The Clare Echo 10/09/20

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SEP 1019/06/2020 2020 12:46:27

BRING BACK THE FANS CALLS TO HAVE SAFE NUMBER OF SPECTATORS AT MATCHES

Photogrpahy by Ger O’Neill

PÁRAIC McMAHON

S

news@clareecho.ie

OCIAL isolation is rising in Clare as key sporting events remain held behind closed doors, a Clare TD has stated.

A bumper sporting weekend is on the cards across the county but the

ban on spectators remains in place on the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) as issued by the Government.

Mixed-messaging was singled out by Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) as big crowds descend into Clare shopping centres but spectators are not allowed to socially distance while attending marquee fixtures in different sporting

codes. “The whole thing seems to me to be increasingly devoid of coherence,” he commented as leading health experts stress the benefits of meeting outdoors.

Rural communities are experiencing social isolation as a result of the measures, Deputy McNamara maintained. He stated that the mental health of sportsfans across the county was “taking a hammering”.

Similar views were expressed by Chair of the Clare VFI, Darragh McAllister on the mental health implications the six month closure of pubs had on publicans.

Cllr Pat Daly (FF) told The Clare Echo that the Government guidelines on sporting activity were “absolutely ridiculous”. He outlined that social distancing could be safely maintained at Cusack Park.

FULL STORY PAGE 14

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2 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Index NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT SCULLY

2-15

16-17 18

GREENER CLARE

19

EDITORIAL

20

RECRUITMENT PROPERTY SPORT

AMAZING RESULTS FOR OGONNELLOE TWINS

21 22-24 25-35

36C Abbey Street, Ennis, County Clare Telephone: 065 671 9021

NEWSDESK

Email: editor@clareecho.ie or news@clareecho.ie or paraic@clareecho.ie

SALES

Email: ger.naughton@clareecho.ie or niall@clareecho.ie

l JUMP FOR JOY: Twins Oisin and Cathal McKeogh from Ogonnelloe pictured at their school St Annes Killaloe Community College, as they recieved outstanding results in the Leaving Cert. The twins scored 625 and 532 points, with Oisin looking to do Film and TV Production in IADT and Cathal doing Chemical Science in University Limerick Photo by Brian Arthur

‘Major issues’ with moving flood gates PÁRAIC MCMAHON

paraic@clareecho.ie

CLARE County Council have warned of "significant costs and environmental issues" associated with relocating the Clarecastle coastal flood barrage, writes Páraic McMahon.

A bid to carry out a feasibility report on relocating "the mid 20th century Clarecastle coastal flood barrage" was issued by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG). He detailed the 2007 Ennis South Flood report has been outdated by climate change and international reports which predict a "much greater increase in sea levels by 2100".

Council officials have committed to seeking funding to complete a high level study regarding the potential relocating.

Routine inspections and repairs where necessary are carried out at the Barrage, senior engineer Sean Lenihan stated in response to Cllr Flynn's motion. He underlined that it was "a key piece of infrastructure and is critical in protecting Ennis and the wider catchment from sig-

nificant flooding".

With rising tides downstream and increased waters upstream as a result of climate change, Lenihan stressed the need for the Barrage to operate at "maximum efficiency".

Potential and necessary improvements at the location are being examined such as the addition of larger valves that can discharge water faster without having a flood risk.

Relocating the Barrage by constructing a new Tidal Barrage would be "a major civil engineering project with significant costs," Lenihan cautioned. "Given that the areas affected include both a special area of conservation (SAC) and a special protection area (SPA), there would be significant environmental and ecological issues to be dealt with in terms of impacts on the qualifying interests".

"Nearly a fifth of all the county's catchment water is flowing into the Barrage," Cllr Flynn told the September meeting of the Ennis Municipal District. He stressed that the Barrage was "of crucial importance to protecting the town. I believe it needs to be relocated below Roche".

Over a decade ago, Cllr Flynn had previously suggested the Barrage be moved to Latoon which had an estimated cost at the time of €32m.

Speaking in 2009, then OPW chief engineer, Michael Collins admitted that the idea of moving the Barrage had been considered.

"The main problem is Ennis is the capacity of the channel through the town is not big enough to take the water. If there was a waterfall in Clarecastle, you still would have flooding in Ennis once the water levels exceed the walls.

“We did look into moving the barrage and decided there was no point in doing this. It would not help the situation. Without the barrage, Ennis would flood more frequently. Ennis has been subjected to tidal floods”.

As she seconded the request, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) praised Cllr Flynn, “It is an item he has continued to bring up over the years.”

She was hopeful funding would be obtained to complete the report.

“I don’t have any qualifications in the field but I’m happy to support the motion,” Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) added.

Calls issued to protect historic Miltown House A WEST Clare property which was home to Sisters of Mercy for 91 years has been requested to be made a protected structure

by Clare County Council, writes Páraic McMahon.

Miltown House bid farewell to the Sisters of Mercy in June of this year ending a 91 year association between the nuns and Spanish Point. The 8.86 acre site has since gone on the property market with a price tag of €500,000.

Cllr Bill Chambers (FF) requested that Miltown House be added to the local authority's record of protected structures at a recent meeting of the West Clare Municipal District. Consideration to the appeal will be given when a review of the County Development Plan begins this month.

Acting senior planner in the Council's planning department, Helen Quinn outlined that the drafting of a new plan is a two phased process "which will involve the preparation of a record of protected structures".

If deemed appropriate, the property will be recommended for elected members to approve.

Detailing that Miltown House was built in 1782 by Thomas J Moroney, Cllr Chambers said the house was "a fine six bed property" and noted "many of the original features remain".

He believed the condition of the house was "testament" to the Moroney family and the Sisters of Mercy. "Its protection would preserve a historic house for future generations".

l END OF AN ERA: Miltown House bid farewell to the Sisters of Mercy earlier this year

Photo by John Mangan

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4 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Mobility plan causes ‘fiery’ argument PÁRAIC MCMAHON

T

paraic@clareecho.ie

ENSIONS mounted at a fiery meeting of Ennis Municipal District on Wednesday as the topic of pedestrianisation in the county town was put into the

spotlight.

Councillors were split on calls to “reopen the town” with Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG), Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF), Cllr Mark Nestor (FF) and Cllr Pat Daly (FF) all voicing passionate arguments to alter the temporary mobility plan while Cllr Mary Howard (FG), Cllr Ann Norton (IND) and Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) advocating for patience.

Brought to the floor by Cllr Flynn as urgent business, he requested that Abbey St and Bank Place be reopened plus alternative measures be implemented to deal with the flow of school traffic in the town.

Ennis was described by Cllr Colleran Molloy as “a town in lockdown”. She said the measures needed to be customised and labelled the current mobility plan as “overkill”.

An “ulterior motive” of councillors who began the discussion was questioned by Cllr Howard, “I don’t have a business in the town”. She said none of the councillors could come close to matching WHO with their knowledge on COVID-19. “The quaintness of our town with our medieval

street is now our problem,” the Mayor of Clare commented.

Noting that the matter was “a contentious issue,” Cllr Norton detailed that the mobility plan only came into being because of COVID-19.

She remarked that school children could be knocked down while queuing for their lunch if cars were let back on the streets of Ennis. “The Council is not trying to take from businesses,” Norton insisted.

Measures introduced in May were no longer relevant to Ennis, Cllr Nestor believed. He claimed that Carmody St had now turned into a car-park and warned of the impact the mobility plan was having on businesses, “we could have a number of doors closing”. He urged the Council to stand by the personnel operating businesses.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Murphy reminded the meeting that a review on the mobility plan was forthcoming. “We have a red alert in Limerick City and it is only 20 miles away,” he flagged. Cllr Daly remarked that the discussion was “one of the biggest debates I’ve seen” as he backed calls to reopen parts of the town.

Senior executive officer, Leonore O’Neill appealed to councillors to remain patient until the findings of the review are published.

Senior engineer, Sean Lenihan confirmed that he would bring the concerns raised to senior members of management in the Council. “COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, we have to learn to live with it”.

lEMPTY: Ennis Town Centre during lockdown

Photo by John Mangan

6 NEWS

Pubs given green light to re-open PÁRAIC MCMAHON

P

paraic@clareecho.ie

UBS have been given the green light to reopen on September 21st following a meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday morning.

Subject to local restrictions which are expected to arise from time to time, pubs not serving food will reopen to the public later this month with strict guidelines to be in place relating to hygiene and social distancing.

Discussions on the matter had taken place with the National Public Health

Emergency Team (NPHET) prior to a decision being reached.

Vintners groups criticised the draft Government guidelines that were circulated over the weekend and were prepared in consultation with Fáilte Ireland.

Many of the criteria currently in place for restaurants operating as pubs will be adhered to.

They include maintaining customers records for the purpose of contact tracing, the allocation of time slots lasting one hour and forty five minutes where physical distancing of one metre cannot be maintained.

Members of the Clare VFI protested at the offices of Deputy Cathal Crowe

(FF) and Deputy Joe Carey (FG) on Monday morning.

They had appealed for the announcement of a definitive date on the reopening and clear guidelines on what preparations have to be made.

Speaking to The Clare Echo before a decision from Cabinet was forthcoming, Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) stated, "There has been a complete absence of evidence based decision making on the issue of public houses. Our pubs are surely not so different to the rest of Europe.

“It also is legitimate to ask questions given ridiculous proposals like allowing live concerts to resume only on the condition that alcohol cannot be served".

Publicans will show 'common sense' PÁRAIC MCMAHON

paraic@clareecho.ie

PUBLICANS across the country were not respected by the Irish Government with a visible lack of trust pushed in their direction, personnel from the industry have declared.

Over 30 publicans protested at the constituency offices of Clare's Government TDs, Cathal Crowe (FF) and Joe Carey (FG) on Monday. Over 24 hours later, it was announced following a meeting of Cabinet that pubs would reopen on September 21st.

Des Higgins of Goosers Bar in Ballina has seen the positive impact of reopening, their establishment has been serving food and alcohol since the end of June.

He is adamant owners of pubs not serving food will show due diligence in adhering to regulations.

"What is the difference between what is being served in the €9 meal and a few pints, I don't see the difference. At the end of the day, pubs are well ran and publicans are well able to do it, it is all a bit of common sense at the end of the day," Des stated.

Owners of pubs that remained closed for six months were "not in a good place," he admitted. "A lot of them are depressed about it, they are not in a good place at all".

Higgins said the closure of pubs went "on too long". He highlighted that Ireland was the last country in Europe to reopen the pubs.

“The danger is now how many will actually reopen, that is the worrying part of it. It is not a good time, facing into the winter too”.

l FED UP: Publicans march to the consituency offices of Cathal Crowe TD and Joe Carey TD

Photo by John Power

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Clare publicans falling into dark hole warns VFI AN "ATROCIOUS" six month period has prompted worry that tragedies will occur involving Clare publicans, writes Páraic McMahon.

Chair of the Clare Vintners Federation, Darragh McAllister revealed that the mental health of pub owners across the county has been greatly impacted following sustained closures of their businesses and the 'false dawns' issued by the Irish Government.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, he admitted the impact has been "absolutely atrocious for everybody".

He explained, "One of the biggest problems we've had in the trade is members that never had mental health problems before suddenly find themselves in a dark place but without any touchstone or realising that it is a mental health issue, a lot of people would be slow to seek help because they might not understand they have a mental health problem.

"We've heard tragic stories of customers and unfortunately we could be looking at tragic stories for pub owners who have been pushed to the absolute limit, their mortgages are back in now, the six month break is over, it is a big dark hole and many people who have fallen into that dark hole don't realise it. I do fear tragedy for a lot of people, even without that tragedy it will be a long time before people come back to live a healthy life," the Ennis man warned.

Involved in the pub trade for more than two decades, Darragh runs Lucas' Bar and Considine's Bar both of which are situated on Parnell St. He outlined that the six month closure of the pubs put 700 jobs in the county at risk.

A day after their demonstration, Cabinet agreed to reopen 'wet pubs' on September 21st. McAllister had called for the wage subsidy scheme to be continued along with the pandemic payment. "These guidelines will make some pubs unworkable and unviable, it will be unfair for them to lose their business when others are open simply due to a set of guidelines".

McAllister continued, "We need to know that they have support in the guise of the wage subsidy scheme, grant aids and ideally some offset of tax because some pubs have been continuing to pay rent in cases and for some their full rent because they haven't been able to trade, landlords have done some deals

but not all, insurance has been necessary all the way through even though there has been no one on the premises. A lot of bills have built up, it will be a long time before they are paid off. Until we can find our feet and know how viably we can operate, we need to know that will be kept safe so that we can sink or swim on our own terms but not as a result of Government action".

He acknowledged that many people across the country do not miss pubs but appealed for greater support from all levels of society. "It is very important people realise we are still in lockdown, the national media refer to the COVID-19 lockdown in the past tense, it is very much the present tense for us and whatever happens it will be the future tense for us because we know the trade we had good, bad or indifferent is gone now, we're starting a whole new world and we need support from the top and the bottom but it needs to be led by the Government. This was not of our making and it would be unfair if businesses go to the wall as a result of something they didn't do".

Inaction from Clare's Oireachtas members was criticised by McAllister in fighting to reopen pubs in the county.

"All of our Oireachtas members have engaged positively with us but we've had a lot of words, some very nice words but we haven't seen any action whatsoever.

“The draft guidelines were published very hurriedly at the weekend, they are essentially a carbon copy of the guidelines for pubs that serve food which is not what we do, we get the impression that all they want to do is give fine words but we need more than words, we need action".

l WORRIED: Clare VFI

Chair Darragh McAllister

Photo by Eamon Ward

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8 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Limerick College of Further Education - The Smart Choice LCFE is busy preparing to welcome all its learners for the new academic year 2020/2021. The College has been actively preparing for reopening and our aim is to ensure that LCFE will be a safe and comfortable environment for all our learners.

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Second school impacted by COVID-19 PÁRAIC MCMAHON

T

paraic@clareecho.ie

wo Clare schools have been impacted

by COVID-19 cases in the space of one week.

Students in two classes at Stonehall NS have been out of school all this week after it emerged that one pupil had tested positive for the virus.

Confirmation was issued to parents and guardians via the Newmarket-on-Fergus based school on Sunday evening that a confirmed case had been diagnosed. As a precautionary measure, all pupils in both classes and their teacher have been kept out of the school since.

Students in other schools located in the parish of Newmarket-on-Fergus have also been kept out of their respective schools as they await results of

tests from the HSE. Sports training involving children from the classes has also been curtailed.

On Wednesday last, Meelick NS in South Clare was forced to shut after staff members were identified as close contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case.

Staff members at the school had been instructed by the HSE to restrict their movements and as a result an insufficient amount of personnel were on hand to teach the classes. No students were deemed to be at risk at Meelick.

