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SEP 16 2021

Transatlantic flights on way to Shannon PÁRAIC MCMAHON

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lALL SMILES: Clare soccer supporters Lucy Toomey, Noah Toomey and Eoin Kelleher watch on as their side began their 2021 Kennedy Cup campaign with a comprehensive win over West Cork on Saturday in Shannon

Photo by Joe Buckley

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HANNON AIRPORT is in line for a major lift with United Airllines set to renew its route to Newark.

The Clare Echo understands that United Airlines will bring back transatlantic flights to Shannon Airport from April with its website indicating it is a planned future service.

This will re-establish a twenty two year history between United Airlines and Shannon Airport. No formal announcement has been made by either United Airlines or Shannon Group in

relation to the development however Shannon Airport sources were ecstatic with the expected return.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Clare TD Michael McNamara (IND) stated, “connectivity is key to Shannon and the Mid-West, it is why Shannon was founded in the first place. It is a big lift to see a major player coming back to the market is a major lift for Shannon Airport”.

In June of last year, United Airlines came under fire after it ended the Shannon to Newark route which operated as a daily service from April to October while it decided to maintain four weekly flights from Dublin Airport.

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Email: niall@clareecho.ie or sales@clareecho.ie This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Press Council’s Code of Practice. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Press Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1890 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie

lCHEERY DAY: An excited Teresa McAleer from Newmarket-on-Fergus arriving off the bus into Clarecastle Daycare Centre welcomed by Manager Deirdre Ryan and carer Nora Purcell as it re-opens following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions

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THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Lohan’s complaint upheld PÁRAIC MCMAHON

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COMPLAINT by Clare senior hurling manager, Brian Lohan against an article by The Irish Independent has been upheld by the Press Council of Ireland and the Press Ombudsman.

Lohan lodged a complaint following an article published in April by Vincent Hogan which led with the headline, ‘In Clare, we seem to be great at beating up ourselves’ - Inside the Centre of Banner row’ which detailed a training ground row between a member of the Clare backroom team and personnel associated with the County Board.

Anonymity was originally requested by the Clare manager in the drafting of the Press Ombudsman’s decision. On completion of the complaints process, including consideration of an appeal by the editor, the complainant consented to his name being associated with the decision.

On July 6th, the Press Ombudsman upheld a complaint that the Irish Independent breached Principle 1 (Truth and Accuracy) of the Code of Practice of the Press Council of Ireland. The article referenced the Shannon man on several occasions with the Ombudsman man noting “many of the references to the complainant were critical in tone”.

Solicitors for the two-time All-Ireland winner contacted The Irish Independent to

point out what they called several inaccuracies in the report which they said were not checked with their client prior to publication.

The complainant sought a published apology and an agreed clarification. An interview with the complainant was offered but solicitors representing the complainant responded by saying their client did not wish to have a “piece written about himself ”. The editor responded to this by offering to publish a letter from the complainant as an alternative, in which he could highlight his issues with the article. This offer was not accepted by the complainant and a formal complaint was made to the Office of the Press Ombudsman, no clear-cut example of a factual inaccuracy requiring correction was identified, the editor flagged.

The decision by the Press Ombudsman was appealed by the editor of the Irish Independent to the Press Council of Ireland on the grounds that there had been an error in the application of the Code of Practice by the Press Ombudsman.

At a meeting on Friday September 3rd, the Press Council rejected the appeal and decided that the Press Ombudsman had not erred in his application of the Code. The Council deemed that the article was a news article, and given the very specific context and content of the information that was published therein, it decided that the newspaper, in these particular circumstances, should have contacted the complainant prior to publication to give him an opportunity to comment.

Brian Lohan Photo by Gerard O’Neill

Lisdoonvarna matchmaker swapping the Spa for Spain

by PÁRAIC McMAHON L I S D O O N V A R N A’ S world-famous matchmaking festival is swapping the Spa for sunny Spain.

Europe’s biggest singles event will be held in the small coastal town of Cabo Roig in Alicante over eight days next month.

Earlier this summer, the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival was cancelled for the second year in a row.

Tens of thousands of visitors flock to North Clare in September and October each year for the six week festival which began over 160 years ago.

Organisers of the festival said the decision to cancel would lead to a €5m loss for the local economy.

Willie Daly who is the last of Ireland’s traditional matchmakers will be bringing his 150 year-old love ledger with him to arrange dates on Spanish soil. “Lisdoonvarna is heading to Spain for the first time. I’ve been invited over to Cabo Roig, along with a couple of my daughters, to bring some romance to the town.

I don’t know quite what to

expect, but it’ll be wonderful to bring Lisdoonvarna over there.

“I’d imagine the Spanish fellas, with their Latin blood, will be a bit more forward than the Irish lads.

Irish lads tend to be shy, and only get going once they’ve a rake of pints inside them,” he said.

A father of eight, the 79 year old said the release of the Hallmark film ‘As Luck Would Have It’ which was loosely based on the Lisdoonvarna festival has led to an increase in inquiries.

Easing of restrictions have led to some romance returning to North Clare, he added.

“There’s a lot more people looking for love out there because there wasn’t any opportunity for romance when the pandemic was at its worst. A lot of the bachelors around here are starting to get excited.

“But many of them are out of practice so I’ve been advising them to smarten themselves up, maybe iron their shirt and run an ‘auld comb through their hair before they come to the dances”.

lLOVE: Willie Daly

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Climate change heightens need for Loop Head 'emergency exit' roadworks

by PÁRAIC McMAHON CLIMATE change has heightened concerns for the condition of roads along the Loop Head Peninsula.

Restoration works on the L21420 from Moneen, Kilbaha to Kiltrellig “which is also an emergency exit for Loop Head Peninsula in the event of flooding and storms” plus the L2031 from Poll an Cheoil road to Derryard were sought by Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG). Neither road was included in this year’s schedule of municipal district works but would be considered for the 2022 scheduled, Alan Kenneally, senior executive engineer with the West Clare Municipal District stated in response.

“I have a concern about this road because our climate is changing every year, I’m not looking for any bad weather but one never knows what climate this winter will blow. Maybe we could look have a look at it in the Autumn to make it passable. I would like to see attention given to these before the advent of winter season. The second road was done a few years ago, it is due to be resurfaced as part of ongoing surface dressing,” Cllr Keating stated.

His request was supported by Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF). “That road between Kilbaha and Kiltrellig is the lifeline to the community in the event of bad storm damage to the other two, it needs to be kept passable at all times”.

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

'It's there in black and white' Carey PÁRAIC MCMAHON

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CLARE TD has said contents published in a front page story

by The Clare Echo are entirely accurate despite claims from a party colleague that aspects were

“untrue”.

Both The Clare Echo and The Clare Champion reported earlier this month that Clare County Council Chief Executive, Pat Dowling was informed in April 2018 by Deputy Joe Carey (FG) that pyrite was present in houses in the county.

Deputy Carey received no reply from the Chief Executive when he encouraged him to begin an application for inclusion on a pyrite remediation scheme which Limerick City and County Council were in the process of doing at the time. An application was submitted to the Department of Housing last month, three years on from the initial contact.

When contacted by The Clare Echo, a spokesperson for Clare County Council acknowledged that the matter was raised with them in April 2018 and that they contacted

the Department’s building standards section who “advised that it was a matter for the Pyrite Resolution Board to determine if the State Pyrite Remediation Scheme is to be extended to County Clare”.

Speaking at a meeting of the Council’s Social Development Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) referenced the article by The Clare Echo and said “it does a disservice to Clare County Council”.

The former Mayor of Ennis commented, “I believe it wasn’t entirely true”.

He felt the local authority now had an onus to clarify aspects from the report. “I believe some it was untrue,” Murphy reiterated. The Clarecastle native who was co-opted onto the local authority following Joe Carey’s election to the Dáil in 2007 said the Council needed to respond to the story. Cathaoirleach of the SPC, Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) said he was not familiar with the article referenced. He felt the Council acted when motions were submitted by county councillors relating to pyrite. Senior executive officer in the housing section of the Council, Siobhán McNulty confirmed to the meeting that a response had been issued to The Clare Echo before the article was published.

Deputy Joe Carey (FG) defended the con-

l PROOF: A screenshot of the email tents of the article and reiterated that the matter was brought to the attention of Mr Dowling three years ago. “It’s there in black and white, what’s not true about it,” he said.

€11,000 raised for Ronald McDonald House

by PÁRAIC McMAHON IN EXCESS of €11,000 has been raised for Ronald McDonald House following a tractor run in Newmarket-on-Fergus on Sunday.

Newmarket-on-Fergus was chock-a-block on Sunday afternoon as over a hundred tractors and vintage cars partook in a tractor run organised by the O’Leary and Brigdale families.

As featured in The Clare Echo last week, the fundraiser was a way of the community saying thanks for the care shown to the families while Imogen Brigdale now five months old spent seven full weeks in intensive care after a post-natal diagnosis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).

Speaking to The Clare Echo on behalf of the Newmarket-on-Fergus Agricultural Show Society and the O’Leary and Brigdale families, Jane O’Leary paid tribute to the public for the “tremendous generosity shown to our ‘Tractor Run’ in aid of Ronald Mc Donald House Charities. We were overwhelmed by the level of support given to the event from family, neighbours and friends from near and far. It was a fantastic exhibition of what can be achieved when a community comes together”.

“We are forever indebted for the contributions in the lead up to the event and on the day from all of the organising committee, the competitors, the spectators, the stewards, the Quinlivan and Tierney families, those that sponsored raffle prizes, the catering team and to anyone I have failed to mention. The money collected will make such a substantial contribution to the lives of families of sick and long term ill children”.

Over €11,000 to date has been collected for Ronald McDonald house as part of the fundraiser. “We will print the final figure when all donations are in as well as the list of raffle prize winners. As a parting note ‘this home from home will touch the lives of thousands of seriously ill children and their families for generations to come’. Each and every one of you will have contributed to making this possible and for that you should be very proud,” Jane added.

l CHOCK-A-BLOCK: Tractors descend on Ballygirreen and (inset) Jim O’Leary, Alan Brigdale, Jane O’Leary and Imogen Brigdale with Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr PJ Ryan

Photos by David Crimmins

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Scariff Bay goes back to FM radio PÁRAIC MCMAHON

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paraic@clareecho.ie

CARIFF Bay Community Radio has resumed FM transmissions.

Over the weekend, loyal listeners to the popular community radio station got a lift when the sound of Scariff Bay returned to the airwaves. The station had been broadcasting online-only since the beginning of June.

FM transmissions had to be paused as part of Scariff Bay’s bid for a ten year FM licence from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Its return to the wireless is timely as the station continues to broadcast live commentaries from games in the Clare SHC and IHC through the commentary team of Leo Doyle and Pat McNamara.

Up to 70 volunteers are involved with the radio station which broadcasts on 88.3FM and 92.7FM. Co-founder and Chairman of Scariff Bay Community Radio, Jim Collins said “we’re delighted to be back on FM”.

Initial feedback from the BAI to their

l AIRWAVES: Scariff Bay Community Radio Chair, Jim Collins arranges an interview with Scariff senior hurling manager, Mark McKenna

Photo by Ruth Griffin

application has been positive.

“They were also impressed with how the radio was embedded in the community, they said ‘Scariff Bay took the word community and ran with it’, right across all our programmes the whole community ethos is there”.

“We don’t pretend to be a commercial station or do what the commercial stations do because they’re professionals.

“We stick with what we know and what we’re good at it and what people listen to us for,” Jim added.

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‘Ill-timed and disrespectful’ A MURAL of the controversial Púca sculpture that has appeared in Ennistymon in the past week has been described as “ill-timed” and “disrespectful” by the sculptor of the statue, writes Páraic McMahon.

Discussion on the Púca was reignited when a mural painted by local artist Johnny O’Gorman appeared on the side of Unglert’s Bakery.

O’Gorman was asked by Stephan Unglert of Unglert’s Bakery to paint the mural.

Living in Ennistymon since 2015, Johnny said he had no interest in the Púca. “Thousands of tourists come into the town every year. People can think what they want, it is done now”.

In May, plans to erect the public statue were paused

by Clare County Council following a backlash locally. Comedian Dara Ó Briaín and actor Chris O’Dowd were among the high-profile supporters of the Púca which has an estimated cost of €30,000.

Clare County Council have confirmed that its planning department is aware of the mural “and is currently reviewing its planning status”.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Aidan Harte who created the design for the Púca confirmed that the mural was painted without his knowledge or permission.

“The púca controversy has, as you know, already inspired songs, fiction, memes and academic interest as well as commentary from everyone from Mick Wallace to Mary Kenny - but this mural is simply an opportunistic provocation, designed to get a rise out of people. With the long-delayed public consultation beginning this month, its appearance is particularly ill-timed”.

“I have written to Mr Unglert, the bakery’s owner, pointing out that the mural’s central figure is clearly a copy of my sculpture,” Aidan added.

€10,000 allocation for Carrigaholt will make village ‘smarter & safer’ €10,000 has been set aside to complete footpath works in Carrigaholt this year, writes Páraic McMahon.

Under the National Transport Authority’s, Active Travel 2021 grant scheme, funding to the tune of €10,000 to replace footpaths in Carrigaholt village was allocated to Clare County Council.

Works are scheduled to be completed this year.

This funding “will go an awful long way in making the village smarter and safer,” Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) believed.

“It is a place where you want to stop now which is great,” the Cathaoirleach of the West Clare Municipal District stated.

“Carrigaholt is unique in many ways, it has the castle, deep sea fishing, the

Coláiste, an award winning restaurant but we don’t have a state of the art road on West St which I have asked be put on the agenda.

“We do need to do work in Carrigaholt, it is jammed with cars and campervans, people want to get out of the country,” Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) commented.

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l WAITING: Philomena Coughlan Photo by Natasha Barton

PÁRAIC MCMAHON

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N ENNIS grandmother on Clare County Council’s housing list since 2005 has said the wait for accommodation is having “an awful impact on my mental health”.

Philomena Coughlan has been on the local authority’s waiting list for social housing for sixteen years and has opened up on her frustration with the lack of progress made with her case during this period.

She has been on disability allowance since 2004 following a family tragedy. A mother of four and grand-mother of twenty two, she used to reside in Connolly Villas, “The Council took it back when my Mam and Dad died,” Philomena said of the property.

As her children grew up, she noted a rising cost in rent and became unable to foot the bill. “I have four independents who are grown up and have houses, one has a house on the Lahinch Rd, one has a house on the Tulla Rd, my other daughter is a chef in Galway and I have a son in Wales, the eldest in my family is 38”.

Presently, she is sleeping on a couch at her daughter’s home. “She has stressed to the homeless team that she is afraid she will break her tenancy agreement and that I only have a couch to sleep on because she has five children,” Philomena outlined. “My daughter has a four bedroom house, she has a twelve year old, a nine year old, a five year old, a three year old and a two year old, she has them all split up individually in their bedrooms”.

Up until the spring of this year, Coughlan was living at Westbrook House which until December 2019 operated as a guesthouse. It was then acquired by Clare County Council and has been run by Mid-West Simon as a place of residence for homeless persons since. Ongoing concerns with anti-social behaviour at the location have been flagged regularly by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG).

For four and a half years, she lived at Westbrook House. “The welfare on the Kilrush Rd was paying €250 a week to keep me there, I was promised accommodation and still I did not get it,” Philomena recalled.

Incidents at Westbrook had an impact with Philomena admitting that she feared for her safety while living there. “Being in Westbrook House triggered a lot of my panic attacks, my doctor has had to keep me on my medication and I am still on it today”.

“I want long-term answers and a home of my own that I can feel comfortable in and that I can bring my family to”. The uncertainty is affecting her health, doctors have told Philomena. She is fearful that her file has been left in a drawer in the Council offices and is not confident it will be moving anytime soon. “It has had an awful impact on my mental health, when my grand-children say to me ‘nana can you bring us to your house’, I’ve got to say I don’t have a house to bring you to. I don’t know where I’m going from night to night, sometimes my daughter needs her own space”.

During her time on the waiting list, Philomena told The Clare Echo that many of her friends have been housed. “All my friends that have been on the housing list have moved on and got their places, I am not asking for anything, I am saying if you have a two bedroom can you please offer it to me, I’m not saying I want this or I want that, I would be happy with what I could get”.

However, she said her inability to drive means she can only live in Ennis, “I will not go out to Shannon because of my panic attacks and my anxiety, I need to be near my family and my surroundings”.

She acknowledged that COVID-19 has interrupted the housing staff in facilitating appointments but flagged that she has been on the list long before the virus arrived.

