, in fact, the overwhelming image of what it means to be spiritually alive. In them is an ancient energy, eternal light, ceaseless prayer, sign of possibility, of help, love, prayer and hope on the horizons of our lives.

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

Have you ever been in a place that was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face? If you’ve been afraid of the dark, or been in a dark cave, then you know how welcome a ray of light can be. Even a small light makes a big difference in a dark place.

Jesus taught those who followed Him that they were “the light of the world.” He said that you don’t light candles and put them

under baskets. When you light a candle, you put it on a candlestick so that it gives light to everyone in the room. He told us, “Let your light shine before people, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (See Matt. 5:14–16.) So in this thought for the week, I want to focus on the subject of light. Every living thing needs light. Plants, animals and people need the light of the sun to stay healthy and grow. In this life, we have two choices. We can either be part of darkness and be part of this world or shine as lights and be different.

LIGHTHOUSE OF GOD’S WORD

For hundreds of years, seafarers have relied on lights to enable them to navigate. Lighthouses have helped them navigate safe passages, find harbours. Such lighthouses have always been strategically placed, frequently on remote rocky outcrops or reefs, headlands, cliff tops or harbour walls. They were always built where seafarers would need them most. Lighthouses are like beacons of hope and security, enduring the harshest of weather, yet they stand, flashing their unique sequence of light. They have strong walls and are built with deep foundations on solid rock. The rock upon which people of faith must build their spiritual house today is God’s word. To survive the storms of life to come, we must, like a lighthouse, be firmly rooted with strong foundations on,

and in, God’s word. Only when we are secure can we shine our light into a confused and darkening world. We are called to be lights in this world we live in and it is our duty to our fellow human beings, to ensure we are securely founded on the rock of God’s word; to enable us to save others at peril on this journey of life.

“BE THE LIGHT”

To be the light means in times of darkness you offer hope, encouragement, kindness, love, forgiveness and compassion. In times where others are struggling you offer a way to help them to regain their light and to help them shine again. You become, as is often said, a light in someone else’s storm. You help them see the good and beauty of life again. To “Be the Light” may be to offer hope, or just to sit with someone, and be the presence and guidance they need. It may be offering strength to those that are in a moment’s weakness, or offering a smile, hug and joy to someone in random parts of your day. It also means that you try to protect your flame from being blown out, so that you can be the light, and so that light remains.

FLAME OF LIFE

Saint Mother Teresa recounts in one of her books her visit with some of her sisters to an elderly man living alone as an outcast on the edges of society. This man had no family. When the sisters entered his house, it was in a terrible mess, filled with dust.

Éistigí le The West Wind/An

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This man was tired of living and was simply waiting for death. The sisters cleaned his house. In the process of cleaning, they saw a very old lamp and asked him if they could clean the lamp and light it. The man refused, saying, “For whom am I going to light the lamp; there is no light anymore in my life.” Mother Teresa told him that if he let them clean the lamp and light it, she would make sure that the sisters visited him regularly to share the love of God with him. The man agreed, and they cleaned the lamp and lit it and prayed and had a meal with him. Many years later, Mother Teresa received a letter from this man that simply said, “Dear Mother Teresa, I just want to tell you that the light you lit in my life is still burning.” Whenever I read Corinthians 13: 4-13, I think of this testimony of Mother Teresa, and the acts of kindness and love that many of us show in our relationships with others. To love is to light the flame of life in another person.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

As your thought for the week, remember that the most fundamental purpose of our lives is to love. However, love without sacrifice is empty, and love without pain is vain. Whatever talents, gifts, and creative ideas you have, there is an unlimited number of ways to let your light shine. So be a lighthouse and spread your light for you might be the light others need to see through darkness and find their way home.

Zen & the art of friendship maintenance

minutes later……

Friend: Well, just so you know, you weren’t the entire topic of conversation.

Me: Still. Thank you. You made my day!

EVERY now and then in life, we receive a communication that stops us dead in our tracks.

Posted brown envelope with harp stamp square in the middle? Gulp. An email from your manager asking for a quick five? Sure thing boss. Just as soon as I’ve finished hyperventilating.

While correspondence around employment and taxes might elicit a sense of resignation in the best of us, at least we have the micro-communiques to rely upon. The ones that punctuate the staleness of a humdrum day.

I was at a seminar recently. At about one hour in, my phone pinged. A WhatsApp message. A friend, letting me know that I had come up in his therapy session that morning. I know. I read it twice too. The exchange went something like this: Friend: You came up in my therapy session this morning.

Me: Okaaay???????? Friend : I was asked to name someone in my life who could be serious, frivolous, or serious in a frivolous way.

Me: Oh my God. Thanks Friend! That means a lot. I always feel like I share too much on the serious front and then I get vulnerability hangovers.

Pause.

Me: You and I have always got on though. It might be the music thing? It might be the fact that you are a fellow water sign. You never judge me.

Long pause, and then about fifteen

The smell of fresh coffee and croissants prompted me to stop. I filled up, sat down, ready for the next seminar topic with pen in hand. I couldn’t help myself. Within minutes, I had picked up the phone again.

Me: I know what it is.

Friend: Spill.

Me: We water each other’s spiritual gardens! I then sent a GIF of a skeleton showering from a watering can.

This is an in-joke between us. There are many. It is always said in a high octave American voice, when we need to justify overspending or oversharing. “We’re just watering our spiritual gardens”.

My friend is a former colleague. We first met at an Alanis Morrissette concert. I, having consumed one too many ciders, bounded over to him and his friends like an enthusiastic puppy, expounding on 90s female singers and how amazing the venue was. I vaguely recognised him from a mutually attended, 800 person strong workplace and felt now was the time to also elaborate on the many other colleagues I had spotted at the gig. Picture it. The sun was beating down. My group was looking for me everywhere (I hope). His group were giving me major skunk eye. All around us a deranged crowd were scream-singing, “It’s like raaaaaiiiiiiinn!” Even though we had never spoken, he was gracious and no doubt relieved when I finally skittered off into the melee.