Correspondence issued to parents by management of Meelick NS obtained by The Clare Echo read, “It is not possible for the school to remain open without any permanent member of staff so unfortunately the school will have to close immediately”. The school had been hopeful of reopening yesterday (Wednesday) ‘at the earliest’ but calls made

by The Clare Echo were unanswered.

lCLOSED: Meelick NS Photo by John Mangan

Councillors hit out at Ennis Taskforce

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STRONG criticism on the makeup of the taskforce responsible for introducing the temporary mobility plan in the town of voice was voiced by elected representatives of the Ennis Municipal District, writes Páraic McMahon.

Speaking at a special meeting of the Ennis MD, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) hit out at “a deficit” of public representatives on the taskforce and stated that the Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) was “overburdened” in trying to reflect the viewpoints of all councillors in the District.

Conceding that it was her recommendation for Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) to be the sole representative when the Taskforce was established, she also outlined that businesses who are not members of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce should be included on the committee.

A “wide variety” of personnel and industries are represented on the taskforce, Cllr Ann Norton (IND) believed. She along with Cllr Mary Howard (FG) sit on the body on behalf of groups external to the Ennis MD while Cllr Murphy represents the Municipal District on the taskforce.

Clare’s youngest councillor, Mark Nestor (FF) admitted he had a “major issue” with the taskforce. He said the biggest issues facing the town were being decided by individuals that were not chosen by the public. “I might as well have sat at home last May instead of contesting the local elections. If it continues, every Ennis councillor should be on it”.

Both Cllr Norton and Cllr Howard criticised Colleran Molloy’s comments. Howard described the remarks of Colleran Molloy as “patronising”.

NEWS 9

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Kilrush has highest commercial vacancy rate in Munster CIAN O’BROIN

C

cianobroin@clareecho.ie

OMMERCIAL vacancy rates in Clare have risen to 14.9%, with Clare's vacancy rate now registering 1.4 pp higher above the national average of 13.5%.

The survey was conducted by GeoView Commerical Property and analyses commercial building stock across Ireland, focusing on the business impact of the pandemic on commercial properties across Clare and Ireland.

Kilrush and Shannon were noted as having the highest vacancy rates in Munster with 25.9% and 23.7%, respectively. Kilrush had the highest concentration of retail and wholesale businesses nationwide, totalling 34%. In addition, the West Clare town was identified as having the third highest vacancy rate in Ireland, drawn from a study of 80 different towns.

The total number of commercial addresses in Ireland stands at 211,194, with County Clare accounting for a total of 3.1% of those. Clare's vacancy rate now stands at 14.9%, a marginal change from 14.8% in June 2019.

In an analysis of the accommodation and food sector services, the analysis points to 22,896 units classified in the Accommodation and Food services sector across the country. Clare ranks as the second highest county with 1,026 (20.5%)

address points in June 2020. Only County Kerry tops that with 1,515 (24.1%) address points. Ranking after Clare are Donegal (19.1%), Leitrim (18.6%) and Mayo (17.7%). These five counties rely heavily on the tourism industry and the study states that, "decline in the number of visitors due to COVID-19 is likely to have had a bigger impact on these counties. This impact will become increasingly evident over the coming quarters."

In a deeper analysis of the county and the services that occupied commercial units provide, Ennis shows as having a commercial vacancy rate of 17.2%, comprising mainly of service (44.7%), retail and wholesale (30.2%), and health (10.2%). Shannon, with the second highest vacancy rate of 23.7%, is made up of service (48.6%), retail and wholesale (17.3%) and health (9.5%). Finally, Kilrush, registering the highest vacancy rate (25.9%) within the county boundaries, is comprised of service (41.5%), retail and wholesale (34%) and health (14.5%).

The study concluded with the following statement on the future of commercial vacancy and the impact of the current pandemic on local businesses, "it is too early to gauge the impact of Covid-19 on commercial property stock and vacancy rates. With a Europe-wide recession predicted and working from home to become more commonplace, it will likely be 2021 or 2022 before the full impact of Covid-19 on commercial property trends becomes apparent. "

Crowe and Cooke shortlisted for national radio awards TWO Clare broadcasters have been shortlisted for prestigious national radio awards, writes Páraic McMahon.

Sixmilebridge native Marie Crowe is in the running for Sports Broadcaster of the Year at the IMRO Awards. Presenter of RTÉ 2FM’s Game On, Marie is a regular columnist with The Sunday Independent since 2008.

She spent six years as the anchor broadcaster for Setanta Sport and three with UTV Ireland.

The former Lifford Ladies player was announced as a presenter of Game On in October of last year alongside Ruby Walsh and Donncha O’Callaghan.

Ennis based John Cooke is in the mix for News Reporter of the Year.

The Roscommon native joined RTÉ Radio One in August 2015 having previously spent more than a decade working in local radio including serving as Head of News & Current Affairs of Clare FM while

also fronting Morning Focus.

Frequently heard on Drivetime with Mary Wilson, Cooke is no stranger to success on the IMRO stage. He won numerous PPI Radio Awards as they were previously known,

and is also a two time New York Radio Awards Winner.

Clare FM’s virtual concert for essential workers has been recognised. It is nominated in the category for digital and social innovation.

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12 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

1,420 students get Leaving Cert results PÁRAIC MCMAHON

O

paraic@clareecho.ie

VER 1,400 Clare students received their Leaving Certificate results on Monday.

Results were obtained electronically as the Class of 2020 were denied the opportunity to collect their results in schools and undergo the traditional opening of the Leaving Cert envelopes. 752 female and 668 male students from Clare were among the 60,000 across the country to learn their fate.

Grades nationally were higher than any other year on record following the introduction of calculated grades. The process produced grades that are, on average, 4.4% higher than those of last year, according to aggregate data published by the Department of Education.

This prompted worry that students who have applied for course places using Leaving Certificate results obtained in 2019 or in previous years may be disadvantaged due to having lower results.

To abate such concern, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris (FG) announced an additional 500 third level places on Tuesday. A further 1,250 places were already announced the week previous.

Very strong results were recorded across Co Clare.

Three students at Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon scored a

Airmid Skincare win national award

perfect 625 while two students at St Patrick’s Comprehensive in Shannon also notched 625 points.

Scoil Mhuire principal, Seosaimhín Uí Dhomhnalláin applauded the achievements of students and described the class of 2020 as “a very able cohort of students who were always committed and hard working and who made a valuable contribution to school life and the school community”.

CAO offers are to be unveiled on Friday (tomorrow).

Clare Youth Service will operate an online chat service from 12pm to 9pm to provide students and parents with advice and answers to their questions.

l NAILED IT: Clare students did the county proud with their results

Applegreen fuel station Darragh,Kilrush Road, Ennis

OWNED by Kevin Lynch and Tina Robinson, Airmid Natural Handmade Skincare has been named Soap Business of The Year in Ireland in the 2020 Prestige Awards.

The Corporate Livewire Prestige Awards recognise small and medium-sized businesses that have proven to be the best in their market over the past 12 months.

The judging panel base their decisions on areas such as quality of the product, innovative practices, value, ethical or sustainable methods of working, as well as consistency in performance.

It is a huge achievement for Airmid who are currently expanding their workshop in Kilfenora with support from the LEADER project to give them the capability to meet the growing demand for their products.

They have also rebranded the Airmid range and updated their website, thanks to the Trading Online Voucher through Local Enterprise Clare.

They provide fast shipping in Ireland and internationally.

They also supply the corporate and hotel markets.

"Inspired by the rare and mystical landscape of the

Burren, Airmid brings a natural approach to skincare.

The Airmid story began in 2009 as a truly home-grown enterprise.

"Our son was born with eczema and, like many parents, [we] struggled to find a gentle and effective product that was also kind to the environment.

“Airmid have held on to one principle as we have grown the range: if it doesn’t come from nature, you won’t find it in any Airmid products.

It’s that simple," said Tina.

Visit them online at www. airmidsoap.com

lSCRUB UP: Airmid skincare have cleaned up at national awards

Ph : 085-1353950 Email : optimumautos@gmail.com

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RECRUITMENT 13

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

PART TIME STAFF REQUIRED Busy Service Station in the Ennis area looking for staff to fill part-time deli & till roles, up to 30hrs available for suitable candidates.

Must be flexible across weekdays/evenings and weekends.

Experience and HACCP training an advantage but not necessary.

Please send CV to shopadvert123@gmail.com

Dental Nurse/Receptionist (full-time) Dental Nurse/Receptionist (full-time) required for busy Dental Practice in Ennis Training will be provided

Please reply with CV to box number 2953 The Clare Echo 36C Abbey St, Ennis, Co. Clare, V95 FP44

14 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Keeping games behind closed doors fuelling social isolation

l FROM A DISTANCE: Supporters watch St Joseph’s Miltown take on Cooraclare at the weekend

PÁRAIC MCMAHON

A

paraic@clareecho.ie

S CLARE prepares for a bumper sporting weekend, increasing calls are being made for restrictions on games being held behind closed doors to be lifted.

Clare camogie's showpiece annual event is fixed for Saturday with the senior championship final pitting favourites Inagh/Kilnamona against Newmarket-on-Fergus while throughout the weekend eagerly awaited semi-finals in the Clare SHC, SFC, IHC and IFC are down for decision. The county Junior B football final between St Breckans and Shannon Gaels is scheduled to proceed on Friday evening.

Government guidelines on the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), dictate that supporters be they long-serving club members, players' family and friends cannot attend any of the ties.

It comes despite Professor Pete Lunn of the ESRI Behavioural Research Unit telling Monday's Department of Health press briefing that findings on confirmed cases of COVID-19 highlighted that meeting outdoors "makes a big difference" in combatting the virus.

"Getting outdoors and having social interactions outdoors reduces the risk more than the public think it does," he stated.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Chair of the Oireachtas COVID-19 committee, Michael McNamara (IND) outlined that the 'behind closed doors' stance was a further example of mixed-messaging from the Government and NPHET. "People should meet outdoors but not meet outdoors, people aren't going to meet in the stand in Cusack Park if there isn't a match on. The whole thing seems to me to be increasingly devoid of coherence".

Deputy McNamara added, "We've been told all along that outdoor meetings are safer than indoor ones, that's why the sudden decision at the end of August to ban all spectators at GAA games

and other types of games came as a surprise to me.

“Obviously I had expected that there would be greatly reduced capacities and the sort of thing like a full house in Croke Park was not something I was expecting but to not let a couple of hundred people go into Cusack Park to see teams play in a county final is a very big surprise".

With "a long Northern European winter" approaching, the Scariff native highlighted that a sense of social isolation is already creeping into rural communities.

"Matches were one of the places that people would always meet, why they didn't allow bars to serve outdoors is beyond me, that is what they started with in every European country.

“COVID-19 is obviously a risk but it's not the only risk to people's health and wellbeing. We are social beings, they seem to completely neglect the societal implications and the implications on people's sense of well being and their mental health is taking a hammering".

Manager of the Sixmilebridge senior hurlers, Tim Crowe told The

Clare Echo that members of their backroom team have been unable to attend knockout ties due to the 40 person limit. "The minute the game starts there is so much interaction you don't miss it," the 2019 Clare SHC winning manager said of the absence of the crowd.

When Éire Óg played their opening game of the Clare SHC, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) received one of the 50 tickets on behalf of the club. When they play their first semi-final since 2003, he will be forced to watch a live stream.

He described the continued rule as "absolutely ridiculous" and outlined that social distancing of "at least 200 people" can be safely maintained at Cusack Park "Between 50-70 people are allowed in Penneys at the same time yet crowds aren't allowed across the road in Cusack Park where there is a much bigger capacity, it is crazy stuff," Cllr Daly told The Clare Echo. "I've been going to matches for the last 50 years, I never missed a championship match that Éire Óg played and here we are in a county semi-final and I can't go, I've missed the Cratloe and Feakle

Photo by Gerard O’Neill

matches, it's my first time missing matches and there are hundreds of people like me".

Lahinch based Fr Enda Glynn admitted that not being able to travel to games has been "very difficult".

"I've been going to Cusack Park since 1955, I remember seeing Jimmy Smyth score five goals and five points against Westmeath when I was about six years of age.

I always feel that walking to Cusack Park from the Queens Hotel you're almost in communion with all the supporters and hurlers that have walked down there since the founding of the GAA. “There have been many magic moments in Cusack Park, it is a special place. I love going to the club matches, to miss that is a huge change, there would have been so many great matches there".

Fr Glynn praised Clare GAA for the innovative streaming product which he has viewed weekly. "I know they say the open air is the safest place to be but the virus is very rampant at the moment and it is increasing in Clare. Health of the people is a supreme virtue".

Ryanair threaten to close Shannon base for winter PÁRAIC MCMAHON

paraic@clareecho.ie

RYANAIR have threatened to close their base at Shannon Airport for the winter months and into early spring.

Staff were alerted to the potential setback on Tuesday in a memo issued by Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson. He outlined that if quarantine restrictions were not lifted at Shannon or Cork Airport before the end of September, the airline would have "no alternative but to close" their bases for the winter season.

Should such a move occur, all pilots and cabin crew will be placed on unpaid leave, this would affect 130 staff directly employed by the airline at the two airports, 35 pilots and

95 cabin crew.

Wilson stated that forward bookings at Shannon and Cork "suffered irreparable harm".

Wilson criticised the approach of the Irish Government in trying to assist the recovery of the aviation sector and called the Green List 'a failure'.

He detailed that Ryanair were hopeful of reopening their bases at both Shannon and Cork in March but stipulated that this would only happen "if these failed travel restrictions to other EU states has been lifted in time for traffic to recover".

Inbound Ryanair flights from London Stansted, Manchester and Liverpool will continue to land in Shannon but on a significantly reduced basis. This will remain "for as long as these defective quarantine restrictions remain in place".

The airline accounted for 80% of all traffic through Cork Airport in August and, it is understood, an even higher proportion of total traffic through Shannon, believed to be in excess of 90%. Ryanair flies to 13 destinations from Shannon and 23 from Cork. It is currently operating at 30% capacity presently compared with roughly 80% prior to COVID-19.

According to the airline, the Irish Government ignored the EU safe travel policy.

Mr Wilson also took aim at the actions of Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) who he claimed observed no quarantine period of 14 days after flying to Brussels. An updated Green List could avert the closures, the CEO highlighted.

Last week, it emerged that Aer Lingus' was contemplating moving its transatlantic routes from Shannon Airport to a UK counterpart.

In a statement to The Clare Echo, Deputy

Violet-Anne Wynne (SF) believed the potential setback represented "another hammer blow" for Shannon Airport.