In a statement to The Clare Echo, Clare County Council detailed that GDPR prevent it from commenting on individual cases. A spokesperson for the local authority said all housing data is managed via a digital platform called iHouse. “Securing an allocation of a social housing tenancy is a process that takes time, generally years, and it has been the case that applicants have been on the social housing waiting list for more than 10 years. These same applicants in the main are in receipt of social housing support in private rented with a few exceptions”.

Of the 3,118 approved social applicants on the Council’s social housing list, 1,495 have the Ennis Municipal District as their first area of preference with 808 of these accommodate with social housing assistance. Approximately 78% of the applicants approved are one or two person households.

“There is a significant shortage of one and two bed accommodation in the county and this coupled with the demand leads to prolonged periods on the social housing list.

The Council through the HAP placefinder remains available to support approved social housing applicants in securing private rented accommodation,” the spokesperson added.

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10 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

New footpaths ‘We need to talk more will slow down openly about mental health’ speeding

D

by PÁRAIC McMAHON ISCUSSING mental health cannot be overestimated, Clare’s first citizen has stated.

Clare’s support for the Green Ribbon campaign was illustrated earlier this month when Áras Contae an Chláir was illuminated green on the first weekend of September to show Clare County Council’s countywide support.

See Change’s Green Ribbon campaign runs throughout the month of September and aims to get as many people as possible talking about mental health to help end stigma and discrimination. According to the organisation, the wearing of the Green Ribbon shows a commitment to influencing positive change.

Green ribbons are available across the county including all Clare libraries. “We have a large selection of mental health and wellbeing books available to our members both in branch and online through BorrowBox. Please do pop into your local Clare library branch and pick up a Green Ribbon and a book or ask for them to be added to your next book delivery service,” Clare County Librarian, Helen Walsh stated.

Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr PJ Ryan (IND) said the campaign

l GREEN RIBBON: Pictured are Helen Walsh, Clare County Librarian, and

Michael Collins, HSE Resource Officer for Suicide Prevention, Mid-West Community Healthcare. See Change Green Ribbons are available in all library branches in Clare for the month of September

reiterates the importance of discussing mental health. “Wearing our Green Ribbons this month provides an opportunity to talk more openly in society about mental health. This helps our communities around Ireland combat stigma and discrimination”.

Healthy Clare coordinator, Karen Fennessy detailed that mental health formed

a key priority in the Healthy Clare 20192021 strategic plan. “Under the Government’s Healthy Ireland programme, communities across County Clare have been able to access funding specific to promoting mental health and wellbeing in Clare.

“Mental health is a crucial part of our overall health, and it is important that we talk more openly about it,” she explained.

Bus services in North Clare are 'sporadic and unpredictable' “SPORADIC and unpredictable” bus services in North Clare represent a public transport crisis, a local activist has claimed, writes Páraic McMahon.

North Clare’s bus services have been slammed with calls made for Bus Éireann, the Department of Transport and Clare County Council to urgently address the matter.

Chair of North Clare’s Labour branch, Denis Vaughan believed “a public transport crisis” existed due to “sporadic and unpredictable” services in the area.

An example in Ennistymon whereby a woman visiting the town was due to depart for Ennis via Bus Éireann at 1:30pm but was left waiting for a bus until 4:15pm. “This is typical of the poor bus services which are very often late or even cancelled.”

Vaughan stated that many local residents do not have access to private cars and are totally dependent of the public bus services.

“Imagine the frustration, inconvenience and impact on people’s education, health service and employment. Bus timetables are

l ISSUES: Bus stop inaccurate and often have handwritten updates. Try explaining to bewildered tourists bus passengers who are advised by locals to ‘Hitch Hike’. An unpredictable bus services is “worse than useless”.

“In the age of Climate Change, car transport is discouraged and public transport is encouraged by the present government,

unfortunately in North Clare sustainable transport is provided by a very poor bus service,” he added.

A spokesperson for Bus Éireann told The Clare Echo that it operates Routes 333, 336 & 350 and has carried almost 50,000 passengers on these services so far this year. “There have been minimal issues with cancelled services on these routes in the last six weeks based on our records”.

“On occasion it is possible that a service may not operate due to unforeseen operational issues, when this does happen every effort is made to keep customers informed and minimise delays. County Clare is a major tourist destination and has seen a significant increase in “staycation” tourist traffic over the summer.

This increase in road traffic volumes impacts on the operating speed of our services and has impacted on the punctuality of some of our services. Of course, we are always working to improve this and the punctuality performance of all routes is kept under constant review and our aim is to continually improve performance”.

LESS speeding will occur in Ballybeg once footpaths are constructed, Council engineers and elected members have predicted, writes Páraic McMahon.

Funding granted this year will extend the footpath from the water tower as far as the Radharc na hInse housing development. Further funding is required to complete the remainder of the path next year, design work for which has been completed.

Part of the footpath already constructed represents phase one of the works with the next phase to complete the section and be a 100m link between the Kilrush Rd and the Kildysart Rd which is intended to be completed next year.

Commencement of footpath works was welcomed by Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF). “It is wonderful for the neighbourhood,” she said.

She questioned if the footpath would be by the “most dangerous” part at the bend by the quarry to which Conway confirmed that the footpath would be on the same side as the existing footpath.

Speeding persists in the locality, Cllr Colleran Molloy flagged. “There continues to be speeding between cars using the connector to get onto the motorway, there is a continued demand for more traffic calming”.

Confidence was expressed by Conway that speeding would reduce when works were finished, “when the footpaths are complete, visually it will complete a barrier which will slow traffic done”.

Gardaí have committed to maintain a presence in the area, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) told the September meeting of the Ennis Municipal District.

“I do believe that construction of footpaths will narrow passageway and speed will drop as a result”.

Absence from €1.2m scheme questioned

C

by PÁRAIC McMAHON LARE’S absence from a €1.2m scheme for recreation facilities and outdoor tourism in forest parks and Coillte sites has been flagged by one of the county’s

four TDs. Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) has called on the Department of Rural and Community Development to publish the criteria for a newly announced funding scheme to support recreation facilities and outdoor tourism in forest parks and other Coillte sites.

On Friday, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys (FG) announced €1.2 million in funding to support recreation facilities and outdoor tourism in forest parks and other Coillte sites.

The investment includes the upgrades of pathways, trails, access roads, boardwalks, carparks and toilet facilities at 33 Coillte sites nationwide.

Co Clare does not feature among the 16 different counties, Galway, Kerry and Limerick have sites that will

benefit under the scheme.

In a statement to The Clare Echo, Deputy McNamara outlined that Minister Humphreys, who should publish the awarding criteria given that Clare is the 7th most afforested county in Ireland.

"Given that Clare is one of the most afforested counties in Ireland, both in terms of the size of area under forestry and the proportion of the County that is afforested, it is deeply disappointing that it is not receiving funding under this scheme," the Scariff TD explained.

He added, "Community groups and voluntary organisations, along with Clare County Council and others, have developed and maintained many woodland walks and trails throughout the county in recent years.

“I would have thought that sites such as Cratloe Woods, Moylussa, Ard Aoibhinn, Knocknageeha in Killanena, Dromore, Ballybeg, Lees Road and Mount Callan, amongst others, between them offered scope for development.

“The exclusion of any County Clare site from this funding announcement, therefore, requires explanation”.

NEWS 11

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Edna O’Brien archive acquired

by National Library of Ireland PÁRAIC MCMAHON paraic@clareecho.ie

A

N ARCHIVE belonging to Tuamgraney’s Edna O’Brien has been acquired by the National Library of Ireland.

Literary and personal papers, notebooks, drafts and revisions plus correspondence with wellknown literary figures is included in the archive which covers the period from 2009 to 2021. The papers will be added to a collection of her work dating from 2000 2009 already held by the NLI. Born in East Clare in 1930,

Edna’s first book ‘The Country Girls’ was published in 1960. She has a lengthy body of work to her name, novels, plays, works of non fiction and a collection of short stories among them. Her most recent novel Girl was published in 2019, and she continues to write, currently working on a play about James Joyce.

Edna said she was “thrilled and honoured” to have the archive acquired. “It has always been my wish for my papers to reside in Ireland, the country of my birth – my home. My works are stories of place as much as people, and Ireland has long featured as a central character. It is only right that my most recent archive should find its lasting home there”.

Ferry company offers free trip for frontline staff

Funding for the acquisition was allocated by Arts Minister, Catherine Martin (GP) who said, “Edna O’Brien’s writing shines

a spotlight on women and their agency and autonomy. She has recounted women’s stories unflinchingly, doing so when

the stakes were high and it was unbecoming to speak about women’s lives with such frankness and honesty”.

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l NICE GESTURE: Doolin Ferry Co A FERRY company in Doolin is offering a free day trip to Inis Oirr to thank frontline Irish Health Care workers for their hard work during the pandemic, writes Elaine Tubridy.

Garrihys Doolin2Aran Ferries are running a daytrip sailing to Inis Oirr from Doolin on Saturday, September 25, specifically for Irish frontline Healthcare workers. “Our team wanted to recognise dedicated frontline Healthcare workers, who have worked tirelessly and professionally in the darkest periods through this terrible pandemic”, says Eugene Garrihy. “This is just a small tribute that we can make to say thank you, ’Míle Buíochas’ and let them know we will be forever grateful”.

The busy sailing season at Doolin pier is starting to wind down but there is always a chance of fine weather in September, especially for this special sailing. The trip to Inis Oirr on Saturday September 25 is open to anyone who is working in the frontline healthcare sector. “We tried to think of something we could do, and how we could do it fairly,” says Eugene.

“Our ship has a capacity to carry 194 passengers, so each person making a booking can reserve a maximum of 4 spaces for themselves and their family. Bookings will be taken online only, on a first come, first served basis and passengers will be required to produce their work ID on arrival at Doolin pier.”

Inis Oirr is an island paradise only a 15-minute sailing from Doolin and it has one of the most spectacular beaches in Ireland. “It has been a horrendous time for everyone, but none more so than for the nurses, doctors, chemists, nurses aids, hospital workers, nursing home staff, home help teams – everyone who faced into this nightmare, day in, day out.”, says Eugene. “An afternoon spent here walking, cycling, swimming, visiting the shipwreck, the lighthouse and the pubs and cafes will go a long way to recharge these guys after all that they have been through. “ For more information, visit www.doolin2aranferries.com or the @Doolin2Aran Facebook and Instagram pages.

WE BACK BELIEF Important Information: Switching is available for all Principal Private Dwelling House (PDH) mortgage holders in Ireland who have a mortgage with any other mortgage provider. We will require that your mortgage repayments are not in arrears and that your mortgage is not in negative equity, this is when the balance of your current mortgage is greater than the current market value of your property. Maximum loan to value of Owner Occupier Residential Properties 90% of purchase price or valuation whichever is lower.

If you have a tracker mortgage with another mortgage provider, switching your mortgage to AIB means you will lose your existing tracker rate. We recommend you seek independent financial advice before deciding to switch your mortgage.

Note: The above notice in respect of adjustments to repayment rates will not apply during any period when the loan is at a fixed rate. If you or your dependants intend to use the property as a principal place of residence, you must show evidence of mortgage protection insurance, unless you are exempt under the Consumer Credit Act 1995. Maximum loan to value of Owner Occupier Residential Properties - 90% of purchase price or valuation whichever is lower. Lending levels are subject to monthly repayment burden, typically not exceeding c. 35% of borrower’s disposable income and will vary according to individual circumstances. Loan requests considered on the basis of proof of income, financial status and demonstrated repayment capacity (including capacity to repay at higher interest rates). Mortgage loans require to be secured by a mortgage and charge on the subject property. Owner Occupier Property: A typical €100,000, 20 year mortgage for an Owner Occupier Residential Property with a variable interest rate of 3.30% and APRC (Annual Percentage Rate of Charge) 3.37%, will have 240 monthly repayments of €569.28.

The effect of a 1% increase in interest rates for such a mortgage will add €51.81 to the monthly repayments. Surcharge Interest Arrears attract surcharge interest at 6% per annum in addition to the interest rate that applies to the loan Lending criteria, terms and conditions will apply. Over 18s. Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is an authorised agent and servicer of AIB Mortgage Bank u.c. in relation to the origination and servicing of mortgage loans and mortgages.

Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. and AIB Mortgage Bank u.c. are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

WARNING: YOUR HOME IS AT RISK IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP PAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER LOAN SECURED ON IT. WARNING: THE PAYMENT RATES ON THIS HOUSING LOAN MAY BE ADJUSTED BY THE LENDER FROM TIME TO TIME. Warning: The cost of your monthly repayments may increase.

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12 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Life of Mick Ryan celebrated in new radio documentary PÁRAIC MCMAHON

M

paraic@clareecho.ie

ICHEÁL Ryan’s life is to be celebrated in a new documentary that broadcasts this week.

From Lahinch, Micheál known to many as Mick was in December posthumously named the Humanitarian of the Year by the Irish Red Cross. On March 10th, 2019, he was travelling from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, several minutes after takeoff the Boeing 737 Max Aircraft crashed killing all 157 persons on board.

He dedicated his life to humanitarian work overseas helping people in need in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Liberia, and the world’s largest refugee camp in Myanmar. Mick worked as the deputy chief engineer with the United Nations World Food Programme.

On Friday at 11am, Clare FM will broadcast ‘Unsung Hero Mick Ryan’ which looks back at the Clare man’s life. The documentary was produced by Clare FM’s Programme

Director, Padraic Flaherty with the support of Mick’s family. President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) pay tribute to Mick in the documentary.

Naoise Connolly Ryan, Mick’s wife described the documentary as “a wonderful tribute”. She stated, “Padraic seamlessly weaves Mick’s story through conversations with people who knew Mick, to the point that I could believe Padraic met him and knew him too. He captures his character and the love and respect he earned by those who knew him and worked with him down through the years.

“Mick Ryan was a man that made a real difference to people’s lives and deserves to be called one of life’s unsung heroes. This documentary will bring a smile to your face, it will bring a tear to your eye but above all it will make you proud of Mick Ryan, proud of your county and proud to be Irish,” Padraic outlined.

Earlier this year, Flaherty produced ‘Between Worlds, the life story of Mícheál Ó’ Súilleabháin’, which was recently nominated for an IMRO award and follows previous award-winning documentaries “The Rescue” & “Top of the World”.

lTRIBUTE:The late Mick Ryan and Clare FM Programme Director, Padraic Flaherty

Clare consumers respond to call to ‘look for local’

Sláinte An Chlair to mark World Gynaecologic Oncology day on Monday

by ELAINE TUBRIDY

by STUART HOLLY

RESEARCH released by the Local Enterprise Offices has shown that 66% of Irish consumers bought goods or services locally, to support their local economy, as a result of seeing or hearing the Look for Local campaign or similar shop local themed campaigns this summer.

The research, which was conducted as part of the Local Enterprise Office Clare’s “Look for Local” campaign, showed that the same figure, 66%, said they intended to continue to spend more on local goods and services in the coming months.

The results also showed that 75% of adults are now more inclined to shop for local businesses online since 91% believe there are now more local Irish businesses online than ever before.

In 2020 the Local Enterprise Offices nationally approved over 13,000 Trading Online Vouchers which enabled small businesses to set up an online trading presence.

This was up over 950% from the year previous (1,218) and helped small businesses to keep the virtual doors open, when the physical ones were shut.

Those surveyed also showed an understanding of the benefits of spending in your community

ON SEPTEMBER 20, Clare Cancer support Sláinte an Chláir are uniting with doctors and to raise awareness about gynaecological cancers. Over 1,300 women are diagnosed in Ireland annually with a gynaecological cancer (NCRI 2020 Annual Report), representing 12% of all female cancers. The key messages of this year’s campaign are Information is power, but communication is the solution!

A spokesperson for Sláinte An Chláir told The Clare Echo, “We at Clare cancer support would like women to become more informed on the signs and symptoms of the various gynaecological cancers which include cervix, ovarian, uterine vaginal and vulvar. Awareness is important because early diagnosis is key for good treatments and better outcomes. We understand that some women delay going to their doctors as they do not recognise their symptoms as serious. The gold mark advise is if symptoms persist for two weeks or longer go to your doctor and get it checked out. It is important not to panic if a woman is experiencing these symptoms but the only way to be sure is to get checked out by your doctor. We also know that women are sometimes shy or embarrassed to ask about gynae-related intimate health issues. We hope by sharing this information that it starts a conversation and improves knowledge around female

Shop local

or town with the research highlighting they “strongly agreed” that looking for local is beneficial to the economy and jobs and also have a positive environmental impact. The campaign which was rolled out locally by Local Enterprise Office Clare involved national and local advertising and promotion across the Summer encouraging consumers to look for local when purchasing products, services or experiences.

The campaign saw over 4,500 local businesses listed on the Look for Local hub on the Local Enter-

prise Office website that consumers could access and browse to see what was available in their area.