The following Monday, full of self loathing, I decided I’d better email him to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

He was generous in his response, advising that he too had had many similarly embarrassing evenings in his time, not to worry about it and that he’d see me around the office. He signed off with a winky face emoticon. Six months later, I joined his team. Our “formal” introduction was super awkward but within weeks we had quickly established that:

(a) Our biggest disappointment in life is that we are not Madonna;

(b) The Pet Shop Boys’ Hotspot album is indeed as good if not better as any of their predecessors;

(c) A bag of Manhattan cheese and onion crisps and a cold bottle of Peroni together is quite the pairing; and

(d) As mid-40 somethings, we really missed nightclubbing.

Since then, we have left our roles and moved on to other firms. It hasn’t stopped us going to ALL the fun concerts. Steps in Belfast post lockdown? Count us in. Rina Sawayama at the Olympia? We’re down with the kids. We’re about to see Lizzo, Sam Smith, and of course, the Pet Shop Boys. We’ve made almighty fools of ourselves by paying an extortionate amount to see Madge in Antwerp later this year.

I am grateful. Firstly, I have health. Secondly, I have family and friends I can be serious, frivolous or serious in a frivolous way with. The trick is to let them know.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a random Tuesday at 10.30. Buy them a bun. Pass on a book. Leave them voice notes. Text them until the message is received loud and clear. That way, the next time a dental appointment reminder rolls in, they can remain entirely apathetic instead of reaching for the Rennies.

Busy season ahead for Ennis Golf Club

by Seamus Hayes news@clareecho.ie

ENNIS GOLF CLUB is an 18hole, par 70 parkland course situated on the outskirts of the town.

Noted for its hospitality, the club, which was established in 1907, is a private members club and offers golf to all age categories, ladies and gents, boys and girls.

The club has a variety of membership categories available which includes full membership for 2023 at €595.

“Membership rates are available for junior boys and girls as are beginner’s golf lessons, details of which are available from the office”, according to Noreen Doherty who is the office administrator at the club. She added that the bar and restaurant reopen this weekend

The club has a thriving seniors section with the senior ladies playing on Tuesdays and the senior men on Thursdays.

Woodstock to host Munster Boys Championship

The 2023 captains are Peter Quinn and Mary Lenihan while Jim Horgan is the club president and they will ‘drive-in’ to office on St. Patricks’ day at 3p.m. There will be a modified scramble in conjunction with the drive in.

A varied selection of competitions are organised and the very popular Friday open singles will resume on March 30. The club enters teams in the various inter club competitions such as the junior and senior cups the Pierce Purcell and Jimmy Bruen shields to mention a few.

The pro-shop offers a fine selection of golf equipment and the club professional, Martin Ward will be delighted to deal with all enquiries. With membership on the increase all at the club are looking forward to a busy and successful season.

by Seamus Hayes news@clareecho.ie

Founded in 1993 Woodstock will mark its 30th anniversary this year with the hosting of the Munster boys under 14 championship on Tuesday July 11.

The club has a thriving junior section and two members have been particularly successful in recent times. Aine Donegan is currently on a golf scholarship in the U.S. while Aideen Walsh was a member of the Irish team which competed in Spain last week.

Both have helped Lahinch to success in the ladies Irish senior cup in recent seasons. “All in the club are extremely proud of the achievements of both Aine and Aideen and we wish them continued success”, club manager Anne Marie Russell said this week.

The club provides a variety of competitions for members from singles to team events while also hosting regular open day events.

Woodstock participates in the various Golf Ireland inter club men’s and ladies competitions and their honours lists includes two All-Ireland Pierce Purcell titles, a Munster mixed foursomes title as well as having had success in the J.B. Carr and Michael Cashman seniors competitions.

Designed by Arthur Spring the course features a tough opening hole, a loop of holes (6-8) around a

lake that can spoil a card early, and it provides six excellent finishing holes. Holes six, seven and eight are known as Woodstock’s ‘Amen Corner’.

On this Sunday, March 5, the 2023 captains, Niamh O’Regan and Aidan Mulcahy along with junior captain Harry McEnery, seniors captain, John Donovan and president Ollie NcNamara will ‘drive in’ to office at 3pm. A 9 hole scramble will follow and there will be a gathering afterwards in the Drawing room of Hotel Woodstock at 5pm.

Aideen & Aine continue to shine

by Seamus Hayes news@clareecho.ie

Ennis ladies Aideen Walsh and Aine Donegan who are members of both Lahinch and Woodstock golf clubs continue to progress up the golf ladder with impressive performances in the U.S. and Spain last week.

Aideen represented Ireland at the women’s International Hexagonal matches hosted at Costa Ballena. The Irish team performed extremely well during the week losing to the host country, Spain, in the final with all six matches going the distance.

In the United States, Áine helped her LSU college team to a nine-shot victory at the Moon golf Invitational, Florida. Áine carded a final round of 70 to move to five-under which included a brace of closing birdies and she finished tied 11 overall.

Lahinch Golf Club:

Prior to Christmas, Lahinch was awarded the prestigious ‘Great Place to Work’ accreditation in recognition of their commitment to creating a supportive and inclusive work environment for everyone that works at the club.

The old course at Lahinch will re-open for play on this Friday, March 3 after being closed for the month of February. Mandatory use of fairway mats remains in place for the moment while the 17th hole will continue to be played as a par 3 to facilitate grown-in following completion of development work on this hole over the past few months.

The death took place at the weekend of Dermot Kelly of Castletroy, Limerick and Lahinch. A member of Castletroy and Ennis golf clubs, Dermot was extremely proud of his association with Lahinch golf club and served on numerous club committees over the years and his commitment to the promotion and development of Lahinch Golf Club was

recognised when he was elected captain in 1988 and president in 2001. Dermot played inter-county hurling with Limerick (minor and senior) and was part of the famed Limerick hurling team of the 1950’s. He scored 1-12 in the 1955 Munster final against Clare (60-minute final) and his record score in a Munster final still stands today.