She said the intentions of Ryanair were deeply concerning. "While this news was sudden it is not surprising. Ryanair have long outlined their distaste at the Government's dealing of foreign travel rules, particularly around the Green list.

"This is yet another hammer blow for Shannon Airport and it now puts the future of Shannon under even more heat. The recent cuts in the Airport have been hard hitting but this news will bring even more worry as to the future of the airport.

“Government inaction around the aviation sector has been well noted. Their decision to cut the TWSS and the PUP payment in recent weeks has also added to this damage," Wynne added.

NEWS 15

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Shannon company puts forward idea to accelerate return to work PĂ RAIC MCMAHON

A

paraic@clareecho.ie

SHANNON company has delivered a concept they maintain will allow companies to return to work safe-

ly.

CW Applied Technology based in the Shannon Industrial Estate has deployed its advanced product design and manufacturing facilities to scale up the manufacture of its portable UV-C Room Steriliser.

Having partnered with a US manufacturer to re-engineer the room steriliser, CW Applied Technology will build on its current work in supplying the medical devices, automotive, energy, communications and general industries.

Managing Director of the Shannon based company, John O’Connell explained that the portable steriliser arose following a request

from a surgeon in the Mater Hospital which led to a conversation with a partner company in the US. “We realised that by re-engineering established proven technology we could offer this low cost and portable alternative to the businesses anxious to determine how they will operate in a safe manner as restrictions are eased and the return to work can be actively planned for�.

An Electronic Engineering graduate from the University of Limerick with 27 years’ experience as an engineer, working in electronics manufacturing and design companies, John has worked in power supply design and manufacture, automotive electronics, telecoms and mechatronics.

On how the machine operates, O’Connell outlined that following a standard cleaning of a room, the steriliser is “merely plugged into a standard socket for a required period of time and when you come back the room has been sterilised�.

He detailed that it was suitable for working environments but also nursing homes, care homes, schools, retail outlets, doctors and dentists offices. “We know from the decades use of UV-C that it works in killing all bacteria and virus but units up to now have either been ineffective and possibly dangerous hand held units or large and prohibitively expensive units. “This effective, portable, and very much lower priced unit will be affordable to most businesses and we feel these types of units will become an essential part of getting back to some semblance of normal life in the weeks and months ahead. “Our units are made in our manufacturing facility in Shannon Industrial Estate,� John added. lTECH SAVVY: (right) Managing Director of CW Applied Technology John O’Connell with Michael McNamara TD

Photo by Joe Buckley

Hibs given green light to resume after COVID case PĂ RAIC MCMAHON paraic@clareecho.ie

A CLARE soccer club has announced that one of its members have tested positive for COVID-19.

On Friday evening, Shannon

Hibernians confirmed that an adult player who is a member of the club tested positive for COVID-19 last weekend.

All footballing activities in the club were suspended as a precautionary measure.

Personnel including players and management that had been in contact with the confirmed case have been tested and re-

turned negative results.

After receiving advice from the HSE, Shannon Hibs have been given the go-ahead to return to action on Saturday.

"We have been in regular contact with the player, he's having his good days (and his) bad days.

Everyone at Shannon Hibs wishes him a speedy recovery," a club statement read.

Contribute to Shannon Culture Night 2020 LOCAL community group Love Shannon are appealing to people to get involved and contribute to Shannon's CultureNight 2020.

A re-imagined programme of digital and physical events will continue to champion the Culture Night legacy as a night of shared cultural experiences, making culture free and accessible to all.

Culture Night 2020 will take place on September 18th.

Contributions can be live or in digital form. “We want to make this a great

event and to show everybody how great Shannon really is and how much talent we have not just in Shannon but the surrounding areas,� said a spokesperson for the Love Shannon group.

Check out @loveshannongroup on Instagram or https://www.facebook.com/loveshannongroup/ for more information or to get in touch with your ideas.

A programme of events taking place in Clare on Culture Night 2020 can be found at https://culturenight.ie/events/clare/

Full Takeaway Menu BBQ Boxes

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16 Arts & Entertainment

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Lahinch chef explores tastes in new series CIAN O’BROIN

A

cianobroin@clareecho.ie

LAHINCH based Canadian chef is seeking out food and drink producers to take part in a new cooking series, which will see him traverse the entire island throughout the month of October, searching for small food producers and highlight their distinctive tastes and recipes.

Randy Lewis, owner of Randaddy's restaurant in Lahinch will embark on a '20 County,

20 day' adventure in October - which will be filmed by a professional camera crew.

Randy's goal is to meet local food heroes within Ireland, allowing small local producers to benefit after the industry was hit hard during the Covid-19 pandemic this year.

Discovering new flavours and recipes is a passion that Randy has been putting into practice for over two decades.

Prior to opening his restaurant in Lahinch in 2011, Randy cooked his way around the world.

He immersed himself in the culture and culinary customs of each country he visited.

Back in 2016, Randy first hired a camera

lON MY WAY: Randy Lewis and Bronagh O’Rourke

crew to record his travelling adventures in Hong Kong where a special feature highlighted his time at JW Marriott Hotel as the head chef. Since then his films have racked up millions of views on his digital media platforms. Randy has also appeared on RTE's Nationwide, 'Today' show and Virgin Media's 'The Restaurant'.

On his hopes for the future of the project, Randy remarks, "The public feedback and interaction to my videos inspired me to come up with the '20 counties, 20 days' project.

“I made a promo video in County Clare a couple of weeks ago featuring the 'Burren

Farm Experience' in Boston, where I went foraging, then I visited the 'Burren glamping and pig farm' in Kilfenora and finished off by tasting whiskey at 'JJ Corry's' whiskey bonders in Cooraclare.

"The response has been amazing, with people all over Ireland contacting me interested in taking part. In particular I am looking for small and quirky food and drink producers to take part. I would also like to talk to producers who are using traditional methods as this is something I would like to explore more."

Contact info@randaddys.ie for more information.

New screenwriting programme launched for Mid-West A NEW screenwriting programme for budding film and TV writers in the Mid-West has been launched

by Innovate Limerick through Film in Limerick and the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board.

Writers Factory is a 22-week programme designed by legendary UK script-guru Phil Parker and for the first time the course is available in Ireland through a collaboration with Film in Limerick.

First designed in the early 2000s, Writers Factory has grown in to the gold-standard of screenwriting courses and has launched the careers of many successful screenwriters.

The programme will take place online on Monday nights at 7pm to 9.30pm starting on 19 October 2020.

It is suitable for both aspiring as well as emerging screenwriters with an interest in writing for film and TV. The introductory course will give participants a strong foundation in the craft and art of screenwriting and help them to develop a framework for screenwriting practice. Participants will complete a 10-minute short script as part of the course and have the opportunity to pitch their project to producers and directors and receive feedback.

The screenwriting course has been updated by Parker himself for Mid-West participants in conjunction with Film in Limerick and the course will be taught by Writers Factory teacher Eleanor Yule along with special guests.

Yule is an award-winning writer/ director, known for her feature film 'Blinded' and her television documentaries with Michael Palin and also teaches screenwriting at the Liverpool Screen School at Liverpool John Moores University.

Regional Film Manager Paul C. Ryan said: "It is fantastic to have both the multi-talented Eleanor Yule and Phil Parker himself involved in delivering this pro-

gramme for new writers in the Mid-West.

“For the first time ever in Ireland we are thrilled to be able to offer this extraordinary course for aspiring and emerging screenwriters and I'm looking forward to seeing the scripts that are developed during the programme".

The course is funded by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board as part of their ongoing partnership with Film in Limerick to developing new film and TV talent in the region. Having been a participant on a previous Writers Factory course in the UK, Regional Film Manager, Paul can vouch for the quality and success of this

programme.

"It is hands-down the best screenwriting course I have ever experienced and not only has it become a foundation for writers in the UK, it has also influenced and become adopted as the standard in many MA Screenwriting programmes there. This new version especially updated for an Irish audience is sure to have a big impact on the development of writers in the region," he said.

The programme is offered at a subsidised cost of €100 for the 22week course.

For more information or to enrol visit writersfactory.ie.

Arts & Entertainment

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Ye Vagabonds join forces with Begley

T

RIPLE RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards winners Ye Vagabonds join renowned concertina player Cormac Begley in a brand new collaboration from Music Network, performing in glór on Wednesday 23rd September.

Ye Vagabonds - brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn - are fast earning a ticket on the legend bus. With trademark close harmony singing, lean and tasty accompaniment and the rare ability to tell a good story in song, it’s little surprise that they became triple RTÉ Radio 1 Folk awardees last year.

On Music Network’s tour they’ll take to the road in a new collaboration with the superb West-Kerry concertina player Cormac Begley.

No stranger to musical acclaim himself, Cormac’s spectacular debut solo

album received nine 5-star reviews and was shortlisted for the Irish Times Album of the Year 2018.

Brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn grew up playing music together in Carlow. They have played sold out headline shows in Ireland, France, Switzerland and the UK. Cormac Begley is a solo bass, baritone, treble and piccolo concertina player from a West-Kerry musical family. He plays in a range of collaborations with Liam O Connor, Rushad Eggleston, Liam Ó Maonlaí and Lisa O’Neill, and is the founder of the Airt Residential School and the award-winning Tunes in the Church live concert series in Galway and Dublin.

Tickets: €18/€16 CONC./€9 UNDER 18s. Pre-book your tickets on www. glor.ie or on 065 6843103 from 10am – 2.30pm Monday to Saturday.

17

Visual Arts Exhibition

glór presents Lockdown through a young Lens:

County Clare Kids Art Exhibition 2020, Curated by Rachel Macmanus Runs Mon – Sat until Sat 3 Oct

________________________ glór Film Season Portrait of a Lady

Tues 22 Sep 8pm €7 ________________________

New Opening Hours 10am – 2.30pm Monday – Saturday

Events Culture Night at glór

Clare Arts Office and The Irish Traditional Music Archive present Duala: A film installation by Jack Talty and Maurice Gunning

Fri 18 Sep 5.30 & 7.30pm

Free of charge but must be pre-booked Music Network and glór presents

lFINE TUNE: Ye Vagabonds - brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn will take to the glór stage with West Kerry musician Cormac Begley

Tell me a drabble - publishers looking for micro stories CLARE publishing house Maester Press are calling for submissions of drabbles as part of a previous collaborative endeavour, with the previous deadline now being extended to September 21st, 2020, writes Cian O’Broin.

In 2012, one of the directors was running KnightWatch Press, a now defunct, small publisher. One particular book that he has kept the rights to is 'Little Stories for the Smallest Room.'

The book now has over 200 drabbles from over 100 different authors.

Maester Press are reformatting the book and using a different cover.

The invitation for new submissions for the second edition is a project pitched as just for fun, with no renumeration for the successful drabbles that make it other than having their work published alongside other highly esteemed authors.

The updated drabbles or short stories will replace older outdated ones from 2012.

The purpose of the drabble as outlined

by Maester Press is "brevity, testing the authors ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in a confined space."

A drabble is a short work of fiction 100 words in length. The short story must conform precisely to the word count, neither dipping below or soaring above.

In terms of specifics, the drabbles should be presented in a word or text document in Times New Roman with 1.15 line spacing and a single tab indent at the start of the paragraph.

A title and byline/author name must also be included in the document but is not included as part of the 100 word drabble. Inclusion in the second edition will be at the discretion of the editor.

The drabble should be sent as an attachment to the following email address: maesterpress@gmail.com with the subject line: Little Stories Submission. The final date for sending submissions will be September 21st, 2020.

Ye Vagabonds and Cormac Begley Wed 23 Sep 8pm €18/€16 Conc./€9 Under 18s The Studio Sessions at glór

Aisling Lyons & Laoise Kelly Thurs 24 Sep 8pm €16/€14 Conc.

Fishamble: The New Play Company presents

Mustard by Eva O’Connor Sat 26 Sep 8pm €16/€14 Conc.

glór Café is open 10am – 2.30pm daily

Serving great coffee, home baked treats and lunch specials  Pre-book your tickets on www.glor.ie or on 065 6843103  As per government guidelines, all events now have limited capacity and will take place with cabaret style seating  A face covering must be worn in the building and during performances

 Please see www.glor.ie for further information on making your visit safe

18 FEATURES

An effort counts

RONAN SCULLY

Thought for the week

M

ANY people believe that they don’t have what it takes to make a difference to the world they

live in.

The truth is, every one of us is put in this world to contribute and make a difference in our own unique way. It just needs to be something you do with the intention of ‘doing good’. As Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” You already have what it takes to make the world a better place. Making a difference to the world may seem like an enormous task, but it is in fact the collective effort of everyone to make small contributions with a lot of heart.

The size of the contribution is not what matters most. The key here is to have the heart to do it.

Little efforts count, and you can start making small contributions today.

There is a saying that goes as follows, “Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.”

So if you think that everything has been taken care of by somebody and your contribution is not going to make much of a difference, then you’re wrong. Can you imagine if everyone else starts to think the same way? In fact, it is our responsibility to seek ways to contribute, large and small.

Something to Offer

Remember that everybody has something to offer. Indeed, most of us have many things to offer and, in a lot of cases, special expertise is not required. We are all capable of giving that which people need most of all now in our country and world: LOVE. Love translates into time, service and the sharing of oneself. The whole meaning of our lives is bound up with love.

We find happiness in loving others and being loved in return.

All our experiences of love are experiences of God. And what really brings God’s love home to us and makes it real is the love of another human being. Then we feel it and know it. After all, it is love that heals us, encourages us, frees us, makes us grow and it is love that makes life meaningful.

You see all of us have the capacity, some more than others, to help the needy and treat them with love, compassion and respect and show them that there are people in our county and world willing to help them. As usual I will finish up with a story that might help to explain

what I am trying to say.

Thought for the week

As your thought for the week, see how you can make a difference for the good in people’s lives and seek out family, friends, charities or community organisations that might need your help and support. Also hold in tenderness and prayer the collective suffering of our world at this time. We grieve for those precious lives lost and vulnerable lives threatened. We ache for our loved ones, friends, neighbours and ourselves, facing an uncertain future.

May we all be faithful to the behavioral and medical advice provided and may God inspire us to be generous in our proactive care and solidarity and may I offer up this comforting blessing for you, the reader on your life’s journey that you may see the light in the darkness during these challenging times as we exit out of lockdown because of the Coronavirus!

May you feel the loving presence of those who hold you in their thoughts and prayers! May your spirit find what it needs to sustainyou on this journey of life!

May you discover your inner strength and face all difficulties with dignity and grace. May you be filled with comfort, love, strength, grace and a lasting sense of peace!

May the light of your soul guide you. May the light of your soul bless the work that you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.

May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul. May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.

May your work never weary you.

May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement. May you be present in what you do. May you never become lost in bland absences.