Padraic McElwee, Head of Enterprise, said; “To see that people intentionally spent with our local businesses this Summer is fantastic, but it also shows that consumers believed in the quality of product, service and experience they were getting on their own doorstep.”

Go to www.LocalEnterprise.ie/ LookForLocal and support Look for Local online using the hashtag #LookForLocal

reproductive health.”

The spokesperson stressed that if something physically “has changed” to get it checked out with their doctor. “Conversations need to be had so that all women know there are 5 types of Gynae cancers.

We at Sláinte an Chláir encourage all women to take up the invite for their cervical screening check, we encourage parents to support their children in getting the HPV vaccine which we know is effective in the prevention of most cervical cancers. We want women to know that the cervical smear does not check out a woman’s ovaries so not to be complacent if they experience bloating, frequency to urinate, constipation, new abdominal or back pain or bloating or feeling full quickly. And finally any unexplained vaginal bleeding warrants a GP visit.”

Purple is the colour of World GO day, Arás Contae an Chlár have agreed to light up on Sept 20 in support of the campaign.

Part of the Irish Network for Gynaecological Oncology, Sláinte an Chláir have many supports in place for women diagnosed, living with, or recovering from a gynaecological cancer to include counselling, cancer nurse support, lymphoedema management, physiotherapist led exercise classes, group meditation and coping skills, transport to hospital appointments and information.

Contact Clare cancer support, Sláinte an Chláir 087 6912396, FB Clare Cancer Support.

NEWS 13

THURSDAY, AUG 19 2021

Hotel business has been 'exceptionally poor' in 2021 STUART HOLLY

T

editor@clareecho.ie

HE hospitality sector in Clare appears on the road to recovery, to the uninformed observer. Hoteliers across the county have reported a surge in room bookings in recent months with a busy summer staycation market however to date in 2021, the Midwest has enjoyed a mere 22 per cent average hotel room occupancy.

With the summer over, the sector is entering an uncertain nine months as booking levels fall sharply in the absence of overseas visitors, meetings and events which would normally sustain the sector during the off-peak season.

The sector is still subject to a delay in the full lifting of restrictions on hospitality and indoor events until October 22 as well as significant uncertainty around international

travel, including travel advice from the US Government against travel to Ireland which is impacting on forward bookings. Dermot Kelly, Chair of the Shannon Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), has given stark warning for the future of the sector which employs 12,000 in County Clare alone and has urged the Government to give a firm commitment to continue business and employment supports until international tourism recovery begins in earnest in summer 2022.

“Government supports have been a vital lifeline for tourism businesses, including hotels and guesthouses in Clare – many of these businesses would not have survived without the emergency measures put in place throughout this crisis. We now have a long road to recovery ahead of us, and this will require further targeted assistance for tourism and hospitality and the almost 270,000 livelihoods supported by tourism before Covid - one in ten of all

lTOURISM: Dermot Kelly

Photo by John Mangan

Irish jobs, including 12,000 here in Clare,” explained the co-owner of Shannon Springs Hotel.

Government measures sought by the IHF include the extension of the current EWSS employment supports until June 2022 to help businesses retain and develop their teams over the coming months; the retention of the 9%

Limerick Wickham Way Market 2pm - 10pm 9am -10pm 0873490595 Facebook / Tik Tok

tourism VAT rate until after 2025 to allow Irish tourism to compete internationally; and the extension of the commercial rates waiver until June 2022 when the summer seasons begins. Substantial additional funding is also required for international marketing and the restoration of air connectivity with overseas markets to 2019 levels.

Under the most optimistic scenario for the remainder of 2021, average occupancy is projected to reach 32 per cent nationally for the year as whole – a significant collapse in activity compared with 2019, when room occupancy was 73 per cent and is only a modest increase on the all-time historic low of 30 per cent reached in 2020.

“The thousands of livelihoods supported by tourism businesses in Clare matter – not only to the people working within the industry but also to the wider economy, especially the many areas where tourism is the only show in town.

A failure to support the tourism and hospitality industry now will have ramifications for the future of Ireland’s tourism offering and for the economy," Mr Kelly added.

The research was carried out by IHF on September 1-6 and results are based on the response from 331 properties. These account for a combined stock of 34,300 guestrooms spread throughout the entire country.

14 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Landing spot needed in Kilkee

by PÁRAIC McMAHON

A DEDICATED air ambulance landing location in Kilkee is needed to compensate ambulance wait times in West Clare, a county councillor has said.

Development of a landing location in Kilkee was requested by Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) “to service the town, the Loop Head Peninsula, and the wider West Clare communities”.

Discussions are to commence with the Coast Guard and Community Ambulance “to consider the requirements and look at potential options,” acting senior executive officer in the West Clare MD, John O’Malley said in response to Murphy’s motion.

Four emergency calls over the summer period for Kilkee prompted the Chair of the West Clare MD to table the motion.

He flagged that in such instances either the grounds of St Senan’s Kilkee GAA club or Kilkee Golf Club have to be used, “it can damage the place where it lands,” he said.

“The State are there to provide a service, we shouldn’t be relying on the goodwill of community organisations to provide a suitable location. It’s not good enough that a well-funded service such as the HSE or Clare County Council don’t have a location where the choppers can come”.

Air ambulance is “critical” to coastal and isolated communities, Cllr Murphy stressed. The lived experience differs with the average response time of 18 minutes for ambulances in the county, he believed.

Once the ambulance is out on a call from Kilrush, the South-West Clare communities become reliant on services from Ennis and Ennistymon which lead to longer wait times, and in excess of an hour to reach UHL. Photo by Chris Copley

Tea dance at Oakwood SHANNON’S branch of Active Retirement Ireland are to return to ‘some bit of normality’ with members holding a tea dance.

Treacys Oakwood Hotel in Shannon will hold the tea dance for the Active Retirement group on Wednesday September 29th at 3pm.

Kay Murphy, the Shannon-based secretary of Active Retirement Ireland said, “We are getting back once more to a normal type of living. At last it’s safe for meeting up again, our activities are coming back on track at last”.

Members will be required to bring proof of vaccination and to wear a mask. Further news on upcoming events will be shared at the tea dance.

l LONDON CALLING: Nigel Bridge of Ennis with Rita McConsta at Shannon Airport boarding the first Heathrow flight Photo by Joe Buckley

Importance of Shannon link to Heathrow stressed as Aer Lingus service resumes PÁRAIC MCMAHON

S

paraic@clareecho.ie

HANNON Airport passengers have stressed the importance of Aer Lingus maintaining a route at the International Airport to Heathrow.

On Monday, the first Aer Lingus service to Heathrow in eighteen months from Shannon Airport took flight and operates for the next ten weeks due to upgrade works on the runway in Cork Airport. The potential continuation of the service beyond this period is likely to be influenced by passenger demand.

Arrival times from London into Shannon are 16:10 on Monday through Friday and Sunday, with arrival time on Saturdays scheduled for 15:45.

Limerick’s Seamus Riordan was travelling to London for business with his work in technology software, “I’m there for three days, it is the first time I’ve been on a flight since February 2020, I’m going to start now and will probably be going over every couple of weeks and getting back into things”.

Flying from Shannon is a massive asset to anyone in the West of Ireland needing to commute to London, he said. “We need lots of flights, I’d normally

travel on a Tuesday morning but I’m travelling Monday and staying over an extra night, getting those flights up and as many of them back is really good. Back in the heyday, this was the only flight flying from the west so the people of Galway and sometimes Cork were on it but it was always full at 07:30. Getting business back is really important”.

A father of two, Seamus flagged that time away from the family is the most difficult aspect associated with travel, an issue that would be exasperated if the flights were not maintained at Shannon. “I can’t even figure out how difficult it would be to be spending an extra two hours on a motorway travelling to Dublin Airport and the challenge associated with that. Navigating around Dublin Airport is so much more complex than Shannon Airport, the beauty of Shannon is there is little difference between the short-term and long-term car park, I can be here twenty minutes from my house and on a flight, I can leave an hour and twenty minutes before the flight and be comfortable, you’re talking five or six extra hours if you’ve to go to Dublin”.

From San Diego and living in Kinvara, Rita McConsta stressed the need for Aer Lingus to maintain connections from Shannon Airport. “It is a very important

service, if I’m going to London on business from Ireland, I want to go through Heathrow because I can make connecting flights to Europe, this is critical, we should not lose Aer Lingus’ service from Shannon to Heathrow”.

She added, “It makes my life much easier and the lives of my visitors when they come to visit me from America. We really have to keep this link open and we have to fight to keep this open, all those nice B&Bs, the golf courses, nice restaurants and the festivals like the Matchmaking Festival and Ballinasloe Horse Fair, we have to keep it open”.

Ten weeks is not a fair time to judge the popularity of the service, Rita believed. “This link is very important for the West of Ireland, Shannon to Heathrow needs to be open”.

Judy Spence from Bath was heading back to England after a “wonderful” holiday in Liscannor. The speed at which she moved through the Airport was something that would entice her to choose Shannon for future holidays, Judy revealed.

Mayo student, Caoimhe Ruane though disappointed with the outcome of the All-Ireland SFC final, was excited to be returning to St Mary’s University in Twickenham where she is in her final year of a primary education degree.

She told The Clare Echo of the importance to the West of being able to travel to London from Shannon. “I’m delighted the flights are back open in Shannon to get back, it is such a quick flight over and back, it is so handy. I get straight into Heathrow and then it’s only a twenty minute drive back home then, it’s mighty. It is definitely vital for the West of Ireland. Previous to this I was going up and down to Dublin but that was a nightmare, it knocks a good hour and a half off from my travelling and more so I’m delighted. It shortens the whole trip altogether”.

CEO of Shannon Group, Mary Considine noted the vital business link provided by the Shannon to Heathrow service. “The connectivity provided by Aer Lingus at Shannon has always been a valuable contributor to the regional economy. The hub status of Heathrow for businesses to connect with the global marketplace is crucial, and the inbound Heathrow service helps drive tourism into the region.

We are working closely with Aer Lingus and our other airline partners to build on the service and to resume long-haul services. With the Heathrow service now up and running, and our new Luton service due to begin operation at the end of October, we have services to all four of the largest London airports”.

NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

15

16 Arts & Entertainment

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Connection and regeneration at the heart of Mountshannon Arts PÁRAIC MCMAHON

A

paraic@clareecho.ie

nticipation is swirling around Mountshannon air as a special merger between the Trad Festival and the Arts Festival comes to fruition next weekend.

Regeneration is the theme of the two mini-festivals which take place as part of the Mountshannon Arts Festival in East Clare that sees the Aistear Park serve as centre stage hosting an open air market.

With one event already completed since June, the second is scheduled to run from September 24th to 26th which had been a staple part of the calendar for the Mountshannon Trad Festival running from 2010 to 2019 while this 2021 marks the 25th year of the Arts Festival.

Funding secured under the Live Outdoor Local Performance Scheme from Clare County Council by Cliodhna Donnellan who was co-ordinator of the Trad Festival has allowed the creation of the collaboration.

Cliodhna explained, “It became this fantastic opportunity of collaborating and working together through the circumstances of the restrictions we find ourselves in. In the current climate where we see an awful lot of festivals having to pull back, some not happening, some going online, it has opened up massive new opportunities and specifically in Mountshannon where you have an eclectic mix of people living here for the past thirty to fifty years.

The whole focus of what the two groups are about is very much the same, aims and ambitions to bring people and the community together, to showcase different art forms that we might not be familiar with,

what we’re doing this year is quite unique”.

Over the past eighteen months, she has presented The Morning Dew on Scariff Bay which give traditional musicians a platform during a difficult time for the arts.

“The climate has been so volatile for our sector over the past eighteen months so it’s impossible to know what next year will bring but it does open the opportunity to look beyond what we just see, there are other ways of working and ways of existing and supporting each other in a very small community so that all artists can benefit, this emerged organically through a very constrained situation,” the Mountshannon musician stated.

Dublin native Mel White is a new addition to the festival committee this year having previously been involved with equivalents in Temple Bar. “I want people to realise if the Arts don’t exist especially in small rural areas then it is very sad, we need this here, we

need the festival every year,” the visual artist commented. With a ten-person committee of mixed nationalities and different ages, she labelled the group behind the Arts Festival as “a melting pot”.

Of her aspirations for the upcoming events, Mel shared, “It is about bringing people together, we have the galleries, the pop-up shops, people spend money and a percentage of that goes back into the event.

I created a poster for the Festival this year, because it is the twenty fifth one I wanted it to sell, I used all creatures that regenerate, that will be available online and in the popup shops.

“It is something missing, Mountshannon Arts don’t have their own merchandise, it will be nice to bring that in and include it in the interpretative centre”.

For a full schedule of all the events, visit https://www.mountshannonarts.ie/

A GLÓRIOUS WAY TO SPEND A DAY Culture Night At Cois na hAbhna

Funded by Clare Co. Co. Arts Office

Friday September 17th 2021 8pm - 9.30pm

A night of music, poetry, traditional Irish step dancing and story telling with the Cois na hAbhna Seisiún group. Please note numbers will be limited & all current Covid-19 guidelines will be in place.

Bígí linn ag Cois na hAbhna!

Cois na hAbhna, Galway Road, Ennis, Co. Clare

www.coisnahabhna.ie eolas@coisnahabhna.ie 065 68 24276

A younster enjoys the Ennis Book Club live events that took place in glór over the weekend. Key Festival events are now available to view online. See ennisbookclubfestival.com for further information and booking Photo by Eamon Ward

COMHALTAS

Arts & Entertainment

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Exciting events at Poetry Town

Acting award for Cian Hughes

by PÁRAIC McMAHON ENNIS’ Cian Hughes has won the Best Male Performance award at the sixth Femme Filmmakers Festival for his performance as Patrick in the short film PADDY. Filmed in locations around Ennis and Shannon, this short film written by Sinéad Collopy follows Patrick played by newcomer, Cian Hughes, a first generation Irish teenager as he questions his identity in 1970’s London.

The casting call for the role of Patrick brought many young actors from the MidWest to the fore and after much deliberation, the lead role was cast.

Producer of the short film, Keith Bogue stated, “This is a wonderful performance from Cian Hughes in his first screen role.

“He has stepped in front of the camera and delivered an award winning interpretation of young Patrick in 1970’s London.

“We knew that Cian had something special and now everyone can see that”.

Directed by Roisín Kearney and produced by Bogue and Maeve McGrath, the short film brought young film makers from Clare and the

Midwest on set shadowing industry heads of department. PADDY has screened at festivals all over the world

since premiering in 2020 and will screen next at the 2021 Disappear Here Film Festival, in Donegal and then it's off to San Francisco for a screening.

Cian Hughes

lGIFTED: Ennistymon Poet Laureate Grace Wells

E

by ELAINE TUBRIDY NNISTYMON is hosting an exciting range of events as part of the Poetry Town initiative which will take place from 10th to 18th September, 2021.

The Poet Laureate for Ennistymon is Grace Wells, who has been invited to compose a poem about the town as part of her Laureate role. She unveiled her poem written for Ennistymon at the Courthouse Gallery at the weekend. The poem is available to read on the Poetry Town website and the Clare Arts Office website. Grace will hold a poetry writing workshop on Saturday.

Further activities will include a series of poetry events involving local poets and community groups such as Tidy Towns and local schools.

Ennistymon Tidy Towns project are creating an installation of driftwood and washed-up discarded waste from the ocean entitled ‘Poetry Recycled Recited’. The artist Aine O’Brien will twin this piece with poetry from Brian Merriman’s poem, ‘The Midnight Court.’

Jessie Lendennie from Salmon Publishing will host a nature writing workshop. Artist Marianne Slevin will write lines from a selection of poems in various locations on the footpaths with invisible ink so when you’re out and about in Ennistymon after a rain shower, look

down. Lines of poetry will appear, as if by magic.

Director of Poetry Ireland, Niamh O’Donnell, said: “The idea behind Poetry Town is to celebrate the many vibrant towns and communities across the island of Ireland, through poetry, collaboration and communal experiences.

“Over the past 18 months, many of us have become more aware of what’s around us – from local parks or nature walks, to landmarks and monuments, to the stories held within the collective memory of our communities. There is poetry waiting to be uncovered in our surroundings and our everyday lives.

“We are excited to invite individuals, families and communities to join their Poetry Towns, or the Poetry Towns in their vicinity, in a vibrant celebration of the pride in their locality, the value and importance of our heritage, and the strength and diversity in our towns and rural areas.”