Dermot won three County championships with Claughaun and represented Munster in the Railway Cup between 1955-1959, captaining his province in 1956.

Dermot worked with Bank of Ireland and was affectionately known as ‘The Singing Bank Manager’. He was renowned for his song writing, performing and recording talents, penning ‘The Ballad of Joseph McHugh‘, ‘The Cliffs of Moher’ and many more much-loved songs and stories about the west coast of Clare and its people. Ennis Golf Club:

Newly elected captains at Ennis golf club, Peter Quinn and Mary Lenihan along with president Jim Horgan will ‘drive-in’ to office on St. Patrick’s Day. A modified scramble will be held in conjunction with the drive-in.

Last week’s ladies 14 hole stableford competition at Ennis was won by Anna Marie Darmody (29) with 26 points from Mary Nagle (27) who had a similar score. In third spot with 24 points was Peggy Costello (22).

The 9 hole competition was won by Mary 0’Halloran (16) with 17 points from Ann Casey (14) with 16 points.

In the senior ladies on February 7 the winners were Carmel Verling, Liz Kelly and Marie Dilleen with 53 points.

The winners on February 14 were Claire Pyne, Mary Glynn and Anne McMahon with 47.15 points from Claire Ruane, Deirdre Molenaux and Marie Dilleen with 49.5 points. In third place with 52.8 were Therese Lillis, Brid

Cunningham, Carmel Verling and Margaret McEnery.

The February 21 winners were Bridie Keane and Bernie Brooks from Margaret Flanagan and Frances 0’Reilly with third place filled by Alice Darcy and Claire Kennelly.

Last weekend’s men’s singles competition at Ennis was won by Gerry O’Connor with 43 points. Neil Cremin, also with 43 points, was second followed by Flan Downes with 41 and Michael Kearney also with 41. Ronan Herbert won the gross with 34 points.

Kilrush Golf Club:

Michael Shannon Senior (17) was the winner of the men’s weekly singles at Kilrush last weekend with 30 points. He had two to spare over Fergal O’Connor (12) with John Sherin (10) a point further back in third spot.

East Clare Golf Club:

Winners of the ladies Wednesday competition at East Clare last week were Connie McKenna, Marie A Kelly and Kay Grimes. Second place was filled by Brid Hayes, Anne O Grady and Mary Farrell and they were followed by Pauline Nugent, Mary Jo Minogue and Mary Bugler.

The weekly senior men’s competition was won by Michael Heffernan, Michael Moloney and J.J. Barton from Willie Roche, John Nihil and Terry Coughlan. In third place were Noel Earley, Ted Harrington and Tony Kay.

Eileen Donnellan, Patricia Nash and Jimmy Nagle won Friday’s mixed scramble from Pat Duggan and Brid Hayes while third spot was filled by Terry Coughlan, Noreen Skehan and Carmel Lenihan. The mixed scram-

ble continues on Friday morning at 10am. Woodstock Golf Club:

There has been a change of date for the captain’s ’drive in’ at Woodstock. It will now take place on this Sunday March 5th and not March 12 as originally announced.

Captains Niamh O’Regan, Aidan Mulcahy, junior captain Harry McEnery, seniors captain, John Donovan and president Ollie NcNamara will drive in to office at 3pm. A 9 hole scramble will take place in conjunction with the drive-in and there will be a gathering afterwards in the Drawing room of Hotel Woodstock at 5pm.

Last weekend’s club singles was won by Cathal Nagle with 42 points from Kiern Browne with 40. In the Spring league Ray Casey and Frank McEnery were the leading fourball pairing with 47 points. Colm Geary and Mike Kelly were next with 46. Declan Heffernan and Eoin F. Hanrahan also had 46 points with Aidan and Brian Mulcahy in fourth spot with 44 points. The Spring league continues this week when the format will be a team of four with two scores to count at each hole.

Gort Golf Club:

In the 18 hole singles competition for men at Gort at the weekend, Noel O’Shaughnessy (9) won category 1 with an impressive 47 points. Niall Diviney (15) was the category 2 winner with 41 points while Shane Mahon (19) won category 3 with 41 points. John Daly (24) returned 44 points to win category 4.

Aideen Walsh

East Clare Golf Club going from strength to strength

by Seamus Hayes news@clareecho.ie

EAST CLARE GOLF CLUB is a member’s owned 150-acre club. It is a friendly place to visit and play and club officials and members welcome all, both visitors and former members alike.

All involved in the club are delighted to have survived the dark days of the recession and are now independent and bank-debt free. This was down to some heroic and brave individuals, who stood up and put themselves out front to represent the members in clearing our debt, and all involved are truly thankful to them.

“Our golf club is a unique place. We are surrounded on many sides by a bog, but we have some of the best land and fairways in East Clare. We planted many trees in our early days, guided by a few determined individuals, including a forester, who assisted us on available grants”, according to treasurer Sean Ahern.

“One of our unique treasures is our tranquillity and peacefulness. It is so quiet – until the Cuckoo chimes in from around April to June. When you miss a putt, you think it is laughing at you!! No joke!!, Sean continued.

“The club is particularly proud of its volunteers. We probably have the best volunteers in the world. Volunteerism plays a huge role in the club’s successs. The club shop is manned by volunteers doing 4/6 hours at a time, and the course volunteers work a minimum of one day per week, 52 weeks a year”, commented lady captain Rachel Whelan.

For 2023, the club captains are Rachel Whelan and William Hayes, and the club President is John Duffy.