May the day never burden. May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises.

May evening find you gracious and fulfilled. May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected. May your soul calm, console and renew you. May there always be work for your hands to do.

May your purse always hold a coin or two; May the sun always shine on your windowpane; May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain; May the hand of a friend always be near you; May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer

you.

May the blessing of God’s soft rain be on you, Falling gently on your head, refreshing your soul.

With the sweetness of little flowers newly blooming.

May the strength of the winds of Heaven bless you, Carrying the rain to wash your spirit clean.

Sparkling after in the sunlight. May the blessing of God’s earth be on you, And as you walk the roads, May you always have a kind word for those you meet. May joy and peace surround you, contentment latch your door, and happiness be with you now and bless you evermore!

May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow. May the soft winds freshen your spirit. May the sunshine brighten your heart. May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you, and may God enfold you in the mantle of His love now and always.

I also pray for us all to have the power to be gentle, loving, kind and caring to one another and to ourselves; the strength to be forgiving and be forgiven; the patience to be understanding and compassionate and merciful; and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding to what we believe to be right and good and peaceful.

May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil and the power of love to overcome hatred. Pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe in a world emancipated from viruses, illnesses, violence, hatred and war, a new world where fear shall no longer lead men and women to commit injustice, nor selfishness and unkindness to make them bring suffering to others.

Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy to the task of making peace and a better life for people and children in need in our world and country, praying always for the inspiration and the power to fulfill the destiny for which we and all people were created and that we will always look after the needy in our county, our country and in our world especially so many vulnerable and needy people in our country and world who are in serious need at this time of viruses and illnesses.

Remember change starts within yourself and that you can’t change others you can only change yourself so be a change for goodness and genuineness in your own life and always remember for evil to exist it takes good people to remain quiet.

Much peace, love, protection and healing to everyone. Much prayers for them and for all of us and especially for our amazing front line workers, or anyone who helped out in any way during this Coronavirus Pandemic. I am going to thank God for the great gifts of their talents as they have helped and continue to help. Legends all.

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Failure to fix footpaths is ‘worrying’ PÁRAIC MCMAHON

F

paraic@clareecho.ie

AILURE to carry out works in Miltown Malbay despite commitments being issued to retired councillors has been described as ‘a worrying situation’.

Repairs of footpaths on Church St in Miltown Malbay have not been included in the 2020 schedule of Municipal District works. The detail came to light at a recent meeting of the West Clare Municipal District following an appeal for an update on plans to upgrade the “substandard” footpaths

by Cllr Shane Talty (FF).

Senior executive engineer, Enda MacNamara confirmed

that the conditions of the footpaths would be reviewed with a cost estimate to be prepared.

“If funding is sourced this year, works will be scheduled for 2020. Alternatively, the works will be put forward for inclusion in the 2021 programme of works,” he stated.

Recalling the Council term before his election, Cllr Talty outlined that he was informed improvements such as the provision of hats were “promised” to retired councillors Christy Curtin and Michael Hillery. “We need to give it a sense of urgency,” he added.

Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) who was a member of the previous Council added his support to the motion. He detailed that Christy Curtin “was constantly looking for these works to be done. It is worrying that it hasn’t taken place”.

l APPEAL: The footpath on Church St in Miltown Malbay is in need of repair

Better traffic flow needed for Corofin A SUBMISSION is being prepared within Clare County Council to design and implement improvements along Bridge St and Market St in Corofin, writes Páraic McMahon.

An examination of traffic management improvements for the North Clare village were initially requested by Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) at a sitting of the West Clare Municipal District. He wanted this to focus on "the pinch points of the bridge and in Market St" in order to improve traffic flow and pedestrian access to the village.

Senior engineer, Enda MacNamara confirmed that an initial review of "the constraints experienced" by pedestrians and motorists in Corofin had been completed. The

findings have been discussed with the Council's road design office with a submission to be prepared seeking funding to carry out a design and improvements along Bridge St and Market St. "We have a housing estate, Laghtagoona with 90 houses on the edge of the village but there is a difficulty for them in travelling to the village on foot because of the narrowness of Market St," Killeen said.

He noted that between 40 to 70 children from the village walk to school as part of the walking bus but tourists to the area were unaware of the system. The former school principal believed improvements were needed "for the growth of the village and development of the social side of the village".

FEATURES 19

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

GREEN CLARE

River of Life builds a better future CIAN O’BROIN

T

cianobroin@clareecho.ie

HE River of Life Project forms part of Kilrush Tidy Towns efforts to build a better future, looking at the water, ecology and biodiversity contained within to promote future river walks and bolster eco-tourism.

With rivers acting as a flushing mechanism to dilute the water supply, the initiative has gone from strength to strength in removing blockages that have impeded the flow of the river.

Enlisting support from bodies like Coillte and scoring successfully at a number of award ceremonies, the River of Life initiative focuses on a critical education programme for schools, targeting children in fourth, fifth and sixth class through awareness and practical exercises.

Community involvement is key to the initiative which looks to strengthen our local eco-system services through fresh air and water quality, in turn looking after local health and wellbeing.

Mother of five, Caroline Bolton, has brought her expertise to the initiative, with a fascination for aquatic ecology actualised through her studies of freshwater and marine biology at GMIT. Having previously worked with inland fisheries, Caroline was brought on board the project due to her vast knowledge on biodiversity, pollination, planning and planting.

Caroline notes pesticides as one of the most serious issues relating to aquatic ecology.

A 2009 Directive set out by the European Parliament set up a framework for the sustainable use of pesticides, looking at reducing the harmful effects on human health.

Caroline feels that the change is slow coming and that our drinking and

bathing waters have felt the brunt of this.

Pesticides are not host specific and are present to target a stage or life cycle of the pest.

Caroline informs that anything with a similar lifecycle will be affected also.

Drifting into water bodies is the main issue, damaging other plants and animals in the facility.

Kilrush Tidy Towns sought out Caroline to address biodiversity within the initiative. “There was a good bit of storm damage. Trees had fallen into the river and there were two significant blockages that were completely impeding the natural flow of the river. “We got onto Coillte and without a shadow of a doubt, they have been great supporters of us. Gerry Cosgrove was our local contact.

They removed the two different blockages and got the flow going in the river again. “That was the most significant thing that we needed to physically take care of.

The Waters of Communities supported us in terms of funding. So did the County Council with the local agenda 21. “Last year, we got a recommended award during the Tidy Towns adjudication, giving us some funding. “We also won an award with the council for community initiation in the area of environment.�

The educational element is an essential part to the River of Life project, tells Caroline.

The key focus is to build awareness for primary school children by bringing out the message into the community about the importance of the river, woodland area and the eco-system services available. “Starting with 4th class, an informal chat takes place which then leads to a field trip along the river walk,

incorporating terminology around what makes up a river. “Fifth and sixth class conduct a biological survey of the river. Firstly, by collecting wildlife, bugs and insects within the river. “The second part of the process is to examine and identify what is found. The final mission is to determine the overall health of the river.

Caroline tells that the children cherish the experience of being a field trip ecologist for a day. “Most importantly, they are learning and appreciating what is on their doorstep,� she tells.

On the importance of the project overall, Caroline concludes with, “this project gets the community involved and creates educa-

tion around what is going on. “People have only been doing what they knew how to do, and now the realisation is out that we are damaging our environment and human health as well. “The overarching goal is to bring awareness around what our community has and what we need to do to preserve and protect it so that everyone has it there for the future. “You talk about eco-system services which relates to our health as human beings.

If we look after our environment and what it can do for us, it will only provide for us in the long run. “In the West of Ireland, tourism is important to us.

We are promoting and protecting everything we have to offer.�

lFLOW: The River of Life Project cleared debris from the river in Kilrush

20

COLUMNISTS

Opinion

2014

Cian O’Broin recalls the story of Ireland’s oldest person, who lived to an amazing 113 years old

CIAN O’BROIN History

T

HIS year we look at the business ventures of Donald Trump on the west coast of Ireland following his purchase of a resort and golf links in Doonbeg. We also look at the damage caused by illegal dumping sites for asbestos found across the county, causing a great deal of health complications for locals.

Finally, we look at the life and times of the oldest person from the Republic of Ireland, as recorded in 2014. Let’s get started.

TRUMP COMES TO DOONBEG In 2014, Donald J. Trump acquired a five-star resort and golf club in Doonbeg on the West Coast, where he and his organisation would employ 400 people. The business deal cost Trump €15 million. At the time of purchasing, the billionaire had already accumulated 15 golf clubs worldwide, confessing that his hopes were for Doonbeg to rival all 15.

Doonbeg had taken considerable damage during Storm Darwin in January of the same year, with Ireland receiving ‘meteorologically’ the worst damage since the Big Wind of 1839. With over 400 acres spread across 2.5 miles of coast, the Lodge and Golf Links were put into receivership the previous month.

The Lodge Hotel contained 218 hotel suites, a spa and several restaurants and Trump announced that he would be renaming it as, ‘Trump International Golf Links, Ireland.’

ASBESTOS ISSUES IN WEST CLARE Asbestos is a carcinogenic natural mineral that causes mesothelioma. Made up of microscopic fibres, the breathing in of these fibres causes serious damage to your lungs. In 2014, nine unauthorised dump sites were found in West Clare.

The health and wellbeing of locals was being affected, with one Kilkee couple requiring medical screening for the next 20 years after dangerous brown asbestos was found near their home. An external independent investigation was launched by the Clare Council

into the depositing of asbestos cement materials throughout West Clare.

The development of serious health consequences caused by asbestos often takes years, with the end result sometimes being particularly pernicious, if not fatal. Local authorities were vindicated for failing to address the issue in West Clare seriously, having initially performed an asbestos clean up in July 2013, but failing to remove all of the harmful material.

FEAKLE WOMAN BECOMES OLDEST FROM REPUBLIC In 2014, a Feakle woman by the name of Kathleen Snavely became Ireland’s longest living person. Born in 1902 to Patrick and Ellen Hayes, her father was a publican and farmer.

She had four siblings. She emigrated in 1921. While in Syracuse in the United States, she met Roxie Rollins. The couple set up a successful retail outlet specialising in dairy products. Mr. Rollins died in 1968, aged 66.

Kathleen remarried at the age of 64 or 65, after meeting a business owner named Jesse Snavely from Pennsylvania.

After the death of her second husband, Kathleen returned to Syracuse, where she lived independently until the age of 104.

In January of 2014, she was living at a health care facility in Syracuse. Kathleen kept regular contact with relatives on home soil, all the way up to going into the health care facility. She is a relative of Clare Councillor Pat Hayes and fiddle player Martin Hayes.

The family home in Feakle was sold a long time ago. During her second marriage with Jesse, she travelled home to Ireland a number of times to show him where she was from.

A non-drinker and non-smoker, on her visits home Kathleen was remarked as a strikingly tall individual and was known for her charitable nature. In 1999, she donated €1 million to Syracuse University, in memory of her first husband.

She also pledged €500,000 to the University of Findlay in Ohio in memory of her second husband, Jesse. Kathleen passed away on July 6th 2015 at the age of 113.

That’s all for this week folks, tune in next week as look at the year 2015 in County Clare.

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

Get in contact Become part of the conversation. Submit your letters to the editor by emailing editor@clareecho.ie or via post addressed to 36c Abbey Street, Ennis, County Clare

We need to call out the online begrudgers

I

T MIGHT come as a surprise to many to learn that the word begrudgery is an entirely Hiberno-English one.

That is to say that its occurrence outside of this island is, more or less, non-existent. As a people, the Irish are champions at putting our peers down on account of their success, rather than any other metric. This supposedly ancient artform that we have perfected on this weather-beaten rock in the North Atlantic, has been sharpened even more with the on-set of the social media age.

Now, people don’t even have to own their begrudgery. They can merely hide behind the pseudonym ‘BannerBoi2546’ to mouth off about anyone and anything without fear of recrimination.

Nowhere is this more obvious than Twitter and Facebook. There are two extremes clogging up the airwaves on these media and frankly, I’m sick of both.

The first is the ‘Plandemic’ crowd of right wing, conspiracy theory agitators that laughably call themselves Patriots.

They spin webs of half-truths and fear and try capitalise on stories, mainly exaggerated, about societal ‘elites’ and how they’re playing us all. In truth, this is the populist front to mask their true motivations; racism, misogyny, homophobia, classism and all other forms of bigotry imaginable.

They are the “Ireland for the Irish” brigade who largely thrive on Facebook, often ignoring the fact that they themselves have ancestry that didn’t originate on this island.

What’s worse, we’ve seen plenty of decent people falling further into their web of deceit in recent times

EOIN NEYLON Politics

as they push lies centred around the pandemic, feeding on the uncertainty in society. They need to be called out.

The other side of the social media mob thrive mainly on Twitter. This is the “woke” brigade of mainly hard left agitators who thrive by finding great offence at almost every conceivable situation or scenario imaginable.

They like to piggyback on the global zeitgeist movement of the time. For instance, presently they try associate themselves with the Black Lives Matter movement. Let me make this clear, they are not the movement itself, more that they attempt to co-opt it to look for ways to widen their appeal.

This crowd would prefer us to erase our history rather than discuss and learn from it. In their eyes, not agreeing 100% with their ideology is the worst sin imaginable and had led to the rise of “cancel culture”; the process by which a perceived mistake or unpalatable opinion by a public figure should be met with their exile from the public consciousness after they have been summarily fired.

Again, I’m not talking about acts that people should legitimately be fired for such as sexual harassment, threatening behaviour or worse.

I talk to pointing out the fact that there are people from certain groups in society that commit

l “We scoff at Americans electing Trump when in truth, we’re well able to back populists here too” - Eoin Neylon

crimes; that people who work hard in tough jobs should get recompensed accordingly; or, that Ireland isn’t a backward banana republic.

This nonsense also needs to stop.

The most infuriating thing about these two, seemingly diametrically opposed, groups is the fact that they’re basically the same in how they operate. They wish to polarise society in order to sow division because it’s in that division that they thrive.

By putting cracks in society, they fester there, hopeful of that crack widening, allowing them to grow; the same way bacteria do in in chips in crockery. They follow the populist playbook that plays up the notion of a controlling, secretive elite that can’t be broken through.

This is more nonsense. The Taoiseach of the country is a good example as the son of a bus driver from a working-class area of Cork.

That hardly screams elitism.

However, those orchestrating these groups hypocritically do come from money. Socialist TD Paul Murphy is the privately educated son of a Mars executive who’s never worked outside of politics in his life.

On the other side you have characters like Ben Gilroy who, despite his public rhetoric, sides with stud farm owners and rich property owners, even recently reportedly assisting a landlord evict tenants from a flat complex in North Dublin.

Both are utter hypocrites in my opinion.