Poetry Town is an initiative of Poetry Ireland in partnership with Local Authority Arts Offices. It is made possible with funding from the Arts Council of Ireland’s Open Call and is also supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

For further information, visit the Poetry Town website: www.poetrytown.ie or www.clarearts.ie

17

We hope to see you again on Sunday, 24 th April at Ennis Showgrounds

Meantime, please enjoy our series of

GARDENING

WEBINARS Peter Dowdall

Jo Newton

Brid Hedderman

Mark Diacono

The Healthy Ireland Fund supported by the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

18

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

in association with

Movie set brings Ennis to standstill STUART HOLLYWOOD

E

editor@clareecho.ie

NNIS town centre came to a standstill last Friday as a Stuart Townsend-led cast filmed for a Hallmark movie on Abbey Street.

It comes following previous filming which took place in the Old Ground Hotel earlier this month, which was turned into a Christmas wonderland for the picture.

Dublin actor Stuart Townsend, the former husband of Oscar-winning actress Charleze Theron, previously starred in films including About Adam, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen starring Sean Connery, and Chaos Theory alongside Ryan Reynolds.

It’s believed this is the first film set to visit Abbey Street Ennis in 53 years.

In 1968, Guns In The Heather, starring Glenn Corbett, Alfred Burke and Kurt Russell, filmed scenes on Abbey Street.

An interesting piece of local trivia accompanies this visit, as it was Enzo D’Auria’s first visit to County Clare as he was the chef for the movie set. He would go on to become a prominent businessman with one of his successful takeaway shops located in the place it all began, Abbey Street.

lACTION: The public are asked to wait for a pause in filming before continuing up Abbey Street on Friday and (left) Irish actor Stuart Townshend

Councillors on the fence over O’Connell Monument railings

by PÁRAIC McMAHON ENNIS councillors are on the fence at the possibility of the Daniel O’Connell Monument being surrounded by iron railings.

An appeal to begin a period of public consultation process “on the potential or otherwise of re-instating portion of wrought iron railings, in the style of the original railings, around the O Connell Monument” was issued by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG).

He believed this work could complement planned public realm upgrades to O’Connell St and Barrack St in Ennis town. Gauging the views of business personnel and residents would be worthwhile, Cllr Flynn felt.

O’Connell Monument is listed as a protected structure, executive planner, Candace Ingram flagged in a written response. Part 8 consent would be required if railings were to be erected at the location, she stated.

“It is important to consider any potential impact of installing railings on both the context and setting of the protected structure, as well as on future active uses of this public space.

The maintenance of the area within the railings would also need consideration, in particular the potential for littering to occur”.

Having a discussion on the possibility of railings was backed by Cllr Paul Murphy (FG). “Generally I’m against barriers, would this be seen as a barrier I don’t know.

Could protect the monument.

I’ve spoken before about using the Daniel O’Connell legacy more in Ennis”.

Similarly, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) voiced her opposition to railings but said a discussion would be worthwhile on what she labelled as “probably the most important location in the town”. “It is a very important site in the town, it is a magnet to gravitate towards,” she added. Potential of fountain pavements at the Monument was mentioned at the launch of the Age Friendly Strategy, she recalled.

“I know Johnny wants to stop anti-social behaviour, if someone had a code they could put on the fountain if someone is sitting there that shouldn’t be there then the water could be turned on to move them on,” Howard quipped.

Cllr Pat Daly (FF) voiced his opposition to the proposal, “I always felt the monument was an open space for the people of Ennis, I wouldn’t like to see a barrier around it”.

Holding a discussion would do no harm, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) remarked, “It is something Johnny has brought up on numerous occasions. Sometimes it is disheartening to walk past the monument and see what is going on”.

Senior executive officer, Leonore O’Neill informed the meeting that the advice received was that railings don’t respect a heritage or protected structure. Installation of railings would require a separate Part 8 approval to the pavement fountain and additional seating at the Height.

Photo by Fiona McNamara

NEWS

THURSDAY, JUNE 17 2021 THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Clare is Amazing,

Clare is Amazing, Explore ALL take it ALL in...

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take of Clare.itItALL will surprise you!

Sponsored by

NEWS 19

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Sponsored by

in...

The alluring landscape of the Burren Autumnal Wood Walks This ‘Clare is Amazing’ page, sponsored by Clare County Council and Visit Clare Tourism, will be a regular feature in this paper over the weeks ahead. We will be reminding readers of experiences that can be explored and enjoyed in Clare in line with the latest public health guidelines.

We’ll also encourage readers to ‘Get out There’ and share their experiences with other readers – your tips! What have you discovered and loved on your trip-taking and staycations within the County? Tell us, and you could win some great prizes, and we’ll share some of the best tips on this page in the weeks ahead.

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ORTH Clare has been at- modation, delicious food of Practice.

These your recent trip around the County,businesses are elocal about larhiking, C and win some great prizes - including a l l e tracting visitors since the and experiences like cypart of an award-winning BurT Family Staycation Dromore WoodHoliday.

Loop N I For now, here areatjust a few suggestions: W 1830s least, when Cor- cling, swimming, surfing, divren Ecotourism Network.

They This loop takes you on laneways, lakeshore and Every second week we will draw winners for atondfarm walks, wooded tracks through Dromore Woodland Naour latest prizes from those who provide good great loop walks suited ing, to walkers of • Be a Tourist for a day. In O’Brien any typical nelius first began caving fornot only follow the Geopark’s different levels of fitness. Our cliffyear, Clare would be welcoming over feedback and tips.

Then,the at the end of ture Reserve passing ruins ofAugust, Killakee Church, the top, mountain-top, and hill-top walks 1.2 million visitors from within Ireland to promote the now-famous aging expeditions, andweengaging Code offorDromore Practice, they will alsoofdraw from all entrants a very special shores Lough Garr and Lough andalso the enare spectacular. and worldwide. They are drawn to weekend staycation for either a family or two • Bring a picnic, or buyin a picnic.

As Clare becauseof of all the possibilities imposing O’Brien Castle.

Cliffs Moher.

Since the 1870s wellness and art programmes. gage in a lot of environmental sharing (the winners choice!). ‘eating in’ places are not yet open, for enjoyment and fun. Our seascapes, either bring a picnic or check in out loads of festivals and landscapes and lakescapes provide Lisdoonvarna Spa Wells have Add projects support local conBallycuggeran, Cragand Wood Walk the places you can pick up a tasty them with the amazing natural takeaway.

Restaurants and cafés are celebrating backdrops within which each visitors visitor been helping take the events everything servation programmes.

This walk follows forest road, forest track and mi-Their This Weeks Prize very creative at this time, and you can shape their own experience. You nor road through dense forest and open hillside can order and pick up excellent meals have the great advantage of living healing waters.

The first visitor from wild flowers, to fossils, combined offerings and sustainWin a ‘Walk with Hawk’ and snacks. It’s also a great way to here. For one or more days, imagine on athe shoulders of Feenlea Mountain and Crag. The supportin localKilbusinesses! yourself as a tourist and really explore at thefarming Aillwee Cave Burren centre in Ireland opened music, ancient tradiable ethosDerg won Network beautiful expanse of Lough liesthe below you. To the what can be enjoyed at this time.

Birds of Prey Centre Takefenora in places that you are not overly as the gateget the the best views walk the trail Lonely in an anti-clockwise in the 1970s tions and matchmaking… prestigious Planet ‘Best familiar with. direction.

• Head for the open spaces.

In Clare, way to the Burren, telling the choice is endless! in Travel 2021’ award. there are plenty of open spaces and amazing places. Enjoy the beaches, of its rocks, fascinating story The Burren and Cliffs of MoThe Burren Ballyvaughan Wood Loop Ecotourism Netforests, parks, Wild Atlantic Way This loop onwork’s minor roadways, green lanes, woodcoastline, The Burren, the Hidden monuments flowers, ancient her is now a UNESCO Global www.burren.ie is a one Heartlands, historical sites and land and cross country, explores the valley behind geological wonders. and traditions.

Geopark with an emphasis on stop shop for really exploring the seaside village of Ballyvaughan with splendid • Get Lost! As well as travelling to your of the surrounding Burren’s On foldedthis limestone favourite places, travel to theand parts ofvillage in the Each town promoting local, quality,views authenNorth Clare. site you Clare you don’t know. Go and get lost layers.

– and see where it takesits you! own Clare is unique charBurren has tic, accessible and fun experienccan book packages to suit you, Feedback Online to Win! full of surprises.

• Walk the Walk.

Clare has lots of acter and characters and a rich es and environmentally friendly including great experiences with Wood To haveCratloe a chance to win, fantastic loop and linear walks to suit Cratloe Wood is a State-owned (OPW) on all levels of fitness.of For stories, the serious atmosphere visitthe www.Clare.ie/TellClare tapestry services.

Look out for busilocal guides and lotsForest of recomwalker, there are well-organised the slopes of Woodcock Hill beside the village of routes, including national trails that opportunities to explore. nesses with the UNESCO Globmendations onfrom where to for go, see Cratloe.

This wood gets its name the Irish B A L LY C U G G A R A N , N E A R K I L L A L O E are and well sign-posted. There are also the Sallyand trees.do.

Over the decades, enterprising al Geopark brand and land youofwill Thereyourself are pleasant woodland walks and picnic tables safe. Protect each other. remember to followknow all public health Abovehave all, alwayssigned distance peopleStay have created aPlease wonderful thatadvice. they up to enjoy a relaxing www.Clare.ie C O R C O M R O E A B B E Y, T H E B U R R E N from which outdoor picnic. Chilat least 2 meters (6 feet) from other people. Wear face coverings, covering your mouth and nose, when in proximity variety of Wash comfortable to a Sustainable Tourism drenCode will love to explore the playground area! to others. your hands well and accomfrequently. See www.gov.ie/covid Tell our readers what you loved most

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A Hawk Walk at Aillwee is a once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with some of nature’s top predators. Guided and instructed by experienced Falconers, Aillwee’s hour-long ‘Walk with a Hawk’ through hazel woodland and across Burren limestone pavement is tailor-made for anybody seeking a totally unique experience. The lucky winner and a friend can avail of the prize once the Aillwee Cave and the Birds of Prey Centre re-opens. That’s something to look forward to! See www.AillweeCave.ie

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DROMORE WOOD, ENNIS

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12 O’Clock Hills Recreational & Heritage Project Located in the Slieve Bearnagh Mountain Range in East Clare, the 12 O’Clock Hills comprise of Knockanuarha at 309m and its twin peak which is about 10 metres lower. Their name is thought to derive from the tradition of telling the time based on the position of the sun against the hills.

The peaks are accessible from two trailheads at Belvoir and Snaty and there are trails ranging from 4kms to 13kms. The longer trails, which take you to the summit of both peaks, offer spectacular views of the surrounding area dotted with woodlands, lakes and bog. On a clear day you can also see the high peaks of Munster and Connemara.

12 O’CLOCK HILLS

B A L LY VA U G H A N W O O D L O O P

POULNABRONE, THE BURREN

THE BURREN

C R AT L O E W O O D

AWA R D W I N N I N G B U R R E N E C O TO U R I S M N E T W O R K

20 NEWS

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

‘A matter of urgency’ A BREAK FROM THE OFFICE of footpaths have been notified to the Council over a number of years and are now in a deplorable conditions and a risk paraic@clareecho.ie to health and safety”.

Officials are assessing the ORK yet to be finished footpath maintenance contract on footpaths tender with works for Shannon around Shan- Town and the wider district innon needs to cluded, senior executive enbe completed as “a matter of gineer Tom Mellett replied. urgency,” an elected represen- He was confident this would improve pedestative has said.

In a recent proposal before trian mobility across the the Shannon Municipal Dis- Shannon MD. Councillors have trict, Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) requested that outstanding had to ‘beat the work on footpaths throughout drum’ for a long the town be completed “as a time when it comes to footmatter of urgency”.

He explained that some path improveFlynn paths were in need of repair ments, told the meeting. and others replacement.

Open all for about Alfresco Flynn outlined, “A numberNow“I’m

PÁRAIC MCMAHON

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getting things done because that is what people judge us on,” he added.

Complaints to do with footpaths are an all too common form of correspondence for county councillors, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) commented.

She cautioned moss is adding to slippy conditions in the town, “some of them are neglected”.

Roots from trees are also growing out through footpaths, Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) flagged.

lSAFETY: Cllr Gerry Flynn

Dining & Drinks!!!

Photo by Joe Buckley

lFOUR: Stuart Holly sinks a putt from 10 feet as Clare Echo Sales Director Niall O’Connor watches on in awe at Shannon Golf Club on Thursday. The pair took part in The Shannon Chamber’s annual golf classic as part of the media team which also included Limerick Leader Editor Donn O’Sullivan and Clare Champion Accounts Manager Liam Duggan Photo by Eamon Ward

‘I’m in dread of someone getting seriously injured’

by PÁRAIC McMAHON LOCAL representatives have warned that a serious injury is likely to occur close to one of Shannon’s biggest primary schools.

Green areas outside the Gort na Rí housing development and across from Dun an Óir were brought into focus by Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) at a recent sitting of the Shannon Municipal District.

He requested works to both sites be finished.

With regard to Gort na Rí, Cllr Flynn asked that fence posts be removed, “un-

sightly graffiti” be removed from the boundary wall and that the green area be reinstated. Trees and shrubs have been removed from the Drumgeely Rd opposite Dun an Óir and the Gort Rd with restoration work needed, he felt.

Walls behind Gort na Rí in Tullyvarraga “were exposed and shown to be in an untidy manner” following the removal of trees last year, senior executive engineer Tom Mellett stated in response. Engagement is ongoing to resolve the

lGRAFFITI: Untidy boundary walls in Gort na Rí

Photo by Joe Buckley

matter with relevant parties including St Aidan’s National School, footpath repairs have been completed.

Mellett explained, “The remains of the concrete fence are on school property as is the green area surrounding them”. The area opposite Dun an Óir has been levelled “and made good following the removal of the undergrowth to allow our contractor to maintain this grass verge”.

Clare County Council’s housing section should contribute funding to solve the matter, Cllr Flynn argued. The remains of the fence were labelled as a health and safety issue, “I’m in dread of someone getting seriously injured.

The school didn’t do much about removing the trees.

The estate was built for vulnerable people and people with disabilities. It is aggravating that amount of abuse they had to put up with be it with drug dealing or whatever else”.

Having met with local residents, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) coined the conditions by Gort na Rí as “an awful mess”. She added, “There is going to be an accident, people are beginning to use it as a dumping ground”.

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THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

NEWS

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22 COLUMNIST

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Eoin Neylon

An inside look at Clare’s political spectrum With

With With

Farming columnist Joe Melody this week writes about the appetite to control farmers

S

OMETIMES it is in the speaking to others about our thoughts or ideas that one garners further clarity on whatever the burning issue is. The weekend just gone was one of those moments, a neighbour of mine and I were discussing the issues with getting labour in tandem with the extra regulations and attacks on agriculture by bureaucracy. He made a point that summarised an underlying reason for much of the stifling of agriculture by regulation and activism.

“It is all about control, you need land to build on, create infrastructure, renewable energy. The farmer owns the land so he has the power”.

Ireland does not have huge mineral deposits or onshore oil reserves

so intrinsically land is the only real wealth this nation has if you exclude foreign direct investment because that capital is fluid and flows to wherever the most attractive tax policy is or educated work force resides. When we start to frame the conversation about farmers as being a powerful constituency of people who own most the state’s wealth it is easy to see why many on mainly the left of the political spectrum would like to further regulate agriculture and indeed stifle its productivity.

Much of this opprobrium levelled at agriculture doesn’t just come from an ill-informed place of concern, it comes from an underlying Marxist view of the world.

In this Marxist view of the world, those that own

CLARITY: Land is an important source of wealth in Ireland

the means of production in most cases the land are labelled the Bourgeoisie.

One only has to look at the horrors of the 20th century in Russia and the communist revolution to see what happened when the farmers were ran off their lands and a communist system was imposed. Of course we say that this could never happen today in a western country.

Well maybe not to that extent but most things sit on a spectrum rather than a binary choice of capitalism versus Marxism.

The further the hand of government reaches into our affairs as citizens never mind business or farm owners, the further we are ceding control of our land and property rights.

In a country like ours land ownership is an emotive issue and why wouldn’t it be after centuries of being under British rule.

I feel though now that a history lesson is needed on why for example Russia with its rich deep black soils is still struggling as an agricultural nation after years of communism. Why also America flourished for centuries under a system of limited government and why the term was “the American dream”.

So next time you hear or read about extra unnecessary controls over the productive sectors, ask the question why. It usually stems from a place of control rather than a place of concern. Productive people do not impose unproductive controls on others.

However a small group of people with Marxist tendencies are generating the noise and narrative that these farmers need to be regulated. They will continue to berate any area of society that owns the means of production whether it be land or some SME providing local employment.

The kettle and the pot T HE end of Summer political party “Think-In” merry-go-round can only mean one thing: a new Dáil term is clear on the horizon. As politicians meet in their respective caucuses at various locations around the country, all were keen to showcase the impressive academics that they had invited to address their respective meetings.