“From day one we promoted equality for all, so we do not have exclusively. Our timesheet is open to all members equally. We are so lucky to have room on our timesheet everyday. We hear of busy clubs having limited access – we had three juniors from another Clare club playing here this past week because they couldn’t get out in their own club on a Saturday”, Rachel said. In 2023 the has some special offers as follows;

• €299 once-off cost to join as an associate member

• €528 to Get Back into Golf

• Society cost is €25 per head

• Get-into-golf cost is €350 year one. The cost of membership, at €728 including all levies, is very competitive, and new members are welcome and those that are thinking of ‘Getting into Golf’ as a new hobby.

The club has a major junior golf programme in East Clare, run by Brendan Magill (Clare Golf) and Margaret Lynch, which has provided junior golfers the opportunity of representing Munster, some of whom have gone on to golf scholarships abroad.

Concluding the lady captain said, “we have an excellent team of course and clubhouse workers, who are so dedicated and talented, and we are privileged to have them here”.

Aerial view of East Clare Golf Course

'There was a little kick in us'

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1A, RD3

Clare 6-25 Wexford 1-08

Venue: Chadwicks Wexford Park

Compiled by Páraic McMahon

STORY OF THE GAME

CLARE:

Frees for: 8 (5/3)

Wides: 10 (6/4)

Spread of scorers: 13

Scores from play: 6-18

Top scorer: Aidan McCarthy (1-10 6f)

Bookings: David Reidy (43)

Own puckouts won: 23 from 27 (85%)

WEXFORD:

Frees for: 12 (7/5)

Wides: 8 (4/4)

Spread of scorers: 9

Scores from play: 1-10

Top scorer: Rory Banville (008 6f 2’65)

Bookings: Shane Reck (43)

Own puckouts won: 26 from 41 (63%)

REFEREE: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)

MANAGER COMMENT “

"We came down last night and focused fairly well for the game. We were well tuned in for the game. [We] didn't know the number of personnel that Wexford were missing, but at the same time, we had to look after ourselves. We're happy enough with the performance. We turned over a couple of balls early on, conceded what we would describe as soft scores. On occasion our touch let us down a bit, but that's going to happen. Overall the players responded well. [We were] under a little bit of pressure coming into it, not because we lost the last day, but because our performance was so poor.

“We probably went as strong (as we could), we had a good few fellas back from the previous game and I suppose we were very disappointed with that performance so there was a little kick in us and then the conditions were really good so it made for really good scoring, we performed well.

“The Limerick game was so bad on a lot of fronts that there was no point in dwelling too much on it. Sometimes you just have to endure those tough knocks. When you’re playing quality opposition, you have to be right every day and if you’re a little bit off in your approach and the personnel on the field, you can ship a hiding.”

MANAGER COMMENT “

“Nothing can excuse conceding 4-17 in the first half and I want to make that very clear. That is just not acceptable. We won five from five in the league (last year), absolutely flying it then got a fair beating against Waterford. Our focus, yes, we want to be more

robust, better equipped for April 22 this year. But we still want to go out and try and win every league game”.

"We definitely coughed up four goals that we shouldn't have; coming out with the ball, and getting turned over”.

"Clare were very efficient.

They scored 4-17 in the first half and that's not acceptable from our perspective. I must say, they were very sharp. We knew we were going to be under pressure today. We were down a few bodies but the whole thing for the last four months was about building a panel, to see who we have.

"Some lads put their hands

PLAYER WATCH

up, have played consistently over the last few weeks; other lads came in today and didn't perform. Unfortunately, the nature of the game is that they mightn't see action for the rest of the year. That's the way it has to be.”

'Tough one' for Colm Collins to take

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2, RD4

Dublin 0-16 Clare 1-12

Venue: Croke Park, Dublin

Compiled by Páraic McMahon

STORY OF THE GAME

DUBLIN:

Frees for: 14 (4/10)

Wides: 9 (7/2)

Spread of scorers: 7

Scores from play: 0-10

Top scorer: Dean Rock (0-08

5f 1’45)

Own kickouts won: 13 from 15 (87%)

REFEREE: Paul Faloon (Down)

CLARE:

Frees for: 16 (4/12)

Wides: 2 (1/1)

Spread of scorers: 5

Scores from play: 1-10

Top scorer: Gavin Cooney (1-02)

Own kickouts won: 17 from 25 (68%)

MANAGER COMMENT “

Dessie Farrell, Dublin:

“Happy to get the victory, it definitely did look like we were in bother for periods and a strong finish in the last quarter we were much better and pipped Clare in the end, they’d be very disappointed they didn’t get something out of the game.

“Clare won’t be a renowned

SCAN HERE FOR MATCH REPORT

football stronghold but having studied them in the previous games they have been very unlucky not to get more points on the board in terms of their Meath and Kildare games, we knew it was going to be very competitive and it turned out to be that way. They are great learning

experiences for us and particularly with so many younger lads in the mix as well, we’ll look forward to the next one, a big clash against Derry who have been very impressive last year and again this year to date”.

“The lads showed good character coming down the stretch there, there’s always going to be problems and stuff to sort out, this thing is never linear, making progress is never on the one trajectory."

MANAGER COMMENT “

Colm Collins, Clare:

“A tough one, I thought we played a lot of good football, we led for most of the game, we should have got something out of the game but again for the second week in a row we’re going away with nothing. On the positive side I think we’re playing some really good football, some of the scores we got were top class, defensively we’re solid and not conceding goals, it will eventually come right but it is just disappointing.

“There in the second half when the fat was in the fire we needed to get up and get a score but it just didn’t happen. We turned over some silly ball in that period and it cost us. Dublin are a good side, they’ve good defenders, a good defensive system and they force you into areas where you make mistakes and you’ve got to tidy up on that, there’s two points on offer next Sunday and we’ll go after those”.