But why do these groups flourish in a country that prides itself in being well educated? We scoff at Americans electing Trump when in truth, we’re well able to back populists here too.

The reason is populism and begrudgery often go hand in hand.

Yes we should call out bad behaviour and policies in politics, but these should be grounded in reality and facts. The downside of all this, is the increasing toxic environment in which Irish politics operates.

That in itself will put off many good people form standing for election, which furthermore plays right into these people’s hands. Extremes are bad for society yet, in the online theatre of Irish politics, they are taking over. If it’s allowed to continue, this will further migrate from cyberspace to Dáil Éireann.

Complacency is the enemy and centrism need to realise this sooner rather than later before we too have our own Trump occupying Government Buildings.

Property

Beautiful homes all over the County

29 WATERSIDE, CAPPAHARD ENNIS, CO.CLARE â‚Ź165,000

12 CUSACK LAWN, LAHINCH ROAD, ENNIS, CO CLARE â‚Ź275,000

5 KILVOYDAN, COROFIN, ENNIS, CO. CLARE â‚Ź199,000

22

98 LIOS ARD, TULLA ROAD ENNIS, CO. CLARE â‚Ź190,000

29 Waterside is a quality 3 bedroomed semi detached home situated in the Waterside development on the Tulla Road in Ennis.

Accommodation on the ground floor comprises an entrance hall, large fully tiled WC, kitchen/dining area and a living room.

On the first floor there are 3 bedrooms (all with fitted wardrobes, and all with fully tiled en-suite bathrooms). The master bedroom is a larger than normal generous size with a an attractive fully tiled ensuite. There are solid wood floors throughout on the first floor.

Accommodation is bright and spacious throughout.

NO. 12 Cusack Lawn is an excellent five-bedroom detached family home located on the Lahinch road within easy access of Ennis town and all its amenities. Limerick, Shannon & Galway are all accessible via the N85 By-Pass less than 400 meters from the entrance to the development.

The property is superbly laid out and ideally located at the end of the cul de sac, which consists of 14 detached houses, this makes it an ideal location for any homeowner wishing to live within a short stroll to the town centre, whilst offering the ultimate in privacy.

THIS fine 3 bedroom detached property comes to the market in excellent condition.

Ideally located within walking distance of Corofin National School, shops, Church and all other local amenities. Accommodation is very spacious comprising 152 sq.m (1,635 sq.ft.) approx and includes an open plan kitchen, living and dining room, sitting room, utility room, store room, main bathroom downstairs with electric shower over bath and 3 bedrooms (all ensuite). Heating is by way of oil fired central heating and a solid fuel fireplace in the living room.

NUMBER 98 Lios Ard is a bright and spacious 3 bedroom semi-detached home located in this popular cul de sac development. It is within walking distance of all local amenities and just a five minute drive to both Ennis Town Centre a one minute drive to the M18 motorway.

Accommodation on the ground floor comprises an entrance hall, living room, an openplan kitchen/dining area, utility room and a WC. On the first floor there are two double bedrooms (one of which has an en-suite), a single bedroom and a bathroom.

Contact: Diarmuid McMahon O’Connell Square House, Ennis, Co Clare Tel: 065 686 7866 PSL 001212

Contact: Jason Pyne O’Connell Square House, Ennis, Co Clare Tel: 065 686 7866 PSL 001212

Contact: Jason Pyne O’Connell Square House, Ennis, Co Clare Tel: 065 686 7866 PSL 001212

Contact: Jason Pyne O’Connell Square House, Ennis, Co Clare Tel: 065 686 7866 PSL 001212

Contact us today on:

065 682 4343 | info@quinnproperty.com Unit 4 Quin Road Business Park, Ennis, Co. Clare

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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT . SALES . LETTINGS . VALUATIONS

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Quinn Property are delighted to present no.17 Cuirt an Fhile to the market, a 3-bedroom duplex in excellent condition throughout.

Cuirt an Fhile is a private development of just 19 units, built in 2007, comprising a mix of townhouses, apartments and duplexes nestled in the tranquil setting of Roslevan.

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WE ARE SELLING HOMES AT AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL ACHIEVING IN EXCESS OF MARKET VALUE THINKING OF SELLING?? SEND US YOUR LOCATION 0656729999

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Kilnow House, Clare Road, Ennis

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Seafield, Quilty

24 Carraig Dubh, Tobartaiscain 34 Dun Na Manach, Quin

96 Turnpike, Ennis

44 Castlerock, Tulla Road, Ennis

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27 Woodlands, Kilrush Road

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1900 – 2020

120 YEARS IN

CO. CLARE YOUR TRUSTED PROPERTY ADVISOR. THANK YOU FOR PUTTING YOUR TRUST IN US. 4 GENERATIONS AS YOUR LOCAL AGENT.

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O’Connell Square House, Ennis, Co. Clare Tel: 065 686 7866 | Email: ennis@sherryfitzmcmahon.ie PSRA No. 001212

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Sport Clare Echo THE

10-09-20

pg25

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East Clare Golf Club to host Olive Fahy Memorial

By Seamus Hayes THE annual Olive Fahy memorial cup will take place at East Clare Golf Club on Thursday, September 17.

EAST CLARE GOLF CLUB: The late Olive was a well known and respected member of East Clare Golf Club and is remembered with fondness by all those who knew her.

The challenge will consist of an open 18 hole stableford for both men and ladies and tee times can be booked by telephoning 061-921322.

In round 3 of the men’s 18 hole stroke player of the year competition, Eoin Magill (2) was the winner of the white tees with 70 from Ray McInerney (18) with 73. Ben Rittweger (4) won the gross with 78. In the competition off the yellow tees, Shane McGrath (8) was the winner with 39 points from Donal O’Grady (19) with 38 and Colm Kelly (26) with 37 Mary Brennan (24) won the ladies 18 hole stableford competition with 32 points while last week’s open day competition was won by Tery Coughlan (17) with 37 points. Open competitions take place each Thursday.

LAHINCH GOLF CLUB: Last week Lahinch ladies club hosted a very successful ‘Play in Pink Day’ in aid of Breast Cancer Research (BCR).

Despite necessary restrictions in place due to the implementation of Covid-19 guidelines, €6,000 was raised over the two days.

The winners were Valerie Hassett, Ber Murphy, Mary Powell and Deirdre Cahalan with 84 points and they won with a better back nine from Mary O’Meara, Olivia Lucas, Kate O’Meara and Evelyn Lyons.

In third spot with 83 points were Mary Malone, Susan Coakley, Marjorie Ahern and Fiona McCarthy followed by Jane Ryder, Mary Fehily, Audrey Fitzgerald and Lyn MacGoey, also with 83 points.

Fifth spot was filled by Maria Nolan, Emer Digan, Ita Slattery and Grace Delahunt also with 93 points while Yvonne Keohane, Maeve Hoey, Bridget Hoey and Suzanne Dean were next with 82 points The intermediate scratch cup was played for on the Castle course and was won by Wemer Kunz (12) with 74 gross

from Gabriel Considine (15) with 77 and John Wood (12), also with 77. Ciaran Vaughan (18) won the nett with 62 Ia men’s singles stroke play competition, Dermot Morris (4) was the winner with 62 nett from Bobby Fleming (10) with 64.

In the Holmpatrick cup, a fourball qualifier, the winners were Colm McInerney (10) and Dara O’Loghlin (11) with 47 points on the old course.

The ladies golf medal trophy was played for on the championship course where Fiona McCarthy (16) emerged with the title with 39 points to win by three from Rachel Maher (19). Rhona Carmody (11) was third with 34 points followed

by Evelyn Lyons (19) with 32 and Claire Duggan (29) with 32. Aine Donegan (+3) won the gross with 34 points.

In the silver division, Elizabeth Blake (20) won with 32 points from Aideen Walsh (scratch) with 32 while the bronze division was won by Aine O’Brien (30) with 30 points from Ann O’Friel (24) with a similar score ENNIS Last week’s Tuesday fourball at Ennis was won

by Flan Downes and Barry Lee with 38 points.

They had one to spare over Senan Ryan and Davy Considine with third place filled

by Pat Murphy and Ronnie Guinnane on 35 points.

Raymond Power and Tommy Stack were fourth with 35 points.

Kieran Browne had a hole in one at the second hole.

In the Friday open singles, Darragh Healy (30) was the winner with 44 points from Barry Neylon (19) with 42 points. Oisin Kennedy (16) from Wo o d s t o c k was third with 41 points followed by Conor Malone (11) with 39 points and

Darragh T. Murphy (7) with 39 points. Andrew Whelan (5) won the gross with 71.

The Cahercalla cup, sponsored by Gerard and Declan Daly, was played for at the weekend when the winner was Gerry O’Connor (22) with 41 points from Cyril Corry (11) with 40 points and Eddie Glenny (18) with 39 points. Matthew Whelan (5) won the gross with 33 points. The category winners were Cillian O’Connor (9) with 38 points, Conor Doyle (13) with 38 points and Cormac O’Neill (19) with 37 points.

DROMOLAND In the mid week 9 hole competition at Dromoland, Brian Maloney was the winner with 21 points from Robert Healy with 20 and Ronan Mullane with 20 Friday’s open singles was won by Gordan O’Neill with 40 points from Donal McGrath with 38 and Conor Ryan with 38. Kyle Neylon won the gross with 34 In last week’s men’s seniors competition Michael Finn won category A from Willie Fuller with Don Barrett in third spot.

In category B, Jimmy Neville

was the winner with Michael Leydon with Barry Walsh in third spot In the Blue tees challenge stroke play members competition, Jason O’Leary won with 68 from Declan Devitt on 69 and Eamonn O’Donnell on 72.

The white tees stableford member’s competition was won by Gearoid Cox from Colm Shiels and Niall Melody, all three scoring 40 points KILRUSH The captain’s (Kevin Clancy) prize was played for at Kilrush at the weekend when Oisin Morrissey (22) was the winner with 130 from Michael O’Reilly (16) with 134. They were followed by Rory Lillis (11) with 137, Brendan Carey (19) with 137 and Michael Miniter (16) with 139.

Tom Clancy (6) won the gross with 75 while the category winners were George Nolan (14) with 139, Tony McMahon (16) with 142 and Sean Moran (22) with 142. John Ryan (16) with 39 won the front 9 while the back 9 winner was Alan Hogan (27) with 34.5. The leading qualifier was Gerard Kelly (14) with 141.

In the distance members

section the winner was Nigel Ryan (18) with 135 from Eoin Quinn (15) with 139 and Gearoid Kelly (9) with 139.

Declan O’Donovan (8) won the committee prize with 144, Michael J. Hogan (18) won the past captain’s prize with 143.

Robert Kirwan was nearest the pin while Michael Shannon won the long drive.

In the ladies section the Keating Construction competition was won by Marion Brennan (22) with 34 points from Fiona Kinsella (12) with 32 points, Ann Marie Donnellan (17) with 32 points and Margaret Donnelly (19) with 30 points.. Martina Walsh (21) won category 1 with 30 points while Mary McCarthy (28) won category 2, also with 30 points.

SPANISH POINT GOLF CLUB: The 2020 ladies grand season finale at Spanish Point took place last week when Clair Cullinan emerged as the winner of the 18 hole singles stableford competition with 38 points.

She had one to spare over Valerie Shannon who was one ahead of Mary Burne. Geraldine Reddan was fourth with

33 points followed by Fiona O’Boyle, also with 22 points.

In the men’s 18 hole stableford competition, Alan Burke won with 40 points from Brian O’Loughlin with 39 and Jack Clarke with 39. The men’s 9 hole Friday singles was won

by Martin Shanahan with 18 points from Laurence Murray with 18 and Patrick Darcy with 14 points. The senior men’s open singles was won by Michael O’Connor with 39 points from Harry Crowe with 37 and Michael A. Hennessy with 36.

GORT GOLF CLUB: Justin McGrath (14) won Monday’s open singles at Gort with 44 points from Eoin O’Dea(21) with 42 and Michael Hennelly (22) with 39.

Jack Tuohy (1) won the gross with 34 points. In the weekend open singles Glen Cahill (14) was the winner with 44 points from Enda Connolly(8) with 40, and Liam Byrne (18) with 39. Eanna Melville (4) won the gross with 32. Last week’s ladies singles 18n hole stableford competition was Anne Kerins win category 1 with 37 points while Charlotte Kelly won category 2 with 36 points.

10-09-20

Clare Echo THE

pg 26

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Blues and Inamona bring out the best in each other - Enright EOIN BRENNAN

H

AVING commenced the last decade with a return to the winner’s enclosure, Brian Enright will be hoping to repeat the dose for Newmarket-on-Fergus in 2020 having resumed his role at the helm for his first final showdown with Inagh-Kilnamona.

If you’re a believer in omens, Brian Enright’s return as Newmarket-on-Fergus manager this year could well be hugely significant. After all, having become involved initially as a selector in 2009, his first term as manager yielded unprecedented back-toback senior camogie crowns in 2010 and ‘11.

And the pattern is eerily similar this time around as having come back on the backroom team under Cathal Kilmartin’s stewardship last year, Enright’s ascension back to the helm in 2020 couldn’t be any better timed for Newmarket to start the new decade on a winning note.

Not that Inagh-Kilnamona will be easily persuaded to hand over the McMahon Cup as they’ve had the Indian sign over the Blues in their last three final meetings. However, in such a unique year, Enright has had to adapt and re-evaluate his initial plans and so far it has worked supremely as Newmarket are back in a sixth successive final.

“Like all the teams in this year’s championship, we’ve had no league and no challenge matches of note earlier in the year at least so I’d say no team knew exactly where they were coming into the championship. So to be able to negotiate the group stages and then draw the county and Munster champions Scariff-Ogonnelloe in the semi-final, we simply had to perform.

“We didn’t know how they were playing and vice-versa I’d say as we hadn’t even a league match against them to suss them out so it just had to be all on the day and we had to bring our A game to that match because I felt that we didn’t in last year’s final. We did at times and we were very good at times and we clung onto those positives coming into the semi-final. And over the quarters, we probably just edged it, having been on top in the first and last quarters”.

A lot has been spoken about Newmarket’s unparalleled experience but it’s that pivotal spine that Enright credits with dragging the Blues into yet another final, their tenth in eleven seasons.

“They are a bit of a golden generation. The likes of the McMahon’s [Roisin and Laura], Aimee McInerney, Aine O’Brien, Carol O’Leary and Jenny Kelly, they are all there since at least 2009 or ‘10. But that happens in clubs, it’s the same in hurling that you get a crop of players that are extremely driven.