Of course, all of these often carefully selected to reinforce an already existing policy or ideology.

There is rarely any merit to them over and above party cohesion, a bit of media coverage, and setting our legislative agendas to the party backbenchers with the caveat that they are expected to vote it through However, there was no escaping the first major business of the new Dáil term; the no confidence motion in Simon Coveney that I predicted would be tabled in last week’s column.

In terms of predictions, it wasn’t akin to selecting the winning lottery numbers, but more like saying that the tide will likely turn at least once today. No confidence motions have become all too familiar over the past few years to the point that they’ve almost lost their true meaning. Originally, they were designed for the Dáil to call out the gross incompetence, negligence or wilful dereliction of duty or some heinous unethical breaches of a member of Cabinet. It’s becoming more and more about making political capital nowadays, however.

That’s not to excuse Coveney in all of this. His actions and lack of coherent explanation are far below the standard required. Nevertheless, Provisional Sinn Féin, in announcing their

no confidence motion, did not cite Coveney’s apparent misinformation presented to an Oireachtas Committee, but for cronyism. A bit rich from them, given the huge volume of party members and donors that Mary Lou McDonald’s party have been in positions on state boards and other Government appointments to in the North as well as via local authorities in the Republic. Very much a case of the kettle and the pot!

All the while, the whole affair has had a predictable effect in opinion polls with SF taking top spot in two such polls over the weekend. The usual warnings apply to mid-term opinion polls. It remains to be seen if this is a “Gilmore for Taoiseach” style poll of September 2010 which saw the Labour party hit 35% and remain in the high 20s and low 30s from June to November that year.

Political analyst Kevin Cunningham has a good examination on his Twitter page of SF’s poll performance, framed through the rise of populism, of general left-wing ideals and liberalisation of Irish society. That said, there a few glaring oversights in same said analysis.

Firstly, the falling FF/FG combined votes in recent years is not a signal to the rise in left wing politics per se. Both those parties have, at various time in history, criss-crossed across the central marker of the political spectrum, adopting a more left or right side of centre approach to economic policy. Similarly, it can be argued that FG are more liberal than both FF and SF when it comes to social policy in recent years. SF were largely absent on the issue of gay marriage both in the Republic and, more notably, in the North, for instance.

Their supporters are also far more likely to be anti-immigration than all other mainline parties. An odd position for a “leftwing” party. They are, I would argue, far more a pseudo-nationalist party, in the European sense of the term. Nevertheless, the great blind spot in the analysis is that the fall in FF/FG vote coincides with a large rise in the overall independent vote.

We have seen this in Clare over the past two decades. James Breen, Michael Harty and, now, Michael McNamara taking seats that the aforementioned two traditional goliaths of Irish politics would have previously battled it out for. Breen was a FF Councillor previously, and Harty would have appealed very much to the same centrists credentials.

McNamara, although previously a Labour TD, never seemed to sit well with the Labour mantra and his departure from the party was no great shock to many.

In fact, his first venture into electoral politics was as an independent in the 2009 European elections, garnering almost 13,000 votes. McNamara has always appeared more a classic, Gaullist centrist than a centre left social democrat and as such, the departure from Labour could not come as a surprise to anyone who’s watched his career develop to that point.

His marriage to FF royalty in Sarah Hillery, grand daughter of former President of Ireland Paddy Hillery, also proved a great aid. His election last year left FF’s Dooley and FG’s Breen out in the cold. With IND’s now a solid block in the Irish political spectrum, expect to see more independents in Clare’s electoral future.

COLUMNIST 23

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

FORAGED SLOE BERRY GIN

S

EPTEMBER is probably my favourite time of year. The weather’s usually good, the kids are back at school and fruit is growing all over the place.

Plums, apples and blackberries are in abundance (I even saw lemons growing on the Cusack road in Ennis), but one of my favourite things to forage are sloes.

Sloes are a wonderful little berry that are not nice to eat at all, but are fantastic at turning fairly ordinary vodka into a wonderful wintery gin, which is what I am doing with them today. They grow all over the place on blackthorns and are pretty abundant right now. Unfortunately you will need to pick these yourself as they are difficult to buy.

Kearney Cooks

YOU WILL NEED: • 400g sloes • 200g caster sugar • 750ml vodka Step 1 Wash your sloes and pat them try.

Prick each one with a knife or toothpick.

Horse them into a jar with the sugar and the vodka, seal it tight and give it a good shake. (It’s ok to split this recipe between a few jars if you don’t have a big one).

Step 2 Once a week, for the next few weeks give it a little shake to help disolve the

R

ebecca O’Neill

sugar and draw the flavour out of the sloes. Do this six times, then forget about it for two months. Leave the jar to do its thing in the back of a dark press.

Step 3 After the two months are up, take your jar (or jars), pass the liquid through a sieve or muslin to strain, and then bottle it. It can be drank straight away, but honestly, the longer you leave it the better it will taste.

This is a wonderful drink to have around Christmas, and it really does warm you through. Now, I better warn ye, it’s fairly alcoholic, so drink responsibly.

As usual if you have any questions about this recipe or others please feel free to contact me on Instagram @ stevekearney37.

Enjoy

Steve K

Fave foodie hotspots

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This week, beauty therapist Rebecca O’Neill shares her top five favourite places to dine out around the county

OW that restrictions are easing soon and we can dine inside once fully vaccinated, I’ve decided to share my favourive five food hotspots in Clare.

It’s good to know what food our county has to offer especially now that we can enjoy it that bit more. We all have our favourites when it comes to certain places but I’m going to list places that I have personally eaten from and my reviews on each.

1: SPOONEY’S FISH AND CHIPS LAHINCH This spot has been so popular especially since the 5km travelling restriction lifted. It is the most efficient place to get fresh fish and chips in a box. If you’re looking to get tasty food in that area I would highly recommend this place. I loved the way they were cooked to perfection along with a big portion size. It is such an affordable price for great quality food.

They also offer ice creams that are filled to the brim with plenty of different flavours that always go down well.

2: BROGANS BAR & RESTAURANT ENNIS This spot is most reliable when you want that craving for ‘pub grub’ food. It offers a very

seating and heaters, for you and your friends to enjoy a cocktail and food. They take walk ins and offer reasonable prices with the tastiest food. This is definitely Shannon’s new hotspot when it comes to drinks and food on a Saturday night.

YUM: The Rós Café

4: BOLLYWOOD TEMPLE SHANNON This Indian restaurant definitely has my heart and it’s likely to take a hold of yours if this style of food takes your fancy.

It is based in the town centre in Shannon offering the finest of what the Indian culture has to offer. With the biggest menu of variety this place has a dish for everyone. They also offer takeaway delivery if you want to enjoy at the comfort of your own home.

3: TREACYS OAKWOOD HOTEL SHANNON Situated in the heart of Shannon town, this hotel offers a wide variety on the menu along with a beverage of choice.

They have the nicest outdoor area with

5: THE RÓS CAFÉ NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS This little gem is located in Newmarket-on-Fergus and showcases the best quality of foods with an appetizing breakfast and lunch menu.

Only recently opened in what was formerly the home of Café Fergus, the Rós Café has become Newmarket’s new hotspot and is the most reliable when it comes to taste. I would highly recommend this place if you’re looking for somewhere different and new

tasty menu for full course meals. I recently got the beef burger and chips with salad on the side and it did not disappoint. They have a lovely set up outdoor area with socially distanced seating if you want to feel safe. They also take walk-ins and reservations.

24 FEATURES

Autumn thoughts RONAN SCULLY

Thought for the week

F

OR me walking is a favourite form of prayer.

Each morning I head to a nearby walking route and practice being absolutely present to the world. Here I listen for the wisdom that the seasons offer my life. Each of the seasons offers a great deal of wisdom for the spiritual journey.

Autumn Changes

But amid all these Autumn changes a thought that came to me during my prayer walk recently is that I love and adore the season of autumn.

Autumn for me is the season of the harvest, when we reap what we planted in the spring and summer just gone before us. It is the time to gather nature’s bounty, the fruits and vegetables, the grains and nuts.

We eat them with gratitude; and we can preserve them for the coming cold winter months. The colours change brilliantly all around us, and the sky and the sea are at their bluest against the awesome autumnal colours especially in the leaves.

The air is cooler and drier; and there seems to be more clarity of vision, both externally and internally as well as spiritually.

To me, autumn has always felt as if a new year is beginning: the glorious somewhat restful summer months come to an end, and we return to our more rigorous rituals and routines at school, at play or at work. This can be the perfect time to make resolutions for the coming last quarter of the year.

We remember the past few months and look critically at our lives: at the good things we choose to nourish and attend to, and at the negative or destructive habits and behaviours we resolve to eliminate.

It is the opportune time to re-evaluate our lives, to pray and reflect more and create a strategy for moving forward. Autumn reminds us that flexibility and adaptability are crucial for staying healthy and balanced during the winter months ahead.

On the surface, it can look as if this time of year is all about loss and sadness. Trees lose their bright green foliage which we have come to treasure so much over the summer.

The swallows, martins and swifts which light up our hedgerows and trees with song all summer long are beginning their long journey south again and taking their noisy joy with them. The bright and bountiful nature of summer is gradually slowing and fading and plants are retreating back into the ground, taking their colour and vibrancy with them. However, looking deeper

we can also find hope and renewal and optimism. The very first buds on the trees are already beginning to appear only just after they have shed this year’s leaves.

The trees themselves look forward to spring and know that they must ready their buds now using the last of the autumnal sunlight. Other plants begin to deepen and strengthen their roots because they know they will need them when the days start to lengthen.

Hedgehogs snuggle down for the winter to ready themselves for an energetic spring. We go out into our gardens and plant daffodils and tulip bulbs because we know that spring will come again. Even as the days shorten, we are burying ourselves a treasure for when the light comes back into our lives. A secret we may even forget about, a gift for getting through the winter.

During this time we will want to prepare for the challenges of winter by completing unfinished projects, clearing away clutter and debris, setting extra food and fuel like turf aside, and making sure that we are physically, emotionally and spiritually prepared for the cold, dark and wintry months to come.

Make the Most of Autumn

It amazes me how the evening’s start to shorten to their shortest and how the coldness comes back into the air. For me, autumn is the symbolic season that reminds one to grab hold of all that life has to offer.

Autumn is the fulfillment of a hopeful spring and glorious summer. To make the most of autumn is, for me, to make the most of all that is good in life. Gone are thoughts of winter despair or a chilling and wet spring or an uneventful summer. Everything around us now in this autumn season is alive and vibrant and is at the end of full maturity. If I seize an autumn day, I believe I seize life itself and find in it all that gives pleasure and meaning. But nothing is as beautiful as all the trees, flowers, shrubs and bushes that are in full colour.

It is truly a beautiful, magical and wonderful time of our year. It makes me think about the many blessings that autumn gives to us, such as the coolness and freshness in the air, the soft warm sun on our skin, wonderful warm to cool breezes, singing of the birds, animals of all kinds fully emerged and matured, fresh and sea waters flowing, trees, plants and flowers fully blossomed in an array of numerous colours. We all need to be positive and embrace abundance, love, care and joy into our lives, treasuring each moment as it comes.

We get so wrapped up at times, well I know I do, with thinking about the past, a lot of the time trying to control the future and forgetting to enjoy and be at peace in the present moment of now. In this world there is strife. There is hardship, and there is suffering. There is inequality.

There is injustice. There is also abundant beauty amidst it all. And within that beauty there are reminders tucked away everywhere, encouraging us to persist, to strive, and to bring our dreams for a better world to life. We have only to open our hearts and look, and we will see them. Please this Autumn before the winter is upon us, try to embrace the positive in your life as it’s meant to be. We all need to start focusing on positive thoughts and creative ideas that make us happy and content.

Less negative thinking, it only brings down our spirits and serves no purpose. Let’s all try this autumn and always to make the most of all that is good in our lives.

Thought for the week

As your thought for the week, I pray that as the signs of autumn begin to show themselves all around us, that you will remember that each new day is like a cleared field after harvesting.

Your thoughts, attitudes, and actions are the fruit and crops of what you planted. This autumn choose only the fruits and crops that produced a bountiful harvest of love, joy, health, kindness, care, prosperity, mercy, forgiveness, compassion and peace and let that which held you back drift away. And may you give thanksgiving not only for the autumn time around you, but also for the autumn time within you. I wish each of you as you read this thought, in this moment and on this day, much peace and joy. Let me finish with a Prayer I wrote about Autumn Harvest Time.

"In the setting of the Autumn sun, In the shortening of days, In the cooling of the breeze,In the flight of migrating birds, In brightness of the rays of moonlight, In the browning and decay of leaves once green and full of life, In the beauty of morning mists and wintry chills, In the beauty of the fruit that falls, In the coldness of nature's first frost, We see the Creator's Hand.

So our God of the harvest, Our Farmer and Harvester supreme, Please place us we pray at the centre of all that is good during this Harvest time. Feed us, nurture us, prune us, strengthen us, harvest us and provide for us, Then look to a different harvest, a fruitfulness of our lives in service to you and others.

That our lives might bring glory to you. We bless you, God of Seed and Harvest, And we bless each other, That the beauty of this world, And the great love and care that created it, Might be expressed through our own lives And be a blessing to others, Now and always. Amen. Enjoy a beautiful autumn!!!

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Clean up crews tackle waste on Fanore beach

lCREW: Volunteers enjoy a well earned coffee

ELAINE TUBRIDY elaine.tubridy@clareecho.ie

A

GROUP of volunteers from the Burren Ecotourism network, along with locals and holiday makers joined a big beach clean-up on Fanore beach last weekend.

For most of the summer, the popular beach resort had remained clean and tidy thanks to the presence of litter wardens, provided by Clare County Council.

Pete Hynes of Aloha Surf School and member of the Burren Ecotourism group said: “The Litter Wardens that were here during the summer did a great job and had been keeping the beach very clean, however two weeks after they have finished there was a substantial amount of refuse collected by Saturday’s group.”

“It just shows that there is still a lack of awareness among a proportion of the public around responsible disposal of plastics, bottles, cans and general litter.”

Mr Hynes said he was delighted with the turnout of people, and their willingness to do something positive in keeping Fanore Beach in pristine condition.

The clean-up was organized

by Joan Hamilton of Doolin 2 Aran Ferries a member of the Burren Ecotourism Network

and Pat Murphy, a regular visitor to the area. The Network provided bags, pickers and gloves to volunteers and local man Thomas O’Connor ensured all the refuse was then taken away by Clare County Council.

Thelma Hayes, Operations Manager at the Cliffs of Moher, and chairperson of the Conservation Advocacy Group within the Network said: “We have noticed that any time there is a clean up planned, the volunteers really show up in good numbers which is very encouraging.

Even though many visitors to the area are very careful with their litter, there are still people who leave plastics and other non-biodegradable material in the environments and habitats that needs to be picked up and taken away.”

“Volunteers see the need to do this as they know that the reason why the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark is so popular and clean and we want to keep it that way“ After the clean-up volunteers enjoyed tea and coffee at Skylarks Coffee Dock which is run by Pete Hynes and Mick O’Toole.

The Burren Ecotourism Network is planning a number of regular clean ups throughout the Autumn and winter. For further information on future beach cleans, please check https://www.facebook.com/ VisittheBurren

Coolmeen road needs to be included in works A ROAD one mile from Coolmeen village is to be considered for inclusion in next year’s schedule of municipal district works, writes Páraic McMahon.

Inclusion of the L2066 which is approximately one mile east of Coolmeen village, on the 2022 roadworks programme was requested by Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) at a recent sitting of the West Clare Municipal District and seconded by Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF).

Alan Kenneally, senior executive engineer in the West

Clare MD outlined that the road was not included for surface dressing or restoration improvement works in the 2021 programme but said it would be considered for next year.

“It is the only back-road,” Cllr Kelly explained. He referenced a recent historical gathering in the locality which unveiled “a lovely monument costing a lot of money” and added, “unfortunately the road leading to it is in a very bad state.

FEATURES 25

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

GREEN CLARE

Free drop off day for waste STUART HOLLY

H

editor@clareecho.ie

OUSEHOLDERS across Clare are being encouraged to avail of an upcoming opportunity to dispose of their hazardous domestic waste free of charge.

The Environment section of Clare County Council are operating this drop-off day at the Central Waste Management Facility,

Inagh, on Saturday, 18th September, 2021, from 8:30am to 1:00pm.

Waste items including household aerosols, oil filters, old medicines, household detergents, pesticides/herbicides, fluorescent tubes, paint strippers and cleaners, paints and varnishes, cooking and engine oils, can be deposited during the drop-off day. Hazardous waste from commercial operators will not be accepted on the day.