Darragh Egan, Wexford:

Brian Lohan, Clare:

Tony Kelly competes for possession during Clare' big win Photo by Gerard O'Neill

PICTURED: Jamie Malone Photo by Gerard O'Neil

Clare's defense inspires win

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 3, RD5

Clare 0-06 Down 0-04

Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis

Compiled by Derek Dormer

STORY OF THE GAME

CLARE

Frees for: 13 (6/7)

Wides: 11 (8/3)

Scores from play: 0-6

Spread of scorers: 5

Top scorer: Ciara McCarthy (0-02)

Bookings: None

Own kickouts won: 8/10 (80%)

DOWN:

Frees for: 15 (6/9)

Wides: 6 (4/2)

Scores from play: 0-4

Spread of scorers: 3

Top scorer: Natasha Ferris 0-2

Bookings: None

Own kickouts won: 15 from 17 (88%)

REFEREE: Justin Murphy (Cork)

MANAGER COMMENT “

Wayne Freeman, Clare:

“Playing with the wind we kicked too many poor wides but we did keep them scoreless in that opening period. It was difficult. There was a cross wind making shooting hard but that's no excuse. Some of them were really poor wides especially when we weren't under pressure kicking them. Strangely some of the

scores we got were under serious pressure so I don't know what it was. Maybe we had too much time on some of them.

"We were so dominant in the first half yet they had the game's best goal chance and that was just a two minute lapse in concentration. That could have proved pivotal. We spoke all week about

retaining our focus and we need to improve on this area.

"Conditions weren't ideal for shooting. Down didn't score in the first half and we only got a point in the second period but we did create some goal opportunities and we have to be more clinical.

"What I'm happy with is that we did create the chances today where we didn't previous days. We

have to work on conversion rate and again playing head up football. We worked on overlaps in training and today we created them but the player in possession didn't execute that final pass. We need to be faster when in advantageous positions.

"Defensively we were on the ball. Siofra Ni Chonaill was sensational. She is a rolls royce of a player. High balls low

New sponsor for Clare & Cusack Cup

A NEW sponsor has been unveiled for the Clare Cup and Cusack Cup, the adult league competitions of Clare GAA and also the U17 leagues, writes Eoin Brennan

The Clare Cup and Cusack Cup competitions will have a sponsor for 2023 as part of a new partnership between Clare GAA and Ireland's leading ticketing software company Future Ticketing.

In addition to purchasing tickets online, the Future Ticketing system will also allow Clare GAA to manage card payments at the turnstiles.

Clare GAA join four other counties in the Future Ticketing family, Tipperary, Kildare, Roscommon and Longford.

balls it doesn't matter she is just top notch.

"We have Louth next and with me managing them last year it definitely will give them motivation but we have three weeks to prepare. It's another home game and it's one we have to win”.

'We couldn't live with Cork'

NATIONAL CAMOGIE LEAGUE DIVISION 1A, RD2

Clare 1-10 Cork 2-19

Venue: Pairc Uí Rinn, Cork

Compiled by Derek Dormer

STORY OF THE GAME

CORK

Frees for: 9 (6/3)

Wides: 8 (6/2)

Scores from play: 2-11

Spread of scorers: 8

Top scorer: Amy O’Connor

1-8 (4f, 1’45)

Bookings: Saoirse McCarthy

(30)

Puckouts won: 10 from 15

(75%)

CLARE

Frees for: 16 (9/7)

Wides: 4 (2/2)

Scores from play: 1-3

Spread of scorers: 6

Top scorer: Lorna McNamara

0-6 (4f, 1’45)

Bookings: Chloe Morey (39)

Puckouts won: 14 from 29 (48%)

REFEREE: Justin Heffernan (Wexford)

MANAGER COMMENT “

John Carmody, Clare:

“We never seemed to get to the pitch of it today. We battled away. We scored 1-10 and conceded a soft goal. Cork are the standard bearers. We are where we are and we are happy, very happy with this bunch of girls.

“We only had a six day turnaround from a massive physical battle against Kilkenny. Cork were waiting for us today and hats off to them. They played at a pace we weren't able to compete with. They had the legs on us and opened us up. It's not easy playing the top three

teams three weeks in a row coming from the base we are but that's where we want to be and that's the games we want to play. We probably learned more from today than we did from winning last week.

"What pleases me most is we came back at them twice and we never gave in. They just had the legs on us. They played quality hurling. That's a learning for our girls. Our legs weren't up to it today.

“Look it no more than last

week we didn't take too much heed to the slaps in the back after beating Kilkenny abd we won't get too despondent over today's result. We have three points on the board after two games. It's only February and the league. We will analyse this and go again next week.

"There will be no panic stations. We created goal chances.

We were just flat in the legs. We have to learn from it. We have to take it on the chin. There's always setbacks but we are making progress. Camogie is a marathon season. We are learning all the time. We will regroup and freshen it up."

PICTURED: Lorna McNamara Photo By Gerard O'Neill

Meanwhile, EssilorLuxottica have been announced as the 2023 sponsors of the U17 Hurling and Football leagues which began this weekend. EssilorLuxottica, located in the Gort Road Industrial Estate has been in operation in Ennis since 1991, produce semi-finished ophthalmic lenses, for the European market.

Managing Director, Tony Mangan stated that he was delighted to support Clare minor leagues.

A total of 76 games will take place across both codes between Feb 25 and April 2.

PICTURED: Siofra Ní Chonaill Burren Eye Photography

Cascaders on a roll U15 gold for Clare teams

THE Munster inter counties competition were held in Waterford SETU at the weekend with Clare taking home gold in the Munster U15 Division 1 and Division 2 categories.

On Sunday the 26th February, the Juvenile Inter County events in Munster drew to a close with the U19 and U15 age groups. It was a great day of badminton with five teams in the U15A and B and four Teams in the U19A, and three Teams in the U19B. The commitment of the Juvenile players in Clare is clear with the level of success that has been achieved in the last number of weeks. They all now look forward to National Inter provincial finals in a couple of months time.