And it makes our job at training very easy because they are so determined that they will drive the training for you and you have to trust them then when they go out on the field, it’s as simple as that. It’s great for the younger girls to have those girls beside them on the field pushing them on, particularly in training. And you can see it in the younger girls, their eyes are popping out of their heads sometimes because they’re being self-driven by the experienced girls around them.”

Is that insatiable desire accentuated by the inexorable realisation that this could potentially be their last chance at a county title?

“There’s an element of that alright when you

VS INAGH-KILNAMONA

NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS

SAT 12TH SEPTEMBER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP MCMAHON SENIOR CUP FINAL FR MCNAMARA PARK 4.00PM REFEREE: GER HOEY, KILLANENA

know that you haven’t too many more years left, you’ll always look for that extra per cent and that’s what some of the girls are doing to a large degree I’d say.

And while Enright hasn’t directly faced Inagh-Kilnamona in a final before, his players certainly don’t need any reminder about their opponent’s strengths and potency, especially when it comes to the marquee day of the Clare Camogie calendar. “Look, there has only been a puck of a ball between ourselves and Inagh-Kilnamona in those four finals so I’d expect that there will be nothing between us again this weekend as the teams know each other inside-out. That said, we haven’t played against each other since 2018 so there’s been a bit of a gap but I’m sure it will be as competitive as always when the teams line out on Saturday afternoon.

“They seem to bring the best out of each other so it should lead to a great game of camogie because when you have two familiar rivals like that that almost know each other’s line ups, once you hit the field, oftentimes tactics and gameplans go out the window. So it will be a battle and we’ll see who comes out on top.”

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Inagh/Kilnamona back with a vengeance EOIN BRENNAN

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AVING lost their three year senior camogie stranglehold at the semi-final stage in 2019, Inagh-Kilnamona are back with a vengeance this year as a renewed freshness and vigour has permeated throughout the squad once more according to manager Eugene Foudy.

It may pale in significance when compared to Newmarket’s four straight final losses but it’s all relative for Inagh-Kilnamona who have their own axe to grind after being dethroned at the penultimate stage of the championship last year.

Having taken an immense effort just to rise through the ranks and contest their first final in 2015, that extra-time reverse to the Blues wouldn’t derail Inagh-Kilnamona from finally making the breakthrough 12 months later against the same opponents, with two more subsequent McMahon Cups bolstered by back-to-back Munster Senior Final appearances.

Add in an accumulation of underage and Under 21A titles and all that mileage appeared to weigh heavily on Inagh-Kilnamo-

na in 2019 as two defeats in four matches saw them prematurely bow out of the senior championship. But having recharged theirbatteries and resharpened their appetite, Inagh-Kilnamona have returned a more focused and determined squad for 2020 according to manager Eugene Foudy who has been part of all their senior successes to date.

“It just didn’t happen for us last year. We had a couple of long years and I could bring in the atrocious weather and injuries too but there are no excuses, we just weren’t good enough on the night. Scariff-Ogonnelloe beat us fair and square on that day and with the way things have worked out this year with COVID and the lockdown, when the girls did finally get to come back training, they have really put their shoulders to the wheel.

“To be honest, we really didn’t mention last year as we can’t turn the clocks back and there’s no point living in the past. So we’ve only looked forward and as soon as the championship draw was made, we knew that we were in a tough group and had to put our full focus on just trying to be in the top two. We took it game by game. We overcame Truagh in the first round and that gave us confidence going into what was a really tough, physical battle with Scariff-Ogonnelloe. So to win that was a great boost as Scariff-Ogonnelloe had beaten us twice last year,

both in the senior semi-final and the Under 21A Final.

“And since then, they’ve really knuckled down, training has been going well. The girls are enjoying it and are looking forward to the final and hopefully, if the weather stays fine, we should have a really memorable two days of camogie here [in Fr. McNamara Park] this weekend as the field is in immaculate condition.”

It’s the perfect setting for the ultimate showdown between Inagh-Kilnamona and Newmarket-on-Fergus, their fifth final duel in six season in fact which has led to nothing but respect between them. “Newmarket play camogie the way it should be played. It’s 15-on-15 and they go hammer and tongs at it up and down the field. They’re physical, they’re experienced and have a great central spine throughout in the McMahon’s [Roisin and Laura], Lorraine Bible and Carol O’Leary so they’ll be relishing the chance to play us again in the final and trying to get one up on us.

“But we’re ready for that. Just to get to the final by a hair’s breath against Kilmaley in the semi-final was huge and it certainly gave me plenty of ammunition to hit the girls with since. Look, sometimes you go into a semi-final and whatever is said beforehand, there’s perhaps a small part of your brain that’s subconsciously telling you

that we should be winning this. And therefore when you’re hit with a thunderbolt by a team with more focus and determination, it catches you unawares and it’s difficult to change gears. But that won’t happen against Newmarket because we know exactly what’s coming this weekend. We have to give them the utmost respect but then play to our maximum because it will take only our best performance to come out on top”.

Clare Hehir and Eugene Foudy

Photo by John Mangan

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Inamona Kilnamna Team AMY SHANNON

ANDREA O’KEEFFE

AOIBHÍN RYAN

AOIFE KEANE

CAITLIN MCINERNEY

CAOIMHE LONGE

CATHY CULLINAN

CLAIRE COMMANE

CLARE HEHIR

DANIELLE GRIFFEN

ELLE LAYDEN

FIONA LAFFERTY

HANNAH SHANNON

HAZEL O’CONNOR

HELEN HEHIR

JANE FITZGERALD

LAOISE RYAN

MICHELLE MESCALL

MUIREANN DAFFY

ORLA VAUGHAN

REBBECA KEATING

ROSIN CLANCY

SINEAD POWER

SINEAD QUINN

TARA RYNNE

THERESA O’KEEFFE

TIERNA HEGARTY

CHLOE FOUDY

EUGENE FOUDY

JOE RYAN

FLAN BARRY

MARIE KENNELLY

SHAUNA CROWLEY

EMER COTTER

MICHAELA ROUGHAN

ORLAITH COTTER

SINEAD O’LOUGHLIN

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Newmarket-on-Fergus Team AISLINN KEOGH

AOIFE CRIMMINS

AOIFE RYAN

AOIFE GRIFFIN

BRID ENRIGHT

CAROL O’LEARY

TARA O’NEILL

CIARA MCCARTHY

JENNY KELLY

KATIE O’FLANAGAN

LAURA MCMAHON

LEISHA REGAN

LISA O’NEILL

LORRAINE BIBLE

ROISIN MCMAHON

SINEAD WHITE

AIMEE MCINERNEY

CAOIMHE LALLY

KACI TOOMEY

CLODAGH O’HALLORAN

HANNAH FITZGERALD

KATE BURKE

LEANNE BOYLE

NIAMH GLEESON

NIKI KAISER

ZOE MCINERNEY

ANNMARIE HAYES

AINE O’BRIEN

ALICE SHEEDY

BRIAN ENRIGHT

PÁRAIC MCMAHON

ALAN ‘DONIE’ HEHIR

JOE BRETT

MARTIN CONLON

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Hehir’s sole focus to get back to the top EOIN BRENNAN

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ELYING her mere 22 years, Inagh-Kilnamona captain Clare Hehir speaks and plays with a maturity befitting her vast club, third level and inter-county experience.

And with this being her side’s fifth county final in the last six years, utilising that sizeable bank of experience is crucial to plotting another triumph, the 2018 winning captain told The Clare Echo.

It should have been obvious but it wasn’t until she actually said it at the pre-final media event that it hit home. For Clare Hehir and indeed the large bulk of her Inagh-Kilnamona team-mates, every county senior final they’ve played in has been against Newmarket-on-Fergus.

That’s not something that the Blues can

also identify with though, as being their tenth final appearance in 11 years, they’ve had to contend with Kilmaley, Clooney-Quin, Inagh-Kilnamona and most recently Scariff-Ogonnelloe.

But while Inagh-Kilnamona have come out on top in the last three duels with their chief rivals from 2016-18, Hehir and Co. are acutely aware of a determined backlash on Saturday.

“Any county final I’ve been in, I’ve played against Newmarket so there are going to be no strangers on that pitch and you know exactly the size of the task ahead of you. So it’s going to be a 15-on-15 battle and I suppose whoever plays best on the day is going to win it, it’s as simple as that.

“Any team that has that amount of drive and motivation to keep coming back and contest final after final has to be respected.

It’s a brilliant attribute to have in your team, that never-say-die attitude but all we can do is prepare ourselves for that challenge and

hopefully bring our best performance to them on Saturday.”

Inagh-Kilnamona are not short of motivational tools either though after seeing their three-in-a-row dominance dethroned at the semi-final stage last year to a Scariff-Ogonnelloe side that would go on to claim county and historic Munster honours. “It was our own fault, we probably weren’t prepared and focused enough whereas Scariff-Ogonnelloe were well up for that game and they showed that in what was a difficult evening weatherwise. We certainly didn’t go out to lose that match but the hunger is definitely back now anyway. I don’t know where it went last year for a brief period but it’s great to have it back.

“It just goes to show that county finals don’t come around every year and that you can’t take these things for granted. I suppose it was a big shock to us last year but just to be able to knuckle down again and come back fighting this year again is great. And the girls are delighted to be back, everyone’s fighting

for their positions, the intensity has been upped and the numbers at training have been great. And maybe some of that is down to these unprecedented times but it’s a huge positive going into a final nonetheless.”

Another significant plus is their vast big game experience as this is Inagh-Kilnamona’s 12th senior decider since 2015 in league, championship and provincial fare, not to mention Under 21 and Minor.

“I’m 22 now and I’ve been involved in all the last six years and by building up experience, you do learn every day you go out and can use that experience in different match situations. Things aren’t always going to go right for you in a game so it’s about keeping a calm head and just trusting the girls beside you I think is the main thing. We’ve encountered some very tough games in the last few years so it’s about to bring that experience forward and hopefully that can stand to us this weekend”.

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Hungry Blues determined to cause an upset EOIN BRENNAN

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E W M A R K E T- o n - F e r g u s are remarkably contesting their tenth final in eleven seasons this weekend. But having lost the last four including three-in-a-row to Saturday’s opponents Inagh-Kilnamona, they will have to use all of their undoubted powers of resilience and endurance to get back to the top according to captain Aimee McInerney.

What’s immediately striking about Aimee McInerney is her infectious enthusiasm. So much so that one would be almost mistaken to assume that this was her first final when in reality it’s a 14th for the Newmarket-on-Fergus stalwart.

So what’s the secret? Well, it’s not something tangible or indeed can be bought or artificially manufactured either as McInerney puts it down to the club’s storied tradition along with the bond and character that has been cultivated within the club even before she first wore the senior jersey.

“Right now, there’s an experienced core bunch of girls that form the backbone of this team but that’s nothing new. Even when I started out in 2003 on the panel, I was looking up to the likes of Moira McMahon, Trish O’Grady and Marie O’Looney, they were that core then with a sprinkling of younger girls. And now we have a few younger girls breaking onto the panel and I just hope that this core group of experienced players can do what the 2003 group did for us. And I think that’s why this is the 15th final in 20 years, that’s why we’re still there and still have the belief when you have that maturity and youth blending so well each year.”

Most clubs would do anything to create such a dynamic and for McInerney, it has led to six senior titles (2003, ‘05, 2010, ‘11, ‘13, ‘15). But for all their previous successes, getting back to the summit would perhaps have been seen as their greatest achievement after a heartbreaking series of four successive final reverses. “Last year’s defeat was definitely the most difficult one to take. People said before the final ‘Ye could hardly lose fourin-a-row’. But you can and you could possibly lose far more in a

row as well but fingers crossed that doesn’t happen.

“It took a good while to just lick the wounds and put it behind us but we’re such a driven bunch backed by great character and history in the club, that we eventually came back more determined than ever. We just love it and I suppose without enjoying camogie, you’re not going to keep playing it in the first place so when we came back at the start of this year, we were really looking forward to training and playing with this group of girls first and foremost. And then it’s the competitive nature and trying to better yourself day-in and day-out that has thankfully led us to county final after county final.”

This decider takes on an even greater significance however when you take into account that it’s the fifth in six seasons against Inagh-Kilnamona, with Newmarket defiantly holding out after extra-time in 2015 before the Combo hit back with the next three McMahon Cup wins. “The head-to-heads are very much in Inagh-Kilnamo- Aimee McInerney of Newmarket-On-Fergus gets away from Mairead Scanlon na’s favour when it comes to our final meetings. Collectively they are a very solid, balanced team with some top class individual match-winners so we know that on Saturday, only a one hundred per cent work-rate will get us to the end-line whether that’s on the positive or negative.

“We won the initial final meeting after extra-time in 2015 but in the following three finals that we lost to Inagh-Kilnamona, I still think that we under-performed to a certain extent.

Again like last year against Scariff-Ogonnelloe, they brought different things out in each of the finals that we weren’t expecting, especially in 2018 when they started so strongly and it left us on the backfoot from the throw-in.

“We can’t worry about what Inagh-Kilnamona will bring so we’re focusing very much on ourselves. we have a very good, solid team this year, with a healthy mix of youth and maturity. “There’s great excitement in training, it’s very positive and a great environment to be part of so we’re just looking forward to it more than anything else.

There’s no monkey on the back either, Inagh-Kilnamona are deserving favourites, having won every game in the championship. So we just want to give a performance and hopefully that will be enough to win.”

Photo by Burren Eye Photography

Clare Echo

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Compiled by Eoin Brennan & Páraic McMahon

Éire Óg 1-18 Feakle 1-13 Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis

Éire Óg Frees For: 12 (8/4) Wides: 9 (7/2) Scores from Play: 0-11 Spread of Scorers: 5 Top Scorer: Danny Russell (1-11 6f 1’Pen 1’SC) Own Puck-Outs won: 11 from 17 (65%) Matt Shannon, Éire Óg manager: “We knew there was a big battle coming and that Feakle had been preparing hard for the past four weeks, we had a very poor first fifteen minutes but after that we seemed to settle down and tag on a few scores coming up to half-time.

We had a lot of basic fundamental mistakes in that first fifteen minutes, lads must have been a bit uptight, the ball was bouncing everywhere but where it should and a lot of their scores came from our mistakes. Into the second and third quarter, we seemed to settle and play to our potential but we’ve lots of room for improvement. We’re not in bad shape, maybe the four week gap didn’t suit them I don’t know.

We finished okay and we’re in decent nick. I’d say Sixmilebridge are licking their lips at the chance to play us after that first half. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, on a given day any team could take you out, it’s another game and is just a semi-final”.