“By hosting this free-of-charge dropoff day, we are providing householders throughout Clare with an opportunity to dispose of their hazardous wastes in a man-

ner that protects human health and the environment,” explained Maria Carey, Executive Engineer, Environment Section, Clare County Council.

“The service is being provided free of charge to householders only for listed items.

Householders are being reminded that each waste type brought must be clearly identifiable, segregated and packaged to avoid leaks and minimise risks,” added Ms Carey.

“We are also encouraging people to reduce the amount of chemical-based products that are used in the home in the first instance,” said Karen Foley, Environmental Awareness

Officer, Clare County Council.

“Greener living guides can be downloaded from www.mywaste.ie or alternatively contact our Greener Clare team, at 065 6846331 or via email greenerclare@clarecoco.ie, where a hard copy of these guides can be provided,” concluded Ms Foley.

The one-day event is funded through the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, Anti-Dumping Initiative.

For further information visit: https:// www.clarecoco.ie/your-council/[news]/ hazardous-waste-disposal-opportunity-for-clare-householders.html

WHAT GOES IN MY RECYCLE BIN? lRESPONSIBLE: Waste disposal

Beach Clean 2021 kicking off AFTER a break in 2020, 14 volunteer groups have signed up for Clean Coasts’ Big Beach Clean 2021 and are ready to tackle marine litter in County Clare, writes Stuart Holly.

The event will be launched on Friday 17th of September and will run until the 19th of September, the same weekend as International Coastal Cleanup.

The Big Beach Clean is an annual call-to-action organized by Clean Coasts that calls volunteers from communities all over Ireland getting involved to remove litter from our beautiful coast at the end of the bathing season, as part of the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC), operated internationally by Ocean Conservancy.

The initiative is also an opportunity for the over 300 registered volunteers to get involved in a worldwide citizen science project, which will entail collecting the amount and types of litter on Irish beaches and filling in Clean Coasts’ Marine Litter Data Cards that will help

heighten awareness about the issue of marine litter serving as an indicator of the magnitude of the problem.

This year will see the involvement of the National Spring Clean programme once again with registrations having been open nationwide to all residents of Ireland, no matter how far from the coast they are based.

Statistics have shown that over 70% of plastic pollution affecting our ocean comes from land-based actions. For this reason, Clean Coasts have asked volunteers to help prevent litter from entering our waterways and seas by holding a clean-up no matter where they are in the country and tackling the problem at the source.

Finally, Clean Coasts will once again be supported by Cully & Sully, who will provide registered volunteers with Big Beach Clean kits.

Cully and Sully will also be giving away 10 of their exclusive swim robes to clean up participants. To be in with a chance to win, all you have to do is share a photo or vid-

eo of your Big Beach Clean on social media, use the hashtag #BigBeachClean21 and tag @CleanCoasts and @CullyandSully in the post.

Finally, Cully and Sully will also be hosting a Big Beach Clean event in Schull, West Cork on Friday, the 17th of September for volunteers in the area.

Founder Cullen Allen (Cully) said, “Cully & Sully are proud to be partners with the Big Beach Clean again for 2021.

“The work carried out by the teams across the Island of Ireland is amazing and unfortunately very much needed during these times.

We all use our local beaches and have spent time on many of the beautiful beaches and waterways across Ireland and are so thankful for the work that the groups and organisations do.”

Clean Coasts would like to thank the over 6,500 volunteers who signed up for this call to action nationwide for their commitment and effort.

For more information visit www.cleancoasts/org.

26 COMMUNITY

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

Community ENNIS

CONTACT

NEWSDESK 065 671 9021 news@clareecho.ie

ENNIS

lWELL DESERVED: In 2009, the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland (CBAI)

established an Annual Award to be given to a person who had made an outstanding contribution to bridge in his/her area and beyond. The President’s Award for 2020-21 was awarded to Danny Liddy. Danny’s name was put forward by Ann Daly and Ann Troy, two members of the Harmony Bridge Club which Danny founded. The commendation mentioned the contribution he has made to other Bridge Clubs and Bridge in County Clare

MILTOWN MALBAY CONCERTINA CRUINNIÚ,

17-19 SEPTEMBER: In addition to the classes for all grades, there will be in the Community Centre, Miltown Malbay, in full compliance with public health guidelines, a lecture and recital by Mary MacNamara on Friday at 8.30pm (Concertina Players of East Clare in my Childhood – Memories, Stories, Tunes and Recordings) and by Michelle Mulcahy on Saturday at 2.30pm (Keepers of Tradition: the Musical Legacy of Paddy Murphy in the history of Irish Concertina Music).

This will be followed by a major Concert by the Mulcahy family and Noel Hill on Saturday night at 8.30pm.

There will be two free open-air public sessions: on Saturday at 3.00pm, in The Garden at the Westbridge, a Junior open session led by Josephine Marsh, and on Sunday at 3.00pm, in The Forge at The Players, a Songs & Tunes session with Eileen O’Brien, Áine & Francis O’Connor, Tim Dennehy and Róisín White.

Full details on www.concertinacruinniu.ie.

ENNIS TRANSITION TOWN

TRANSITION Town Ennis is looking for new members! Concerned about climate change but don't know what to do? Think global, act local. Transition Town Ennis was founded in 2008 by a group of engaged and concerned citizens of Ennis, to address the issues of peak oil and how Ennis can be resilient in the face of a changing world. A lot happened since then, and we are now looking to revive this movement and adapt its mission to the new challenges of climate change, pandemics, supply chain disruptions and other issues that will make it necessary to focus on local, community owned services. Main topics can include food production, transport, energy, biodiversity, housing, health and wellbeing, and much more.

We are looking for people who would like to be involved in community-based projects like repair fairs, community gardens, local transport and food projects, community yoga and whatever else you can bring to the table!

If you are interested in getting involved in projects that make Ennis a more resilient, future proof, happier place to live, we'd love to hear from you. Please email Irmgard at ennistransitiontown@gmail.com for more info.

lFAN: An excited Jack Griffin cheers on the Éire Óg senior footballers as they defeated Doonbeg to advance to the Clare SFC quarter-finals

Photo by Gerard O’Neill

KILMIHIL ROAD WORKS

MAINTENANCE work has been requested in Kilmihil to “make things comfortable” in the West Clare village, writes Páraic McMahon.

Road maintenance was sought on the L2074 to Brendan McMahons from Dan Corry’s Cross via Finucanes in Cahercanavan on the Kilmihil Rd. This route is not included for surface dress-

ing works in this year’s road programme, senior executive engineer in the West Clare MD, Alan Kenneally advised. Consideration will be given to its inclusion next year, he said.

Completing a bit of maintenance work “would be appreciated and make things more comfortable for people,” Cllr Keating stated. His request was seconded by Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF).

KILNAMONA

KILNAMONA

SCENIC WALK

KDA BIRTHDAY

CULTURE Night scenic 4km bilingual walk starts at 6pm sharp from Kilnamona GAA pitch to Shallee Castle path, Holy Well and viewpoint. Parking is available by the pitch.

Free refreshments will be provided and all are welcome. Appropriate footwear and clothing are advised. The walk will go ahead except in heavy rain or stormy conditions.

KDA will host Ennis Brass Band for a recital at 2pm on Sunday 19th September 2021 at the tarmac area behind the Church. Free light refreshments and seating provided but welcome to bring own seats or rugs!

All are welcome.

Please message KDA Facebook page or 0866053587 for queries.

27

Thursday, Sep 16 2021

‘Self-kindness is the key to weight loss’

W

EIGHT loss experts at Slimming World who run Slimming World groups throughout County Clare say that if people want to lose weight for good, then they need to learn to be kinder to themselves when things go wrong.

They revealed that a new Slimming World survey of 1,722 slimmers found that almost everyone who had tried to lose weight in the past (98%) had experienced a slip-up where they went off-track in a way that they worried would affect their weight loss journey. After they lapsed, 84% of slimmers automatically criticised themselves, calling themselves ‘weak’, ‘stupid’ and ‘a failure’ – words they would never have used to describe someone else in their position. This harsh criticism was found to lead to comfort eating or giving up on those diets completely. As a result 78% were unsuccessful

Orla

with their weight loss, with at least 47% gaining weight.

The survey found that at Slimming World, members had learned how to reduce how critical they are of themselves when things go wrong and have instead become more self-reassuring. As a result of recognising that they’re only human and applauding their own determination, the research found that Slimming World members are now less likely to comfort eat and more likely to get back on track within a day or two, and more likely to lose weight and keep it off. In the survey, 84% of Slimming World members went on to lose weight after a lapse.

Ruth Sheridan who lost 5 stone and now helps others in Shannon to shed the pounds, says: “As someone who had struggled with my weight for many years I had tried lots of different diets in the past.

Life would always get in the way at some point though and I’d go off track. It

Louise

Cheesy chips

would knock my confidence and I’d end up feeling like a failure and like I couldn’t stick at anything.

“When you have an unhealthy relationship with food, as I did at the time,

Fidelma

Maura

comfort eating can feel like the only way to make yourself feel better. I’d turn to chocolate but afterwards I’d feel even more guilty and empty and before long I’d have given up completely.

Ru

Orla Louise Fidelma Maura Our groups are back up and running asElizabe normal from Monday 20th September ENNIS AUBRUN Shannon LODGE HOTEL Mondays TUESDAYHotel EVENINGS Oakwood

Louiseand 7pm 5.30pm 086-1381874 Ruth 087 4571411

ENNISTYMON TEACH COIL Ennistymon Wednesdays WEDNESDA MORNING + Teach Ceoil Y Ennistymon EVENINGS 9.30am and 5.30pm

Orla Orla 085 8761334 085-8761334

Tuesdays Wednesdays Killaloe ENNIS Ennis KILLALOE Auburn Lodge Hotel Evenings CBS PRIMARY SCHOOL PARISH HALL, 9.30am, 5.30pm and 7pm BALLINA Fidelma 087 4395322 SATURDAY MORNINGS Louise 086 1381874 BALLINA Orla Thursdays Labane WEDNESDAY EVENINGS 085-8761334 Tuesdays Kilrush Labane Hall Ardrahan Fidelma Kilrush Community Centre Thursday evenings 087-4395322 10.30am Maura 087 2768935 ENNIS Orla 085 8761334

AUBURN LODGE HOTEL WEDNESDAY MORNING + EVENING THURSDAY MORNING

Elizabeth

087-6729070

SHANNON OAKWOOD HOTEL MONDAY EVENINGS

Ruth

087-4571411

“Since joining Slimming World my outlook has changed completely. With the support of other people who have experienced the same thing I gradually started to realise that I wasn’t the

Ru

KILRUSH COMMUNITY CENTER Thursdays Gort TUESDAY MORNINGS Gort Community Centre

Orla Thursday mornings

085-8761334 Maura 087 2768935 Thursdays Ennis ENNIS West County Hotel ST FLANNANS SCHOOL 9.30am and 5.30pm THURSDAY EVENINGS Orla 085 8761334

Orla

085-8761334 Saturdays Ennis CBS Primary School 9am and 10.30am CLARINBRIDGE Orla 085 8761334

BROTHERS OF CHARITY WEDNESDAY EVENINGS

Maura

087-2768935

GORT GORT COMMUNITY CENTER THURSDAY MORNINGS + EVENINGS

Maura

087-2768935

only one who this happened to. We’re all human and we all have our off days, the important thing is that we’re able forgive ourselves and draw a line under it.

“Now if I ever have a lapse I’m careful to always talk to myself as I would any of the members of my group – with encouragement, support and without any judgement or blame.

“And that’s why the support of a group is so important, as by sharing problems and solutions with other people, you realise that you’re really not alone and you have a network of people like you who really understand and care, to help pick you back up when things go wrong. After all, things will often go wrong, and learning to cope with lapses, forgive yourself and get back on track is the key to successful weight loss in the long-term.”

Visit www.slimmingworld. ie for more information about your local Slimming World group

28

Thursday, Sep 16 2021

Educogym’s Jacqui undergoes incredible transformation

E

DUCOGYM owner Jacqui Murphy is challenging members of the public to try the Educogym System after she underwent a dramatic transformation on the scientifically proven programme.

In just six weeks, Jacqui lost 20lb and four inches from her waist by following the system which involves 20-minute resistance training workouts on the Educogym Time Machine and a tailored nutrition plan, which in her case was a strict high fat diet.

Jacqui maintains a consistent training regime as part of her lifestyle however she tells The Clare Echo that after Educogym Ennis reopened after lockdown, a hectic schedule meant she had less time to focus on her own fitness.

“I was literally eating anything I could just to keep going on 14hour days but then I just said, that’s it, I want to show what can be achieved. I probably did something a bit stricter than the average person coming in would do, and in six weeks I went about it. I was very strict on my nutrition, I was taking food supplements, I was training five days a week with heavy weights to hold and build my muscle and get more definition,” explains Jacqui.

The gym owner, who has been running Educogym Ennis for seven years, says that many customers arrive at her premises with the belief that the ageing process has caught up with them and won’t allow them to get the toned body they set out to achieve. However at age 42, Jacqui says she is now in the best shape of her life after taking on the six-week challenge. “We have people in their 40s , 50s, 60s coming in saying they have tried everything and can’t seem to get results. As we get older it can be more challenging - but if they follow a scientifically proven system or structure, they can Educo – which means to draw out - their perfect shape from within, because it is within us all.”

Jacqui explains that Educogym is the “only gym on the planet” with a validated university research study. “The average fat loss was 7.5lbs of fat and a 3lb gain of muscle tissue in just 12 days… a total body transformation, that study has never been beaten so it makes Educogym quite unique.”

In a world where people in general are becoming more unhealthy and out of shape, she says that the Educogym System has

BY STUART HOLLY

multiple knock-on effects on people’s personal lives. “As we age, we lose up to 30 percent of our muscle. Not only do we lose muscle from our physical body, we are losing it from vital organs like your heart, liver, kidneys, even your brain is a muscle and with ageing they’re literally wasting away. That tends to lead to cardiovascular problems, poor organ function and reduced hormone secretion.

Why we’re getting fatter, not only can the loss of muscle lead to these problems, but it also reduces your metabolism - which is the rate you burn food for energy - by up to 45 percent.”

“If you look at what people normally do, with great willpower and hard work we may do hours of aerobics or go on a low calorie starvation diet. But what does the research show? Most of the weight loss is muscle tissue which can slow the metabolism down even further. Not the ideal solution.

At Educogym we combine nutrition with resistance training. We educate a person on how they need to feed the body to build up the lean tissue and strip fat.”

Training sessions with Educogym Ennis are all run by appointment where a trainer is supervising at all times and each visit is a high-intensity 15-20 minute resistance training session which Jacqui believes is perfect for people who are often timepoor due to work, family and other commitments. “Nutrition is a huge part, I say to clients when they come in it’s 80 percent nutrition. You

can’t out-train a bad diet so you have to educate yourself on how to nourish your body. Our job in Educogym is really to educate the person on not just the nutrition, but also the mind and the specific training we do because this has to become a lifestyle to sustain the results.”

Jacqui recommends that new clients commit to three or four months to ensure the best chance at a lifestyle change. “The average result a client achieves in six weeks is one stone, most people coming in probably have 2-3 stone to lose. We’ve had people do better and obviously you have to follow the plan to get results, but even when you get that stone off in six weeks, my advice to people is to continue longer to form the lifestyle habit with the nutrition and the training.”

“If you want to be the best you, make daily activities more effortless, basically, be fit for life then I believe lifting weights three days per week will keep you stronger, healthier, happier, more productive and energetic.

The Global Award Winning Educogym trains the body, the mind, the Educo Model can be applied to a person’s life and the community. If you’re serious about restoring your health and shape, rejuvenation and anti-ageing: looking and feeling your best, you owe it to yourself to contact us and hear about the most important health and life-changing information ever” To make an appointment, call Educogym on (065) 684 1182 or email ennis@ educogym.com.

29

Thursday, Sep 16 2021

‘Ennis Yoga Studio ‘A safe space for people of all ages’ BRENDA has been heavily instrumental in developing a strong Yoga Community in Ennis and throughout the wider community of her beloved, adopted County Clare- successfully bringing people together through her love of yoga, teaching, and connection.

She provides a safe space for people of all ages to come and explore the many practices of yoga, meditation & healing practices at The Ennis Yoga Studio and has welcomed thousands of people onto the path of yoga and through the doors of her studio since opening in 2008.

Brenda has recently set up a yoga prop shop in the studio, where you can purchase everything you need for your yoga classes!

The Ennis Yoga Studio also supports many other yoga teachers and has facil-

itated and welcomed many national and international teachers to Ennis over the years.