In Adult badminton, Ciara O'Dwyer of En-

nis had a very competitive Grade A National Singles Final in Dublin against Lucy Fox of Waterford. This time she was runner up but to be competing at this level is a credit to her dedication and discipline.

Many Clare competitors took to the Capital this week to compete in their respective Grade National competitions, some for the very first time competing at this level. All participants showed their skill and determination and represented their club and county against the best in the country.

Ciara O'Dwyer Ennis and Ruth Kilkenny, Killaloe made it to the A grade National final of women's doubles also but were beaten by a very strong pair of Chloe and Paige Woods of Lisburn.

Limerick gears up for Con & Annie Kirby memorial

by MICHAEL MAHER

LIMERICK Track is gearing up nicely for the upcoming Con & Annie Kirby Memorial at the end of March.

No fewer than five trial stakes were held at the Munster venue last Saturday night. With the sweepstake worth €80,000 to the winner, scheduled to start on Saturday, 25th March, Limerick was the first track to kick-start the Trial Stakes for the event and there were a number of sensational performances that will take some topping throughout the country over the coming weeks. Clare are sure to have a number of enteries when the draws are made over the next month.

In the concluding A4 550 contest on Saturdays nights Galway card, Banter Blitz showed pace along the rail to lead on the run towards the opening bend with Rosshll Wildcat song pace out wide as the turn loomed. Turning down the back Rosshill Wildcat switched inside the leader who ran slightly off the second bend and at halfway Rosshill Wildcat led but Banter Blitz was back on terms leaving the back as the Tony Brigdale of Ennis owned Blaze Bill began to close rapidly in third place. Off the home bend Rosshill Wildcat went a couple of lengths clear but Blaze Bill(Rising Brandy-Drahbeg Princess) few home to lead on the line and score by half a length in 30.74.

Clare natives John Collins and Albert Long were on the mark at the College Road venue on Friday night with their Brickhill Daisy owned who has been a tremendous servant to her owners. The daughter of Drooppys Sydney &

Rathmeehan May took her career tally to fifteen victories as she proved a length and a half too good for Mounvoor Lad in the A4 graded eighth contest in a time of 29.28. As the traps rose Ballyhale Chloe led towards the outer but the first tow home came through along the inner rounding the opening bend. Turning to run down the back Brickhill Daisy hit the front and went a length clear and although she faced a few strong challenges she saw them all off in her usual game fashion.

Collins was in the winners enclosure after the opening contest of the night which was an A6 graded 525 yards contest where Springwell Thomo and Brickhill Jane were away smartly on either side of the track with the former holding a narrow advantage as they reached the opening bend. Turning down the back the red jacketed Brickhill Jane hit the front along the inner but as the pair approached the third bend Springwell Thomo was back in front and he led by a length off the home bend but on the run in the John Collins owned Brickhill Jane(Skywalker Logan-Couldkevinbewrong) went on again to score by a length in 29.74.

In race three, Pallasmore Bud was best away in the centre of the track for this Novice sprint contest but racing towards the opening bend Bayview Fantasy swept through along the inner to hold a fractional advantage at the turn. Approaching the home bend Bayview Fantasy held a narrow advantage over his rival boy on the run home the pair had a slight coming together and this allowed the John Quinn of Gort owned Fast Fit Pennie(Doratos Wildcat-Fast Fit Maeve) to sweep down the outside to score by three parts of a length in 19.66.

l Clare Cascaders Senior Mens recorded a significant victory against Limerick Celtics B.C on Saturday night last at the Ennistymon Community Centre.

Celtics stamped their class on the game straight away with Joe Keane driving the basket on numerous occasions and hitting two three pointers.

In front of a large following Cascaders found it difficult to deal with quick passing and long range shooting from the Limerick outfit. Trailing by 16 points at half time Cascaders showed their grit and stand out performances from Cillian Devitt,James Leigh and Ciaran Harrington the Ennistymon boys led after the third quater 52-50. Both teams were now playing hard defense, but it was the locals who showed all the skill, and been roared on by a capacity crowd Daniel Wynne, Conor Dillon finished with some fast break baskets to ensure victory for Clare Cascaders 66-57. Cascaders will battle out the North Munster cup semi final against Limerick Lions next Sunday at 4.30pm in St Munchins College.

ROOF MOSS CLEANING

St. Patricks Day

Now

Prayer

THE MIRACLE PRAYER

Oh, most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the son of God; Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh, Star of the sea, help me and show me you are my Mother. Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth! I humbly beseech from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There are none who can withstand your power. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3x). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands (3x). Amen Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days and then you must publish it and it will be granted to you.

Thanksgiving to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel for having granted my petition.

PLANNING

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL, 25 O’CURRY ST, KILKEE, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (065-9083667, www.diarmuidkeane.ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of James Haugh for retention permission and planning permission to amend condition no’s 2 & 3 of planning permission ref no. P93/886 to allow the restaurant to operate as a takeaway facility with extended opening hours until 1am at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours.

A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the planning authority in making a decision on the application. The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL, CLAREMOUNT, O’CURRY ST, KILKEE, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (065-9083667, www.diarmuidkeane.ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of Martin O’Shea for planning permission to change the use of the

ground floor of the building known as “Claremount” from restaurant/ café, as previously authorised under planning permission ref no. P20/402, to a licensed bar/restaurant along with all associated site works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the planning authority in making a decision on the application. The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL

37 KNOCKRAHADERRY, LISCANNOR, CO.CLARE

We, Robert Ball and Triona Molony, wish to apply to the above named local authority for planning permission for (a)the construction of a single storey extension to the side and rear of an existing dwelling, (b) the conversion of the existing attic space into habitable rooms, (c) modifications to the existing roof including an increase in the ridge height, (d) modifications to the elevations of the existing dwelling and all ancillary site works at 37 Knockrahaderry, Liscannor, Co.Clare

The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost

of making a copy, at the office of the planning authority during its public opening hours and that a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL RUAN COMMONS TOWNLAND, RUAN, CO.CLARE

Further Information/ Revised Plans Planning Ref: P22/306

Development Description:

(a) demolition of existing public house, residence and shed at the rear. construction of (b) 1no. licensed premises/restaurant to replace public house, with 2 bed apartment on first floor above (c) 5no. two storey 3 bed terrace houses (d) 8no. single storey houses for the elderly (e) 1no. two storey assisted living apartments for people with disabilities (f)1no. single storey 3 bed assisted living house for people with disabilities (g) associated car parking area (h) new vehicular and pedestrian access (i) new connection to existing public water supply (j) new connection to public sewer (k) new stormwater drainage system and all ancillary site works.