Feakle Frees For: 11 (3/8) Wides: 3 (3/0) Scores from Play: 1-07 Spread of Scorers: 5 Top Scorer: Shane McGrath (0-08 6f) Own Puck-Outs won: 19 from 28 (68%)

Michael Guilfoyle, Feakle manager: “On the day we didn’t perform up to our expectations, just before the game we had to make a change which upset our plans about marking players we had in mind, we just don’t have the depth after that, we were missing three or four players and that was a big loss when it came to it. Despite giving away the penalty, we were only 1-05 0-04 down at half-time and we were against the wind but the final score tells you that they scored thirteen points in the second half. We had some plans that didn’t come off but we resorted to lumping it down a small bit but we were never going to do it. I wouldn’t be happy with the refereeing situation, some of our players came in for very rough treatment off the ball and I would not be happy with that at all. It is positive to make the quarter-finals for the last two years but we had pushed ourselves to make the next step but we didn’t do it. We have a small panel, we were missing key players and please God they will be back next year but I don’t know who will be there with them next year, we will just have to take that as it comes and go from there”.

Tubber 5-15 St Josephs Doora/Barefield 0-15 Venue: O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge Tubber Frees For: 9 (6/3) Wides: 8 (3/5) Scores from Play: 5-11 Spread of Scorers: 6 Top Scorer: Clive Earley (2-3) Own Puck-Outs won: 18 from 27 (67%) Patrick O’Connor, Tubber player: “It’s great to be back in the final. In fairness, there’s a group of lads there that went down from senior together and we’ve been doing everything in our power to get back up. We’ve haven’t got there yet as we’ve had a couple of dark days in finals that have haunted us and we’ll have to take learnings from them as we prepare for the final. But taking tonight for what it was, it was a super performance by the lads. Particularly in the forwards the hunger that was there was immense. You could just feel it building during the week. We went out to the same opponents at the quarter-final after extra-time last year so I didn’t feel there was much need for talk beforehand. Everyone was on their game and it fairly showed out there in fairness. Momentum is key, it’s so hard to get and so easy to lose but it started with the ‘Bridge and we just built on that today so hopefully we can just keep that going”.

St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield Frees For: 9 (3/6) Wides: 14 (9/5) Scores from Play: 0-10 Spread of Scorers: 7 Top Scorer: Davy Conroy (0-8) Own Puck-Outs won: 19 from 27 (70%) Seanie McMahon, St Josephs Doora/ Barefield manager: “We just gave away too many bad goals essentially. We seemed to be hurling okay, albeit we had a lot of wides but we were still very much in the game coming up to half-time. But you have no chance of winning games with some of the goals we conceded and it ended up being one of those days when they got a few goal chances and took them all and we can’t have any complaints about it to be totally honest. They were just killer blows at bad times and on another day, we would have defended them a bit better.

But look, I wouldn’t have any fault with the lads, as long as I’ve been there, they’ve given a great commitment. They’re great fellas but it just didn’t happen today and any mistake we made around the goal got punished. Goals win games as they say and the scoreboard tells you that this evening”.

Smith O’Briens 2-20 Corofin 1-19 Venue: O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge Smith O’Briens Frees For: 22 (10/9/1/2) Wides: 16 (9/4/0/3) Scores from Play: 1-08 Spread of Scorers: 6 Top Scorer: Tommy Reddan (1-13 1-11f, 1’65) Own Puck-Outs won: 21 from 36 (58%)

Tadhg Connellan and Shane McGrath battle for possession.

Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

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Sean Tobin, Smith O’Briens manager: “We knew it was going to be a tough game, we prepared for a tough game. We didn’t start well, the first fifteen minutes was our worst performance of the year but we had a couple of harsh words with the boys and said their heart and passion has to be in it and we needed to win the dirty ball. We began to win a bit more dirty ball as the first half ended. We were eight points down at half-time, my simple message to the boys was to chip away at the scoreboard one by one, sometimes chances happen for a goal and we got a great goal, Pat Aherne came on and stuck it to the net, you’re always looking for a response from players whether you bring them on or start them, we got that which was the most pleasing aspect. It was do or die today, we had to do everything, we went for tried and tested today and it worked for us in the end. Any team you play in a semi-final is going to be good.

I’m sure Scariff will have their homework done on us but that’s fine because we’ve plenty more up our sleeve and plenty players to play in different positions, that whole team could change the next day.

We’ve had great indoor games, whoever performs in them plays and that is what we’re going off ”..

Corofin Frees For: 16 (4/7/2/3) Wides: 16 (8/1/2/5) Scores from Play: 1-14 Spread of Scorers: 8 Top Scorer: Diarmuid Cahill (0-08 3f) Own Puck-Outs won: 29 from 38 (76%)

Patsy Fahey, Corofin manager: “This week we are talking about exam results and I’ll give you the referee’s result for that match and it was an F, a failure of fair play to my lads, all a manager and his team wants is fairness, it wasn’t there for our team today and it had a huge bearing on the result. It’s not good enough, the ref and the linesmen will go out next week, we won’t get that opportunity again thanks to them decisions but the County Board will be happy because the fixture schedule is back on track, they won’t have to wait for Corofin to hold them up. I’ve gone to many matches over the year, I’ll take it on the chin like any man but what was done to Corofin was out of line.

The big talking point was the Cian O’Dea non call of a free, he got a chop down on his hand after two or three steps, everyone including the lads in the commentary position heard the chop and thought it was a free out but he blows for a free in, then he gets sensitive and brings it in a few yards because we had a problem with the free being given against Cian O’Dea and it ends up in the net, that was a huge turning point in the game. The referee said to me afterwards he was very happy with his performance so what can you do. Smith O’Briens know my feelings towards them because I gave them a speech they won’t forget afterwards, it was an epic game, it was brilliant to watch but I don’t think we got fair play from the referee which leaves a real sour taste in my mouth. The GAA especially in Clare are not looking after the dual-club, Wexford done it right, they did hurling for six weeks and then the football clubs got their six weeks, that is the way to go. We’re not getting fair play in Corofin and days like today show me just because Corofin play a little bit of football that they are not getting fair play. There was something out of line with the referee’s performance”.

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Revenge or ratification awaits in Clare SHC semi-finals EOIN BRENNAN

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OTH Éire Óg and O’Callaghan’s Mills will be aiming to make it third time lucky against the last two champions Sixmilebridge and Ballyea who have dominated the Canon Hamilton Cup for the past five seasons writes Eoin Brennan who previews the penultimate stage clashes in this year’s County Senior Hurling Championship.

Semi-Finals Sixmilebridge v Éire Óg @ Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday 5pm A third championship meeting in the space of 12 months tees up what could potentially be the tie of the entire Canon Hamilton race if both play up to their potential.

It’s a big if though as while they’ve advanced to the last four stage without having to pull up any trees, defending champions Sixmilebridge will need to start shredding Cratloe Woods if they are to fend off a momentum-filled Éire Óg.

The question whether they have been conveniently targeting to peak for the latter stages or simply haven’t been able to reach their previous heights will only be answered on Saturday though.

Experience certainly isn’t an issue as the ‘Bridge were the team of the last decade courtesy of their biennial triumphs of four titles in the last seven years. However, with this being the furthest they have gone in a title defence season, it only adds to the pondering of whether they have the sufficient gears to move through.

In contrast for Éire Óg, this is a first semi-final for the entire squad and indeed the Townies first in 17 years which is much too long a gap for a club of their stature.

They have contested six of the last seven quarter-finals but on each occasion, failed to live up to even their own expectations so to get over that hoodoo at all last weekend could provide the catalyst to go all the way.

In terms of development, there’s no doubt that Éire Óg have learned and adapted the most throughout the last six weeks. That actually started with a relatively underwhelming opener against Sixmilebridge when despite being only a point in arrears when Alan Mulready was sent off for the champions, they failed to capitalise upon that glorious opportunity and would be outscored by 0-8 to 0-4 for the remaining 25 minutes.

Crucially however, they were without county senior David Reidy and spinal defender Aaron Fitzgerald for that match but their

Sixmilebridge v Eire Óg Photograph: Sport Action Photography subsequent return has undoubtedly bolstered their armoury for the perfect vengeful rematch.

Fitzgerald and Liam Corry were both part of the full-back line in 2019 but have been switched to the forty to impressive effect while Darren O’Brien’s roaming midfield role is also a major find. Add in the timely introduction of Gavin Cooney to an already bountiful attack that includes top scorer Danny Russell and Shane O’Donnell and in truth, with the momentum of big wins over Cratloe and Feakle under their belts, Éire Óg will never get a better chance at reaching a first county final in 20 years when ironically they were beaten by the ‘Bridge.

Therefore, we know what the Townies will bring in terms of ravenous hunger, intensity and firepower so what of the champions’ challenge? Well, the ruthless spark of 2019 certainly hasn’t materialised thus far as they’ve yet to register a goal whereas by this stage last year the Bridge had raided for nine in their first three games including a devastating trio to knock out Éire Óg at the quarter-final stage.

They will need to hit the net again with some regularity if they are to overcome a much more determined and buoyant Townie side this time around as despite setting themselves up as hard to beat, this will unquestionably be the biggest evaluation of their title

credentials.

That said, they have had 13 different scorers but that statistic rather masks the fact that Alex Morey has accounted for over half of their 58 point tally so far so they will need the inter-county experience of Jamie Shanahan, Cathal Malone and Shane Golden to step up in that regard to aid a hugely impressive Seadna Morey.

However, despite Éire Óg’s incremental zeal, Sixmilebridge do have freshness, a vast winning know-how and proven meticulous attention to detail on opponents strengths and weaknesses, that if allied to their best performance of the campaign so far, would be a difficult concoction to counteract.

However, anything less and the Townies will be more than happy to make it third time lucky against the champions.

Verdict: Sixmilebridge Ballyea v O’Callaghan’s Mills @ Cusack Park Ennis, Sunday 3pm Amazingly it’s a second semi-final in three years between Ballyea and the Mills and overall a third championship duel between the sides in the last four seasons.

So far, Ballyea have a perfect record with two wins but their passage to victory has been far from straight-forward on either occasion as then County and Munster champions Ballyea only prevailed

by the minimum in their Round 3 clash in 2017 before it required yet another outstanding Tony Kelly masterclass to finally hold off the Mills at the penultimate stage 12 months later on their way to a second ever Canon Hamilton crown.

And it was needed as the Mills came determined to take full advantage of their first senior semi-final in 21 years, with Gary Cooney’s eighth minute goal settling the underdogs into their stride. However, they certainly weren’t the first or last team to find curbing Tony Kelly’s influence extremely arduous as four different markers made little impact into the 2013 Hurler and Young Hurler of the Year’s scintillating form.

In all, Kelly fired 1-9 by the 40th minute to take his championship total to 3-30 in just four outings, with his trademark goal approaching the break effectively turning the tide in his side’s favour.

And yet, for 50 minutes of that last four tie, there was only a puck of the ball between them albeit that the Mills looked increasingly war-weary and slumped to seven costly second half wides on a day when they needed practically every shot to split the posts.

Two years on and nothing much has changed, either in personnel or approach. Ballyea are gunning for their third title in five years in an eerie title swapping with Sixmilebridge every

two years whereas the Mills have again come in relatively under the radar, predominantly due to their brush with relegation in 2019 with Tulla.

While their opening round derby with newcomers Broadford saw them assume the favourite’s tag by dint of their greater senior experience, the notable scalps of Crusheen and Inagh-Kilnamona have made the championship sit up and take notice of the Mills once more as both were downed by nine points that included five goals in two matches.

As in 2018, Colin Crehan and Gary Cooney are the chief marksmen alongside additional freetaker Jacob Loughnane whereas it’s the twin threats of Kelly (1-20) and Niall Deasy (0-25) that still dominate Ballyea’s attacking landscape, accounting for two-thirds of their side’s scores to date.

Ballyea’s strong favourite’s tag has been lessened though without even pucking a ball since fending off neighbours Kilmaley three weeks ago as while playing for Clondegad, injuries to Gary Brennan (sprained ankle) and Morgan Garry (shoulder) who have combined for 2-7 in their three outings, are worrying for the 2016 and ‘18 champions.

Essentially, with the final looming only seven days later, whether either or both will be risked at any stage will more than likely be contingent on how Ballyea fare but if ruled out, it would give the Mills a huge lift.

Not that the East Clare side need any further boosts as the Fireballs have lived up to their name in application and enthusiasm so far. And for the elder statesmen of the side at least such as captain Bryan Donnellan, Conor Cooney and Clare’s 2013 All-Ireland winning captain Patrick Donnellan, they will relish the opportunity to not only redress the balance from 2018 but contest the club’s first county final in 27 years.

Achieving that feat will take another resilient display, with how they deal with the elusive Kelly pivotal to their aspirations especially since he is currently not content to remain at midfield for the entire hour as he did in 2018.

What will concern them most is that the county senior was not at his brilliant best last time out and therefore a backlash is inevitable especially when the prospect of silverware for his beloved Ballyea is within reach.

And it’s that potency and experience that makes Ballyea so difficult to back against as Kelly, Deasy, Brennan, Jack Browne and Paul Flanagan and a rejuvenated Pearse Lillis present a potentially championship-winning spine that on song should have enough balance to shade another expectedly marginal contest.

Verdict: Ballyea

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pg 34

THE GAME CENTRE HURLING

Results Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final: Éire Og 1-18 Feakle 1-13 Senior B hurling quarter-final: Clonlara 4-24 Cratloe 0-6 Senior b hurling semi-final: Newmarket-on-Fergus 3-26 Clarecastle 1-24 (AET) Intermediate hurling championship quarter-final: Smith O’Briens 2-20 Corofin 1-19 (AET) Intermediate hurling championship semi-final: Tubber 5-15 St Josephs Doora/Barefield 0-15 Junior A hurling championship semi-finals: Kilmaley 0-28 Crusheen 1-18 O’Callaghans Mills 3-12 Clooney-Quin 2-12;

Junior B hurling championship semi-final: Newmarket-on-Fergus 3-16 Tulla 1-17 Junior C hurling championship semi-finals: Broadford 4-21 Banner 0-8 Clonbony 1-15 Bodyke 1-9 U14 A hurling semi-finals: Sixmilebridge 5-18 Éire Óg 2-08 Inagh/Kilnamona 2-14 St Josephs Doora/Barefield 0-16 U14 B hurling semi-finals: Kilmaley 3-18 Broadford 3-03 Clarecastle 1-14 Ballyea 0-12 U14 C hurling semi-finals: Feakle/Killanena 1-10 Whitegate 1-06 Ennistymon 2-06 Scariff/Ogonnelloe 0-09 (AET)

FOOTBALL

Results Junior A football championship: Lissycasey 0-13 Clondegad 1-8 (AET) Minor football, Division 1.