Brenda’s personable manner, innate curiosity and felt understanding of the practice, along with the many many thousands of hours spent on the mat (both as student and teacher) ..are all brought into the mix of her teaching style – she is always greatly encouraging and inviting of people to explore themselves through the portal of movement and breath awareness and Brenda’s classes are integral to the overall success of the studio.

Brenda believes that the relationships formed in the yoga studio and on the yoga mat, both with your self and others will deeply enrich the life that you lead out of the studio and off the mat. It gives her such immense pleasure that there are many who now call the studio HOME.

ASK THE EXPERT Treating tendon pain

Damien Mc Mahon (MISCP, CORU) Physio Recovery Room

H

ave you been diagnosed with tendon pain recently?

Tendon pain is a complex pathology of the tendon known as tendinopathy. It is characterized by pain causing reduced function and exercise.

The most common tendinopathies involve the rotator cuff tendon (shoulder), medial and lateral epicondyles (tennis & golfer’s elbow), patellar tendon (knee), gluteal tendon (hip) and Achilles tendon.

Rotator cuff tendon pain is the most common cause of shoulder pain, with Achilles tendon pain most common in runners.

It may be caused by sudden increase in activity or a ten-

don that was not sufficiently trained to endure the activity.

Rest is not the best way to treat your tendon pain. It is ok to continue the activity that is painful if the pain is manageable.

It is important to consult with a health care professional, chartered physiotherapist to devise a gradual progressive strengthening programme to help with the initial reduction in pain and then healing of the tendon.

Strengthening exercises are very safe for your painful tendon. Strengthening exercise programmes can increase the load capacity of your tendon, stimulate remodelling and safe return to function and activity.

Medications and injections are not a quick fix and cannot

modify tendon structure or increase load capacity of the tendon.

Monitor symptoms 24 hours after exercise, if the pain continues to be manageable the load/activity/exercise was appropriate for you.

If the pain increases it does not mean you have damaged the tendon, it is indication the load/activity/exercise was too high for the tendon and should be reduced.

Be patient, painful tendons take time to recover. For example out of 62 runners 32 per cent had persisting achilles tendon pain a year after initial episode (Lagas et al.

2020).

The key message for treating tendon pain – diagnosis, strengthening programme, stop resting and be patient.

Shockwave Treatment

is safe and effective non invasive treatment that reduces pain and promotes healing in conditions such as

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- Plantar Fasciitis

physiorecoveryroom.ie

- Achilles tendinopathy - Tibialis Posterior tendinopathy - Patellar tendinopathy - Greater Trochanter pain - Hamstring tendinopathy - Rotator cuff pain/tendinopathy - Elbow epicondylitis (Tennis and Golfers Elbow)

Available at

30

Thursday, Sep 16 2021

Hustle Fitness celebrate fourth birthday

H

APPY Birthday Hustlers.

We can’t believe that it’s been 4 years since we opened Hustle Fitness here in Ennis.

What started off as simply filling a gap in the market, has now turned into a proud, hardworking fitness community.

Our journey began 4 years ago when we noticed a lack of health and fitness facilities here in Ennis. We decided to take matters into our own hands and create “Hustle Ennis”.

After experiencing a turbulent 18 months like every other gym in Ireland, Hustle stayed connected with their community online. We’re very aware of the role that health, fitness and a sense of community has on people’s physical and mental health so with that in mind, we decided to move our classes online, and were constantly checking in with our Hustle circle. For our own sanity as much as our members’.

2021 saw the addition

of the Hustle Studio on the Kildysart Rd which has been more successful than we ever could have imagined.

We’ve once again invested heavily in Ennis adding brand new machines and cardio equipment alike. Our aim is to always give back to our loyal members for their continued support!

We have also been fortunate enough to replicate everything that is Hustle Ennis in our new venture in Galway which is a 12,000ft gym facility in Doughiska; “Hustle Galway”.

We are incredibly grateful to our community here in Ennis without whom none of this would have been possible.

Hustle is not just another gym; we are all about community and our members and we never forget where we came from.

We’re especially delighted with the demand for personal training and fitness classes. This is what we love to do!!!Let’s keep moving towards our goals and see where the future takes us, thanks again guys!

Smash your goals at Hustle Fitness

The Hustle Fitness team

Isabelle shows how it’s done

31

Thursday, Sep 16 2021

OVERCOMING GYM

S

TARTING out on your fitness journey is tough enough without feeling overwhelmed and intimidated the first time you step into a gym.

You psych yourself up, pull on the lycra and plug in the headphones, raring to go. But that confidence slips away as soon as you open the door and are faced with all kinds of contraptions. It seems like everyone but you knows what they are doing. You look around helplessly and afraid of looking like a fool, you eventually hop onto the treadmill and do an hour of cardio, something you could have done for free in the fresh air.

What was the point of that, you ask yourself.

The next day, you walk past the gym instead of going through the door. We all have these stories, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Arm yourself with these top tips for success and you will be bench pressing with the best of them in no time.

1

VISIT YOUR GP:

First things first. Before starting any new routine, it’s always a good idea to check in with your GP to make sure you are good to go. Certain health conditions or injuries may prevent you from doing certain exercises, but that doesn’t mean you have to rule out the gym altogether. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail and all that.

2

NEW ‘FIT

Treat yourself to some new gym gear. You don’t have to spend a fortune. The world and their mother has a line of gym clothing these days, so there is

something out there to suit every budget and body type. A new kit will help you to feel more confident than if you turned up in beach shorts and an old college t-shirt.

3

FIND A CREW

Join a class (when Covid restrictions allow). Lots of gym memberships include access to fitness classes.

Take a look at the timetable and pick out a few that sound fun. Barre? Zumba? HIIT? You may just find your new favourite hobby.

Classes are a great way to meet like minded people and the instructors are there to help you find your way.

4

FEAR

HIRE A PT

On that note, if you really have no idea where to start, it would be no harm to organise a few sessions with a personal trainer to get you started. They will show you how the gym equipment works, help you work on your form and set up a training programme for you.

5

BE BRAVE

The final step is to get stuck in. That may sound harsh, but stay with us.

It seems like everyone else in the gym are professional athletes, but they had to start somewhere too. If you don’t know how to use a machine, ask someone and they will more than likely be delighted to help. They remember what it was like to start off and feel overwhelmed, but they mastered it and so will you. Be brave, keep the head up and get moving.

Don’t run away from the gym

Join Our Team We are actively recruiting for Carers in all areas of Co. Clare.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR If you have the necessary modules, please contact us on 061 248966 or email CV to nicole.galvin@communicare.ie THE JOB Community care based in a family home, to assist with the activities of daily living.

WHAT WE OFFER - Flexible Working Hours - Excellent Rates of Pay - Refer a Friend Bonus - Travel Expenses - 24HR Support - Ongoing Training

Keep your head up

Apply today by emailing your CV to nicole.galvin@communicare.ie For inquiries, please call 061 248966 for more info

32 RECRUITMENT

BUSINESS AND RECRUITMENT

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

CONTACT US WE’RE ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM #CE

Women’s Enterprise Day open for registration STUART HOLLY

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editor@clareecho.ie

EMALE entrepreneurs and budding businesswomen from across Clare are being encouraged to look to the future and register for this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day after the line up for the event was announced.

The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) initiative, now in its 15th year, will be hosted by founder and broadcaster Aine Kerr.

Traditionally National Women’s Enterprise Day has taken place locally with LEO Clare putting on events for female businesswomen across the county and those who may have a business idea they want to get off the ground. However, the event went online in 2020 due to restrictions and will take place

online again this year.

The free event, titled “Build The Future”, takes place online on the 7th October and will feature some of Ireland’s best known female entrepreneurs including the likes of Aimee Connolly of Sculpted by Aimee, Rachel Doyle of The Arboretum and Sharon Keegan of Peachy Lean, who was recently supported on Dragon’s Den UK. Clare’s ‘Leading Light’ at the National Womens Enterprise Day is Caroline Dunlea of Core Optimisation Ltd, Shannon. Core Optimisation Ltd was founded in 2015 by Caroline Dunlea along with David Brett and has quickly grown to be one of Ireland’s leading Digital Transformation agencies, focusing on digital transformation strategy, search engine optimisation, paid search, paid social and conversion optimisation.

The day’s programme will cover a whole host of areas on how to

lLEADER: Caroline Dunlea

build the future of a business covering topics like, how to get started, internationalization, finding new markets, trading effectively online, sustainability and innovation. This will be coupled with breakout rooms for networking and a host of one-to-one advice clinics for any business issues.

New figures released by the Lo-

cal Enterprise Offices, who are funded by the Government of Ireland and supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities, have shown that the amount of women engaging in entrepreneurship and business supports continues to rise.

In 2020 over 47,000 women engaged in training and upskilling with their Local Enterprise Office.

This was a huge jump on 2019 as 23,466 female entrepreneurs took part in training that year. In 2020, 50% more females engaged in training and upskilling with their Local Enterprise Office than their male counterparts (30,000).

Padraic McElwee, Head of Enterprise said; “National Women’s Enterprise Day has always been a day of celebration of the very best in female entrepreneurship and highlighting the strength of that community. This year is no different, but we are very much looking

forward. How can we help female entrepreneurs in Clare sustain and develop their businesses and ideas going into the future.

“The last 18 months have created huge problems for businesses all across the county but also great opportunities and businesses have to grasp those. NWED is going to look at all those areas where you can build your business for the future, what areas you need to look at and what supports are there to help you do that. Everyone who registers and attends on the day will not only spend it with a fantastic community of female entrepreneurs and experts from around the country, but they will learn how to build their business or business idea for the future.”

Find more information and register for free at localenterprise.ie/ NWED and join the conversation online using the hashtag #NWED.

E

Clare County Council continues to provide key public services during the current Covid-19 pan continuity of essential and critical services across our key operations in line with Level 5 of the Public offices will remain open on a managed access basis. It is recommended that customers appointments can be arranged where necessary.

All Service Updates in relation to Covid-19 can be viewed at www.clarecoco.ie

CUSTOMER SERVICES

To access our services please contact our Customer Services team on 065-6821616, email cus

BUSINESS 33

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

JOB OPPORTUNITY Enable Ireland is a leading national voluntary organisation which provides support services for adults with disabilities and their families, in partnership with the HSE and other State and voluntary agencies.

We have opportunities for Community Employment (CE) participants in various roles for 19.5 hours per week based at Enable Ireland’s Adult Day Service in Ennis, Co.Clare.

We are currently recruiting for the following positions:

• Care Assistants • Drivers (with B driving licence) If you want to find out more about our CE vacancies contact Barbara Curley on 086 8285688.

The posts will be subject to reference checks and subject to Garda vetting/police clearance, as relevant.

Enable Ireland is an equal opportunities employer.

The Community Employment (CE) programme is administered by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) and is designed to help unemployed people further their training and employment experience to assist them to return to work.

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Expressions of interest must be sent to info@shannongolfclub.ie by

Friday, 24th September 2021.

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pg 34

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CLARE SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP RD3

Doonbeg ‘not done’ despite defeat Doonbeg 0-03 Éire Óg 0-09 Venue: Kilmihil

DOONBEG Frees for: 19 (12/7) Wides: 9 (5/4) Scores from play: 0-02 Spread of scorers: 3 Top scorer: Shane Ryan, David Tubridy & Paul Dillon (0-01 each) Bookings: Cathal Killeen (4), Brian Egan (50) Own kickouts won: 11 from 19 (58%) ÉIRE ÓG Frees for: 17 (8/9) Wides: 10 (5/5) Scores from play: 0-04 Spread of scorers: 4 Top scorer: Mark McInerney (0-04 3f) Bookings: Ciaran Russell (4), Philip Talty (29), Nathan Murray (37) Own kickouts won: 11 from 12 (92%)

Cian O’Mahoney is tackled

by Niall McMahon Photo by Gerard O’Neill

Compiled by Páraic McMahon

PAUL MADDEN, ÉIRE ÓG MANAGER: “We put a challenge out to the lads, we didn’t play well the last day, there has been a lot of talk that Éire Óg are uncomfortable coming out of Ennis to play games. The reality is we never played games in Ennis before last year until we were in a county final, we had no problem coming to West Clare, long grass, short grass, West Clare or East Clare, it doesn’t matter to us, we were determined to get the job done whatever it took and we did.

“We did not play to our potential against Clondegad and I give them credit for a deserved win on the day.

It was all about us, the four weeks is no problem, we’re a

dual-club, we’re hurling next and that is the priority now to get the bodies right, win that game and move forward as a club.”

MARK RAFFERTY, DOONBEG MANAGER: “We’re certainly disappointed, we couldn’t seem to get into the game for one reason or another but at the same time, there was nothing in the game the whole way up along. It was 0-05 0-00 at half-time and we were talking then about getting a couple of scores to bring us back into it but we couldn’t seem to get that foothold in the middle of the field for some reason.

Our championship is not done, we’re still there”.

“We’d two lads that played

today that hadn’t trained in two weeks, they played 60 minutes and we had a few other lads sitting on the bench that couldn’t play. If we had them, we’d be thinking we’re going places.

“The lads know themselves that they didn’t play well for one reason or another, we have to get on the horse again.

“There’s scorers there, it is just a matter of trying to get them into the right SCAN HERE FOR MATCH REPORT positions.”

REFEREE: Jim Hickey (Cratloe)

Bingo moment for Donie’s Breckans St Breckans 0-11 Kilmihil 0-07 Venue: Miltown Malbay A determined Jack Sheedy gets past Stan Lineen Photo by Gerard O’Neill

Compiled by Paraic McMahon

ST BRECKANS Frees for: 18 (9/9) Wides: 5 (2/3) Scores from play: 0-07 Spread of scorers: 5 Top scorer: Padraig Kelly (0-05 4f) Bookings: Dale Masterson (13), Liam Tierney (18), Own kickouts won: 10 from 14 (71%) KILMIHIL Frees for: 23 (11/12) Wides: 7 (4/3) Scores from play: 0-02 Spread of scorers: 3 Top scorer: Ciaran Downes (0-04 4f) Bookings: Shane Downes (27), Own kickouts won: 11 from 16 (69%)

DONIE GARRIHY, ST BRECKANS MANAGER: “There’s been always this thing in the GAA of dummy teams and let’s not win this game, I could never figure it out. I know in soccer you go to win every single match, that comes from playing 18 matches in the league and having to win every single match.

“If you put out a dummy team, you will be sitting like a dummy from the outside looking in. Momentum is a great thing in sport and if you have momentum behind you then you have a bounce and that’s what we are trying to create, it started in 2019 and we’re trying to continue the bounce, I’m not going to disguise that.

“This is the senior football championship, we’re not play-

ing subbuteo, it’s not like we’re on a tablet and playing with our thumbs, this is the real thing and the beauty of the GAA, you can go play bingo on a Thursday night or down the hall on a Friday night and you don’t have to prepare, when you play football welcome to the real world, that is the beauty of the GAA, it is just amazing.

If I could go to bed last Tuesday night and wake up and the game was on today, I try to imagine that, I couldn’t wait for the game.

GERRY DOWNES, KILMIHIL MENTOR: “We’re in the play-off for a quarter-final spot but we didn’t look at that coming up here, we came up to win the game. All you can do is put in a performance and if

‘Good attitude’ key for KIB

Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-13 Cooraclare 1-12 Venue: Doonbeg KILMURRY IBRICKANE Compiled by Peter O’Connell Frees for: 22 (13/9) Wides: 8 (2/6) Spread of scorers: 6 Scores from play: 1-07 Top scorer: K Sexton (1-06 3f 1’45) Bookings: None Own kick-outs: Won 16 from 20 (80% COORACLARE Frees for: 21 (7/14) Wides: 7 (4/3) Spread of scorers: 7 Scores from play: 1-08 Top scorer: John Lillis (1-02) Bookings: Pearse Lillis, Thomas Downes, Micheál Garry Own kick-outs: Won 16 from 21 (76%)

AIDEN MOLONEY, KILMURRY IBRICKANE MANAGER: “We didn’t expect anything less than a battle with our close neighbours in Cooraclare. They came prepared for a battle and fair play to them, they hung in there until the end. We were happy enough to get out with the win. I know they are in relegation trouble but I was very impressed with them today.

Their fitness levels are good and they were sharp in front of

goals, especially in the first half.

“At half-time we said that this was a challenge for us. We were two points down and we asked them, were they up for the challenge? We saw it out for a finish and we probably deserved it overall. If we learned something from today, turning up with a good attitude is as important as anything”.

MICHAEL GARRY, COORACLARE MANAGER “We went after the game, we knew we had to. We were up against Kilmurry Ibrickane who

are a very experienced side and who know how to win games.

For us, it was disappointing because our lads pushed on and worked very hard. They never gave up. We have to let them settle now and get ready for the relegation play-off ”.