Location: Ruan Commons Townland, Ruan, Co.Clare

Take notice that NOL Developments have lodged a significant further information in respect of planning application P22/306.

This information and planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority of Clare County Council, Planning Department, Áras Contae an Chláir, New Road, Ennis, Co.Clare

during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the further information or revised plans may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, not later that 2 weeks after the receipt of the newspaper notice and site notice by the planning authority or in the case of a planning application accompanied by an EIS within 5 weeks of receipt of such notices by the planning authority.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL KILLEEN, COROFIN, CO.CLARE

I, Janet Buell, wish to apply to the above named local authority for planning permission for (a) the construction of a single storey extension to the side of an existing dwelling, (b) modifications to the existing roofs of the dwelling, (d) modifications to the elevations of the existing dwelling and all ancillary site works at Killeen, Corofin, Co.Clare

The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the office of the planning authority during its public opening hours and that a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

Continues page 30

CASE NUMBER: C:LIC:SWCL:2023:000219

COURTS LICENCE NO: LIC1-12207

REVENUE LICENCE NO: :ENP0311 AN CHÚIRT CHUARDA SOUTHWESTERN CIRCUIT CO CLARE IN THE MATTER OF THE LICENCING ACTS 1833-2010 AND IN THE MATTER OF THE COURTS (SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS) ACT 1961 AND IN THE MATTER OF SECTION 2 OF THE LICENCING (IRELAND) ACT 1902 AS AMENDED BYSECTION 23 OF THE INTOXICATING LIQUOR ACT 1960

Notice of Application

Anthony Power Applicant

Take notice that the above named applicant of Chapel Street, Tulla, Co Clare

Intends to apply to this honourable court sitting at Ennis in the County of Clare at the sitting thereof on the 03 April 2023 at 10:30 and that this application be taken in its order in the court list for a certificate entitling and enabling the applicant to receive a publicans licence (7-day ordinary) for the sale of intoxicating liquor by retail for consumption on and off the premises known as POWERS BAR and situated at Chapel Street, Tulla, Clare which said premises are more particularly described upon the drawings and plans accompanying this application. AND TAKE NOTICE that this premises known as POWERS BAR has been lawfully licenced within the period of five years immediately preceding this application.

Dated this 23rd Day of February, 2023

Signed Anthony Power Applicant

PLANNING

Continued from page 29

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL BALLYNAGUN EAST, CREE CO.CLARE

Take notice that C. & G. O’Doherty intend to apply to the Planning Authority for permission to erect dwelling house, foul sewer treatment plant, percolation area and new site entrance at the above address.

The Planning Application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application and such submissions or observations will be considered by the planning authority in making a decision on the application. The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL CLOONEY SOUTH, ENNISTYMON, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Paul Conway Architects, Knockbrack, Ennistymon intend to apply to the Planning Authority of Clare County Council on behalf of Natasha Griffin for planning permission for development at Clooney South, Ennistymon, Co. Clare

The development will consist of the construction of a new two storey dwelling, sewage treatment system, and private well with associated site works.

That the planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours and that a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL MOUNTSHANNON, CO. CLARE

Further Information/ Revised Plans

Planning Ref: P22/269

Development Description:

11no. dwelling houses of varying size and design, 1no. building containing 2no. apartments, new site entrance, development access roads, paths, landscaping, service connections and associated site works & services.

Location: Mountshannon, Co.

Clare Take notice that Inis Housing Association has lodged significant further information in respect of planning application P22/269. This information and planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority of Clare County Council, Planning Department, Áras Contae an Chláir, New Road, Ennis, Co.Clare during its public opening hours. A

submission or observation in relation to the further information or revised plans may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, not later than 2 weeks after the receipt of the newspaper notice and site notice by the planning authority or in the case of a planning application accompanied by an EIS within 5 weeks of receipt of such notices by the planning authority.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL LAUREL HOUSE, TULLYVARRAGA HILL, SHANNON, CO.

CLARE

Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (065-9083667, www. diarmuidkeane.ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of Natalie & Kieran Moloney for planning permission to alter and renovate the existing dwelling house to include a minor extension to the front porch and elevational alterations to the house along with all associated ancillary site works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours.

A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the planning authority in making a mdecision on the application. The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission. or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL. MERTON SQUARE, KILKEE, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (0659083667, www.diarmuidkeane.ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of Pauline O’Connor for retention permission to retain the internal sub-division of the original dwelling house to create two no. dwelling houses along with all associated ancillary site works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours.

A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the planning authority in making a decision on the application. The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission. or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL.

CAPPANTRAHANE, WHITEGATE, CO. CLARE. V94APW5. Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (065-9083667, www. diarmuidkeane.ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of Eileen & Jim Mulvihill for retention permission and planning permission for the following development to the existing dwelling at the above address; (a) to retain the existing building extension (47 sq.M) to the rear of the dwellinghouse to include revised internal layout; and (b) permission to construct a single storey extension (27 sq.M) to the side of the main dwellinghouse along with all associated ancillary site works. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours.