St Josephs Doora/Barefield 3-7 Banner 0-12 St Breckan’s 0-12 Shannon Gaels/kilmihil Coolmeen/ Kildysart 0-6 Corofin 3-12 Kilrush 1-4 Minor football Div 2-3 Doonbeg 4-9 Naomh Eoin/OCurry’s/Kilkee 1-5 Éire Óg 1-7 Kilfenora/ Michael Cusack’s /Liscannor 0-3 St Josephs Miltown 9-16 Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-0 Under 14 A football quarter final Lisycasey 3-9 Cratloe 0-9

Banner ladies are one step away from another Clare ladies senior football title SEAMUS HAYES BANNER 5-10 KILMIHIL 0-5 VENUE: BANNER GAA GROUNDS, ENNIS

A

T their own grounds on Monday evening they dethroned the current title holders Kilmihil with the help of a hat trick of goals from Niamh O’Dea and a brace of majors from Grainne Nolan.

In 2019 Kilmihil caused an upset when they deprived the Banner of a ninth successive title and the Ennis side’s determination to avenge that result was evident from the throw in.

Helped by two Niamh O’Dea goals, the winners were 2-4 to 0-1 in front at the first water break.

Kilmihil had the better of matters in the second quarter when they scored 0-2 while holding the winners scoreless but they were unable to break down a strong Banner defence to get through to a goal which their challenge needed.

In the opening ten minutes of the second half the sides swapped points but then in the space of a minute Grainne Nolan pounced for two Banner goals, Niamh O’Dea creating the opening for both, and this killed off the defending champions’ challenge.

It was 4-6 to 0-4 at the three quarter stage before Niamh O’Dea’s third goal with ten minutes remaining killed off the tie as a contest.

To their credit Kilmihil, short a lot of last year’s championship winning panel, battled to the end but the all round experience of the Banner side proved too much on an evening when Niamh O’Dea top scored with 3-7 to her credit while Grainne Nolan finished with 2-2 with the remaining point coming from Sinead O’Keeffe.

In addition Claire Hehir, Laurie Ryan and Louise Henchy were prominent for the winners. Kilmihil had strong performances from Deirbhile Higgins, Ellie O’Gorman, Rosie Currane and Becky Mahon.

Banner Ladies: Emma O’Driscoll; Sinead O’Keeffe, Claire Hehir, Siobhan McMahon; Laoise Ryanb, Laura Ryan, Sinead Power; Louise Henchy, Louise Woods;

Niamh Keane, Graine Nolan, Ciara Corbett; Niamh O’Dea, Aoibhin Malone, Aoibheann Ryan; Subs: Orla Lynch for G. Nolan; Siobhan Ni Ceallaigh for C. Corbett; Karen Roche for L. Woods; NIamh Kavanagh for S. Power; Scorers; Niamh O’Dea; 3-7, 0-3 frees; Grainne Nolan 2-2, 0-1 free, Sinead O’Keeffe (0-1) Kilmihil: Michaela Glynn; Megan Downes Rigney, Deirbhile Higgins, Elaine O’Halloran; Rosie Currane, Zoe Ryan, Kate Coughlan; Ellie O’Gorman, Laura Egan; Tasha Murray, Becky Mahon, Emma O’Grady; Aoife McNamara, Sarah Browne, Caitriona Callinan; Subs: Shauna Egan for T. Murray; Tasha Murray for for E. O’Grady; Katie Mullen for S. Egan; Rachel Keating for Z. Ryan; A. Browne for C. Callinan Scorers; Becky Mahon (0-4, 3 frees; Rosie Currane (0-1) Referee; Barry Kelly (St Josephs Miltown) WEST CLARE GAELS 3-9 COORACLARE 1-10 VENUE: COORACLARE West Clare Gaels laid the foundations for this merited win in the opening half at the end of which

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they held a ten point lead, 2-6 to 0-4.

First half goals from Fidelma Marinan and Caoimhe Harvey sent the West Clare side on their way to this win.

The home side fought back strongly in the third quarter and cut the winner’s lead to two points helped by a goal from Megan Downes.

West Clare regained the initiative however and they went on to seal their place in the final Niamh O’Dea Banner Ladies helped by a goal from Photograph by Burren Eye Photography impressive centre back, Ruth Ferguson.

In addition to Ferguson the Cooraclare; Ann Marie Calliwinners had strong performances nan; Afric O’Neill, Laura Quinfrom Fidelma Marinan, Caoimhe livan, Niamh Conlon; Katie Lillis, and Shauna Harvey Ashling Morrissey, Sinead |Lillis; West Clare Gaels; Ciara Harvey; Roisin Looney, Shauna O’GorSophia O’Callaghan, Sara Mar- man; Megan Downes, Ciara Corry, rinan, Michelle Marrinan; Ciara Saskia Morrissey; Brianna Byrne, McQuaid, Ruth Ferguson, Aine Caoilfinn Morrissey, Nicola KeatMoloney; Grainne Harvey, Fidel- ing; ma Marrinan;Colette Keniry, CaoSubs: Zoe Downes for B. Byrne; imhe Harvey, Aoife Lynch; NIamh Heidi Morrissey for S. Lillis.

Lardner, Becky Madigan, Shauna Harvey Subs; Nicola Morrissey for A. Lynch.

pg 35

10-09-20

Clare Echo THE

instagram.com/ClareEcho twitter.com/ClareEcho facebook.com/clareecho clareecho.ie

Gleeson first Clare ref to take charge of FAI Junior Cup final CIAN O’BROIN cian@clareecho.ie

Ennis’ Pa Gleeson will become the first Clare referee to take charge of the FAI Junior Cup Final.

On Saturday, the FAI Junior Cup final sees Limerick’s Fairview Rangers take on Usher Celtic of Dublin. The fixture takes place at Eamon Deasy Park in Galway at 2pm and will be officiated by Pa Gleeson.

Fresh from taking charge of the Banner

Carpets & Flooring Clare Cup Final, Pa will be joined by assistant referees John Mulroe of Mayo and Ray Conlon of the Midlands.

Clare’s Noel Coughlan will act as FAI Referee Observer for the decider.

Chairperson of the Clare District Soccer League, Oliver Fitzpatrick wished Gleeson the very best ahead of the national final. “Pa is one of the best referees in the country and it’s a fitting reward for the hard work and dedication to the game he puts in to see him appointed to the showpiece event in Junior Soccer in the Country”.

Jacobs First turns on heat in Galway

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A FAMILY affair saw Jacobs First turn on the heat in Galway over the weekend while the much-anticipated Emerald Isle Irish Cambridgeshire Semi Finals drew plenty of interest in Limerick.

Third on his debut three weeks ago, Jacobs First owned by Jacob Ward of Quin absolutely routed his rivals in the S6b graded sixth contest at the Galway Track on Saturday night last as he triumphed by nine lengths over Muckinish Flyer in 19.05.

Away well enough as Tromora Skip and Crinkill Cruz broke well towards the inner Jacob First who is handled by the owners Grandad Joe really turned on the back turbo racing to the opening bend where he led by three lengths. Racing between the two bends the son of Ballymac Vic and Brookville Dash drew further clear with every stride to defeat his litter sister readily.

Race 2 was a newcomers event over 350 Yards and here the Noel Gavin owned Ballyea Scrutiny came in as a reserve in trap three and the son of Droopys Buick and Flandys Hawkeye made all the running to defeat Sports Academy by three and a quarter lengths in 19.20. Clear rounding the home bend the Tom Flannagan of Ennistymon trained dog stayed on well to win going away again at the line.

There were two 575 Yards contests down for decision on the card with the A2 graded seventh event the classier of the two and as the traps rose for this contest Dana Point and Gofast Moe were best away but up front it was the Mullins-Curtin Syndicate of Gort owned Dana Point that really showed the pace to the opening bend where she led Gofast Moe by two

lengths and with crowding the pair were clear down the back. Racing past halfway Dana Point gradually began to draw further clear and the daughter of Sparta Maestro and Blundel Spark eventual crossed the line eleven lengths clear of Gofast Moe in 31.32.

A career best performance from Sues Panda followed in the concluding A5 graded contest. Owned by Tubber’s Johnny Burke, she made all for her second career success to defeat Mollrose King by four and a half lengths in 28.95.

Away very smartly the daughter of Lenson Panda and Sues Music showed great pace to the opening bend and railing superbly she extended her advantage over Mollrose King and Merciful Ali racing towards the halfway mark. Out front though the winner was in control as she stayed on well all the way home.

The John Browne of Ballyea owned Rathmeehan Rollo(Droopys Nidge-Rathmeehan Cragg) made no mistake at the second time of asking in the A7 graded contest on Friday nights card as he proved three and three quarter lengths too good for Flyaway Home in 29.45.

Pinnacle Rio made it seven wins from seven in the A2 graded tenth contest. The son of Rio Quatro and Fawn Samantha who is owned by Michael Costello from North Clare never saw another rival in the process. Leaving the back straight, the chasing pair of Exchange Three and Brickhill Davy closed slightly but the way Pinnacle Rio rails is a joy to behold as he stayed on superbly to score by two and a quarter lengths over Fawn Samantha in 29.04.

Action in the Emerald Isle Irish Cambridgeshire Semi Finals was the focus in Limerick over the weekend. Pat Guilfoyle’s Skywalker Logan and Ballymac Kingdom won the second and first semi-final heats respectively.

36 CLASSIFIEDS

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PLANNING 37

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

PLANNING NOTICES CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL 36 TULLYVARRAGA CRESCENT, SHANNON, CO. CLARE. Take notice that Siobhan Malone intends to apply to Clare County Council for permission to retain the dwelling house, entrance and all ancillary siteworks at 36 Tullyvarraga Crescent, Shannon, Co. Clare.

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 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 PHAYERS ROAD, MEELICK, CO. CLARE Take notice that Suzanne O’Connor intends to apply to the Planning Authority for permission to construct a dwelling, garage and 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, New Road, Ennis, during its public opening hours (9am to 4pm). A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the planning authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee of

â‚Ź20.00, within the period of 5 weeks, beginning on the date of receipt by the planning authority of the application.

CLARE CO COUNCIL DRUMQUIN, BAREFIELD, CO CLARE Permission is sought by Louise & Sean Corcoran for retention permission as follows: (A) To retain as constructed 2 storey dwelling house, garage & carport (previous planning ref. 92/20 (B) To retain as constructed single storey granny flat (C) To retain as constructed 2no. utility outbuildings (D) To retain as constructed effluent treatment system & site boundaries etc.

(E) All associated ancillary site works & services ‘’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.

The planning authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions or may refuse to grant permission’’ CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL BALLYVOE, DOOLIN. I Aiden Fitzgerald B.Eng. MIEI of AF Engineering, Doolin, Co. Clare, 0879955689, intend to apply to Clare County Council on

behalf of Aiden & Natalie Fitzgerald for retention planning permission at the above address, the development consists of the retention of bay window & balcony to front of existing dwelling & the retention of the domestic garage ancillary to the dwelling. 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, â‚Ź20, 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 POULNADARREE, KILLIMER Take notice that M. Gilligan intends to apply to the Planning Authority for permission to erect extension to dwelling house to include first floor living 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, â‚Ź20, 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.

KILLIMER, KILRUSH, CO. CLARE Take notice that Michael Downes is applying to Clare County Council for retention permission for the construction of a private garage and conversion of attic space to habitable accommodation 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 CLARE COUNTY or observation in relation COUNCIL to the application may be CROSS BEG, made to the authority in COORACLARE, writing on payment of the KILRUSH, CO. CLARE prescribed fee within the Take notice that Tomas period of 5 weeks beginning & Nicola Madigan are on the date of receipt by the applying to Clare County authority of the application.

Council for planning permission to construct CLARE COUNTY a new dwelling house, COUNCIL access road, entrance, CAHEREA private garage and LISSYCASEY install a new wastewater CO. CLARE treatment system along Take notice that Enda with all associated works Colleran MSc (Env. at the above address. The Eng.), BSc, MIEI of planning application may Environmental Planning be inspected, or purchased Consultants (086 602 at a fee not exceeding the 0453), on behalf of Lymar reasonable cost of making Contracts, Ltd. intends a copy at the offices of to apply to the Planning Clare County Council Authority for planning during its public opening permission to fill existing hours and a submission poor quality agricultural or observation in relation land with stone, soil and to the application may be rubble in order to raise the made to the authority in level of the ground, along writing on payment of the with all ancillary site works prescribed fee within the all at the above address. period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the The planning application authority of the application. may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not CLARE COUNTY exceeding the reasonable COUNCIL cost of making a copy, at CLOONEYLISSANE, 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.

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CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL AILLROE MORE, KILDYSART, CO. CLARE Take notice that Shane McMahon and Sheila Coughlan has lodged significant further information in respect of the planning application P20/111. This information and 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 of Clare County Council, Planning Department, Ă ras Contae an ChlĂĄir, 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

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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 CO. COUNCIL BALLYHICKEY, QUIN. Take notice that Frank Browne intends to apply for permission for development, the development consists of the construction of a silage slab 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.

38 PUZZLEPAGE

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

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QUIZ 39

THURSDAY, SEP 10 2020

The Clare Echo Quiz

2

How many nature reserves are there in County Clare?

a. Two b. Four c. Six

3

Which of the following plants can not be seen side by side in the Burren region? a. Arctic b. Mediterranean c.

South American

4

The Cliffs of Moher are home to the largest colony of ____ in Ireland? a. Hummingbirds b. Puffins c. Finches

5 a. b. c.

What is the population density of County Clare?

8 person per Km 16 person per Km 32 person per Km

6

What percentage is Clare’s coastline of the overall coastline of Ireland? a.

10 percent 15 percent

what year was Shannon given 7InTown status? a. 1976 b. 1979 c. 1982

of the following is Shan8Which non’s Eircode? a. V11 b. V14 c. V18

In what year did the Shannon 9 College of Hotel Management open its doors? a. 1951 b. 1961 c. 1971

10

The Shannon College of Hotel Management is an official college of? a. b. way. c.

Photo by Shane Gilligan

Limerick Institute of Technology.

National University of Ireland GalUniversity of Limerick.

By Cian O’Broin

5 percent

Spot the Difference Can you spot the difference? Spot the 7 differences.

The answers will be revealed in next weeks edition.

l QUESTION 2 : How many nature reserves are there in County Clare?

ANSWERS

6. 5 percent 7. 1982 8. V14 9. 1951 10. National University of Ireland Galway

a. 125km b. 366km c. 525km

b. c.

1. 366km 2. Four 3. South American 4. Puffins 5. 32 person per Km

1

How many kilometres is County Clare’s coastline?

Last weeks Answers . Card different colour . Z logo missing . 4 missing on clare jersey . Hurley grip (left) different colour

. 0 on jersey filled in . GAA missing on jersey . holes missing on POD logo

Ennis Town v Bridge Utd U17 Photograph: Joe Buckley