A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the planning authority in making a decision on the application. The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission. or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL MEELICK INAGH CO.CLARE V95 D400

We, David + Nora Gannon wish to apply to the above Authority for permission to

1. demolish existing sunroom

2. construct single storey side /rear extensions and new front porch. Along with all associated site works to house at Meelick Inagh Co.Clare V95 D400

The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the Planning Authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20, within a period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the Planning Authority in making a decision on the application. The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL CARROWMORE NORTH, DOONBEG, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Cian O’Mahoney & Denise Lynch intend to apply to the planning authority for permission to construct a new dwelling house and garage complete with a new entrance, sewage treatment system and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices

of the planning authority, Clare County Council, Aras Contae an Chlair, New Road, Ennis during its public opening hours and that a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by has tthe planning authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL LISSANE EAST, CLARECASTLE CO. CLARE

Take notice that Shane Geary intends to apply to the planning authority for permission to construct a new dwelling house and garage complete with a new entrance, sewage treatment system and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, Clare County Council, Aras Contae an Chlair, New Road, Ennis during its public opening hours and that a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the planning authority of the application.

CLARE CO. COUNCIL DERRYNANEAL, FEAKLE CO.CLARE

Take notice that Padraig Minogue intends to apply for permission for development, the development consists of the construction of a slatted unit and associated site works at the above address. The planning application maybe inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the Planning Authority during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE CO. COUNCIL CLOGHER, BODYKE, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Francis O Grady intends to apply for permission for development, the development consists of the construction of a silage slab, roofed dungstead, meal silo and associated site works at the above address. The planning application maybe inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the Planning Authority during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL DRUMELLIHY, CREE CO. CLARE

Take notice that J. Considine intends to apply to the Planning Authority for permission to upgrade and extend existing derelict

house, to demolish shed and to install foul sewer system + percolation area at the above address. The Planning Application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application and such submissions or observations will be considered by the planning authority in making a decision on the application. The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions or may refuse to grant permission.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL MOUNTSHANNON EAST, LABASHEEDA, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Tríona Malone & Robert Whelan are applying to Clare County Council for planning permission to construct a new dwelling house, access road, entrance, private garage and install a new wastewater treatment system along with all associated works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of Clare County Council during its public opening hours and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL

80 ELM PARK, GORT ROAD, ENNIS, CO. CLARE, V95 DRP0

Take notice that Brid & John Fawl intend to apply for permission to retain the converted garage for domestic use & all other associated site and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20.00, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL TUDOR COTTAGE, ANNAGH, MILTOWN MALBAY, CO. CLARE, V95 CT80

Take notice that Matt O Sullivan intends to apply for permission to RETAIN: 1. the first floor area with rooflights & gable windows, 2. The patio doors in lieu of window to rear & 3. The plain plaster finish in lieu of stone face to the main front walls and for PERMISSION to extend the existing dwelling, adding a new rooflight to the existing first floor area & all other associated site and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a

fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20.00, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL DRUMMINAGRAN, ENNISTYMON, CO. CLARE V95 RX01

Take notice that Bernie Kelly and Liam Kennelly intend to apply for permission to demolish the existing rear extension, extend the existing house, upgrade the wastewater treatment system & all other associated site and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20.00, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL BALLINGADDY, ENNISTYMON, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Hilda O Dwyer intends to apply for permission to build a new private house with attached garage/shed, install a wastewater treatment system & all other associated site and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20.00, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL OFF MAIN STREET & THE SQUARE, ENNISTYMON, CO. CLARE

Further Information/ Revised

Plans

Planning Reference: P22/945Permission to build a single bedroomed maisonette, connect to public services & all other associated site & ancillary works at Off Main Street & The Square, Ennistymon, Co Clare.

Take notice that Gabriel Mc Carthy has lodged significant further information in respect of planning application P22/945. This information and planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority of Clare County Council, Planning Department, Aras Contae an Chlair, New Road, Ennis, Co Clare, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the further information or revised plans may be made in writing to the planning

authority on payment of the prescribed fee, notlater than 2 weeks after the receipt of the newspaper notice and site notice by the planning authority.

BALLYALLABAN, BALLYVAUGHAN, CO. CLARE H91 P96E

Take notice that Adam Johnson intends to apply for permission to retain the conversion of the attached garage, the extension and the first floor office area to the private dwelling house & all other associated site and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20.00, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL OUGHTDARA, LISDOONVARNA, CO. CLARE

Take notice that Joseph Cullinan intends to apply for permission to retain and complete the workshop/ storage shed, lean to machinery area & all other associated site and ancillary works on the farmyard at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20.00, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL LISDOONVARNA MEDICAL CENTRE, ST. BRENDAN’S ROAD, LISDOONVARNA, CO. CLARE. V95HH6W

Take notice that Doctor James and Mrs Mary Collins intend to apply for permission to RETAIN : 1. The changes to the fenestration on the rear and right elevations of the building resulting from the altered internal layout & 2.

The first floor accommodation for the ancillary enjoyment of the occupants of the main building & all other associated site and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the authority on payment of the prescribed fee of €20.00, within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

Best Daily Word Search: 1 March 2023

8-letter Animals

The Clare Echo Crossword

ACROSS

1. Darling(10)

7. Conflagration(7)

8. Substantial(5)

10. Dog noise(4)

11. Catastrophe(8)

13.

15. Noon(6)

17. Opposite(8)

18.

21. Slack(5)

22.

23.

DOWN

1. More secure(5)

2. Merit(4)

3. Cancer or Capricorn(6)

4. Rapturous(8)

5. Akin(7)

6. Fiendish(10)

9. English county(10)

12. Worshipful(8)

14. Frankness(7)

16. Refuge(6)

19. Relating to sight(5)

20. Assist in a crime(4)

HOW TO PLAY

Sudoku is a logic puzzle where you have to populate the grid with numbers. A number can appear only once in each row, column and house. Each puzzle can be solved using logic from the given information and requires no guesswork.

CROSSWORD ANSWERS

Servile follower(6)

Winged insect(4)

Large crustacean(7)

Branch of mathematics(10)