REFEREE: Wayne King (St Josephs Doora/ Barefield)

SCAN HERE FOR MATCH REPORT

Martin McMahon is surrounded by Cooraclare men Photo by Gerard O’Neill

you’re beaten by a better team on the day, which Breckans were.

“The frees cost us, there was only four points in it at the end of it, we missed a few frees which normally the lads taking them would score but it is easier to say that from the line and there was a bit of a breeze there. We’re delighted with the performance.

We were embarrassed after the last performance against Doora/ Barefield, we needed to SCAN HERE FOR up our game MATCH REPORT today and we did”.

REFEREE: Barry Kelly (St Josephs Miltown)

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Miltown players ‘stood up’ ST JOSEPH’S MILTOWN 0-12 ENNISTYMON 0-09 Venue: Cusack Park MILTOWN MALBAY Frees for: 16 (8/8) Wides: 6 (6/0) Scores from play: 0-08 Spread of scorers: 5 Top scorer: Eoin Cleary (0-07 3f 1’45) Bookings: Jamesie O’Connor (37) Own kickouts won: 17 from 23 (74%) ENNISTYMON Frees for: 19 (7/12) Wides: 14 (6/8) Scores from play: 0-06 Spread of scorers: 6 Top scorer: Cillian Rouine (0-02), Brendan Rouine (0-02 2f), Killian Malone (0-02 1f) Bookings: Cathal O’Reilly (58) Own kickouts won: 16 from 18 (89%)

MICHAEL NEYLON, ST JOSEPHS MILTOWN MANAGER: “It was a battle for the two middle quarters and just a case of hanging in there, we got a breathing space but then it was back to nothing and slipping from us but we got a few scores in the last quarter that stretched it away and gave us the belief to keep on going.

“We have the players that can deal with a counter-attack and can take advantage of a counter-attack, all of the guys stood up today regardless of what

position they were playing in, they wanted to go and do their best, we made the most of that situation when it might not be much of a lead but it does force the opposition to commit forward and at the same time gave us the opportunity to win on a counter-attack.

“The scores we got they came from workrate, there was no major free-flowing moves.”

Compiled by Páraic McMahon

with the outcome of the game, we created a lot of chances, we just needed to get a bit more clinical in front of goal. We have a game against Cratloe in two weeks’ time, it is a must win game for ourselves and it is what we need to focus on now.”

Eoin Cleary scored 0-07 Photo by Gerard O’Neill

SCAN HERE FOR MATCH REPORT

NOEL CROWE, ENNISTYMON MANAGER: “We’re disappointed

‘Everything went right’ for Doora-Barefield Jack Hannan sustained a head injury during Doora/Barefield’s win Photo by Gerard O’Neill

DONAGH VAUGHAN, ST JOSEPHS DOORA/ BAREFIELD SELECTOR: “It was a day that we came to the office and everything went right for us. But we caught a few injuries so if there’s any negatives, we just hope our boys will recover but overall we’re delighted.

It was a super performance and we were accused

KILRUSH SHAMROCKS Frees for: 9 (6/3) Wides: 7 (3/4) Scores from play: 1-00 Spread of scorers: 2 Top scorer: Liam Madigan (1-01) Bookings: Liam Madigan (31), Matthew Moloney (33) Kick outs won: 14 from 25 (56%) of starting games slowly last year but we focused well today and we got going straight away and we got straight into this match. We’re delighted- it was a great performance all over the field.”

“Now we have a lot of dual players. There’s a lot of hurling to be played and then there’s football.

But we have a month. We’ll keep working away.

We have a lot of stuff to improve on. But overall we’re happy and we’ll have a lash at anyone.”

KEVIN SHALLOO, KILRUSH TRAINER: “It’s bitterly disappointing really. We had a nice bit of progress made since the first round defeat to Kilmihil. We thought we performed well against Breckans and we were building kind of nicely. We

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LISSYCASEY 0-14 Clondegad 1-08 Venue: Cusack Park Compiled by Gerry Quinn

JOHN RYAN, LISSYCASEY MANAGER: “The subs that came on today, they did very well. It’s not 15 going out and winning a game anymore, you have to use your bench. I think our bench today got us over the line”.

“You always want that bit more. The one thing about it is the work-rate that we had today got us through. In fairness to Clondegad, they brought a massive amount to the table today.

They really upped their game as well. But I was happy with our lads – their work rate was great.

When we lost Matt O’Shea in the middle of the field through injury, a big player, they dug deep again and that was the main thing.”

REFEREE: Fearghal Gray (Feakle)

DOORA-BAREFIELD 1-18 Kilrush Shamrocks 1-02 Venue: Cusack Park

Bench vital in Lissycasey win

Compiled by Páraic McMahon

ST JOSEPH’S DOORA BAREFIELD Frees for: 9 (4/5) Wides 6 (2/3) Scores from play: 1-16 Spread of scorers: 11 Top scorer: Eoghan Thynne (1-00), Tom Hannan (0-03), Conall Kelleher (0-03 2f) Bookings: None Kick outs won: 8 from 10 (80%) had this kind of targeted that we might pull off something but we were very slow to start and you have to give credit to Doora Barefield, they had our number from the get-go really. They played very, very well and they were convincing winners as the scoreboard suggests – they were that much better SCAN HERE FOR MATCH REPORT than us today”.

“There will be no finger-pointing or anything after this. It’s disappointing but we are better than that.

We will definitely regroup and have a serious go to save status.”

FLAN ENRIGHT, CLONDEGAD MANAGER: “It was never about neighbours and rivals, this was a path to get to the quarter final where we haven’t been in a few years. The best of luck to Lissycasey, they brought it to us on the day. It was a game that we were right in right up to the end. We had goal chances, they had goal chances and we both missed them.

“We will just have to go at it again and try and avoid the step down.”

SCAN HERE FOR MATCH REPORT

LISSYCASEY: Frees For: 14 (3/11) Wides: 9 (4/5) Scores from play: 0-13 Spread of scorers: 6 Top scorer: Conor Finucane (0-05 1f) Bookings: Brian Cahill (47) and Michael Madigan (64) Own kickouts won: 6 from 15 (40%) CLONDEGAD: Frees For: 15 (9/6) Wides: 6 (5/1) Scores from play: 1-04 Spread of scorers: 4 Top scorer: Gary Brennan (0-05 4f) Bookings: Evan Flynn (47) and Brian Murphy (64) Own kickouts won: 10 from 25 (40%)

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Six ladies sides sweat it out for Snr glory

by PÁRAIC McMAHON

ON PAR with waiting for a bus, two have come along at once with adult championships kicking off this weekend in both ladies football and camogie.

Six teams contest the senior ladies football championship with the top four progressing to the semi-final and the bottom team fighting for their survival in the top tier. Winners of the semi-finals will advance to the county final while the defeated semi-finalists will be in action in the senior b decider.

Top of the pile and deserving favourites to retain their crown as county champions are the Banner Ladies who are bidding to a win a 10th senior title in 11 years.

Although Niamh Cavanagh and Niamh Keane are not part of their panel, the Ennis outfit will still be able to call on the quality of Niamh O’Dea, Grainne Nolan, Louise

Henchy and Louise Woods.

Holding the tag of favourites is of little significance, Banner boss JJ O’Dea stressed, “You can’t pay heed to the favourites tag, when you are favourites you are going to be knocked, you have to deal with it as best you can. Every other club and neutral are against us, the favourites tag means nothing, the first round of the championship is very hard to win, it is like a county final and that’s how we will be treating it.”

Kilmihil were the side to deny Banner Ladies a ninth consecutive title in 2019. They are no longer able to call on the Considine sisters Eimear and Ailish while Newmarket-on-Fergus duo Carol O’Leary and Jenny Kelly have returned to their native club.

Any slippage will be punished with the quick succession of games, manager Kevin Callinan maintains. “We have to take every game on its own, every game is go-

ing to be a big game; five games in five weeks in a row, we will have to have everyone on their toes from the start of the campaign right down to the right round robin.”

Evan Talty was this week reappointed as manager of the Clare intermediate side, he carries this role along with managing his native Kilmurry Ibrickane. With the likes of Chloe Moloney, Ciara McCarthy and Amy Sexton making their mark at county level, the Bricks will certainly be capable of causing an upset or two.

He is looking forward to seeing new players put their hand up for county selection while also seeing how they cope at the senior ranks following their intermediate success over St Josephs Miltown last year. “It is a strange one, no more than inter-county, there is a huge gap between senior and intermediate, our main goal is to consolidate senior status by getting a win or

two.” He views their opponents this weekend Kilmihil as consistently “the second best team in Clare”.

With the addition of 12 players from the underage ranks, Cooraclare captain Ann Marie Callinan points out that they are a very young outfit. The loss through injury of Keeva Corry continues to be a major blow to the Milesians.

West Clare Gaels are aware of the task they face as they welcome Banner Ladies to Cross for their championship opener, club secretary Pat Walsh acknowledged, “The name on everyone’s lips is the Banner but there are other teams in the championship, we’d be underdogs but we know what we’re going in to do.”

Crusheen based Kieran Ryan is in his second year over St Josephs Doora/Barefield, the age-profile of the panel was something that surprised him but while optimistic for the club’s future, he stressed the need to retain young players.

Away ties in Quilty and Kilmihil don’t come easy for clubs like Doora/Barefield, Kieran says. “It is because of the tradition they have, you will see an awful lot of kids at the game, they can’t wait to be the next star in Cooraclare or Kilmurry Ibrickane. We have kids that don’t see a lot of matches because they are going from rugby to soccer to hurling which is great but they may not get the feeling for a tight-knit parish all supporting the one sport, but I wouldn’t change what we have because we have well-rounded athletes.”

Nine teams will compete in the intermediate championship across two groups while seven sides will battle it out in Junior A and four teams in the running for Junior B. The Intermediate Final will be played as a double header with the Senior Final on November 14 while the Junior Finals will be played on October 24 and October 31.

LADIES SENIOR FOOTBALL TEAMS 5 vs Cooraclare (Oct 17th) in Cooraclare

Compiled by Páraic McMahon

BANNER LADIES

DOORA/BAREFIELD

MANAGEMENT: JJ O’Dea (manager), MarMANAGEMENT: tin Nolan (selector), Orla Kilkenny (coach), Dorothy Meenaghan (liaison officer) CAPTAIN:: TBC CAPTAIN KEY PLAYER: PLAYER: Aoibheann Malone ONE TO WATCH: WATCH: Aoibhin Ryan FRESH BLOOD: N/A DEPARTURES GATE: Niamh Cavanagh, Niamh Keane, FIXTURES:: Rnd 1 vs West Clare Gaels FIXTURES (Sept 19th) in Cross; Rnd 2 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane (Sept 26th) in Ennis; Rnd 3 vs St Josephs Doora/Barefield (Oct 3rd) in Gurteen; Rnd 4 vs Cooraclare (Oct 10th) in Ennis; Rnd 5 vs Kilmihil (Oct 17th) in Kilmihil

MANAGEMENT: Kieran Ryan (manager), MANAGEMENT: Shane Keating (selector), Annette Reidy (selector) CAPTAIN:: Megan O’Brien CAPTAIN KEY PLAYER: Aisling Hannon ONE TO WATCH: Hannah Doyle FRESH BLOOD: Hannah Doyle, Lyndsey Clarke, Emer O’Loughlin, Sinead O’Connor.

DEPARTURES GATE: Anna Courtney, Alanna Meaney FIXTURES: Rnd 1 vs Cooraclare (Sept 19th) in Gurteen; Rnd 2 vs Kilmihil (Sept 26th) in Kilmihil; Rnd 3 vs Banner Ladies (Oct 3rd) in Gurteen; Rnd 4 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane (Oct 10th) in Quilty; Rnd 5 vs West Clare Gaels (Oct 17th) in Gurteen

COORACLARE

MANAGEMENT: Franko Lillis (manager), MANAGEMENT: Ronan Lillis (selector) CAPTAIN:: Ann Marie Callinan CAPTAIN KEY PLAYER: Megan Downes ONE TO WATCH: WATCH: Aimee McNamara FRESH BLOOD: BLOOD: Ava Hehir, Aimee McNamara, Anna Mae Kelly Killeen, Chloe Lillis, Maebh Fennell, Sadhbh O’Brien, Ellise O’Leary, Saoirse Fennell, Aisling Lynch, Ciara O’Connell, Katie Cronin, Lorraine O’Dea DEPARTURES GATE: GATE: Keeva Corry (injured), Brianna Byrne, Aisling Hehir (injured), Caolhinn Morrissey, Niamh Burke, Heidi Morrissey, Sarah Looney, Emma-Lee Culligan FIXTURES:: Rnd 1 vs St Josephs Doora/ FIXTURES Barefield (Sept 19th) in Gurteen; Rnd 2 vs West Clare Gaels (Sept 26th) in Cooraclare; Rnd 3 vs Kilmihil (Oct 3rd) in Kilmihil; Rnd 4 vs Banner Ladies (Oct 10th) in

Clare captain Caoimhe Harvey will be lining out for West Clare Gaels Burren Eye Photography

Ennis; Rnd 5 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane (Oct 17th) in Cooraclare

KILMIHIL

MANAGEMENT: Kevin Callinan (managMANAGEMENT: er), Enda O’Halloran (selector/coach) CAPTAIN:: Ellie O’Gorman CAPTAIN KEY PLAYER: PLAYER: Laura Egan ONE TO WATCH: WATCH: Aoife McNamara FRESH BLOOD: BLOOD: Chloe Devitt DEPARTURES GATE: GATE: FIXTURES:: Rnd 1 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane FIXTURES (Sept 19th) in Quilty; Rnd 2 vs St Josephs Doora/Barefield (Sept 26th) in Kilmihil; Rnd 3 vs Cooraclare (Oct 3rd) in Kilmihil; Rnd 4 vs West Clare Gaels (Oct 10th) in Cross; Rnd 5 vs Banner Ladies (Oct 17th) in Kilmihil

KILMURRY IBRICKANE

MANAGEMENT: Evan Talty (manager), MANAGEMENT: Enda Coughlan (selector), John O’Connor (selector), Micheál Talty (selector), Aisling Moloney (selector) CAPTAIN:: Rotating Captain CAPTAIN KEY PLAYER: Ciara McCarthy ONE TO WATCH: WATCH: Sophie Daly FRESH BLOOD: BLOOD: Aoife Corry, Ellie Hanrahan, Chloe O’Brien DEPARTURES GATE: Lauren McCarthy, Ciara Hickey FIXTURES:: Rnd 1 vs Kilmihil (Sept 19th) FIXTURES in Quilty; Rnd 2 vs Banner Ladies (Sept 26th) in Ennis; Rnd 3 vs West Clare Gaels (Oct 3rd) in Quilty; Rnd 4 vs St Josephs Doora/Barefield (Oct 10th) in Quilty; Rnd

WEST CLARE GAELS

MANAGEMENT: Michael Carmody (manager), Ethne Liddane (selector), Kieran De Loughrey (selector) CAPTAIN: Aine Moloney and Sarah Marrinan KEY PLAYER: PLAYER: Caoimhe Harvey ONE TO WATCH: WATCH: Grainne Harvey FRESH BLOOD: BLOOD: Nell Walsh, Sorcha Griffin DEPARTURES GATE: GATE: Shauna Melican, Ruth Ferguson FIXTURES: Rnd 1 vs Banner Ladies (Sept 19th) in Cross; Rnd 2 vs Cooraclare (Sept 26th) in Cooraclare; Rnd 3 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane (Oct 3rd) in Quilty; Rnd 4 vs Kilmihil (Oct 10th) in Cross; Rnd 5 vs St Josephs Doora/Barefield (Oct 17th) in Gurteen

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Inagh-Kilnamona still team to beat in senior camogie Andrea O’Keeffe and Inagh/Kilnamona are championship favourites Photograph: Burren Eye Photography

A record 34 teams enter the race for five county adult championships, that include a Junior C competition for the very first time. Ahead of an intriguing battle for the senior honours, Clare legends Deirdre Murphy and Trish O’Grady along with award- winning PRO Brid MacNamara sit down with Eoin Brennan to assess the contenders for this year’s McMahon Cup. EB: There’s now five adult championships Brid, that must be hugely encouraging for the health of camogie in the county?

BMN: It’s extremely encouraging. We all give out about COVID and the fact that we had to play games behind closed doors last year but on the flip side of it, due to the restrictions on travel, girls weren’t able to travel for the summer and suddenly teams weren’t struggling for numbers. So we’ve never had as many clubs entering a second team and it’s superb to see it.

It’s not just number though as the standard is improving year-on-year and that’s not just at senior level, you can see it right down through the adult levels. Last year, the Junior A final between Corofin and Broadford was just as exciting as the senior final the previous day so the improvement is there and the credit for that is down to the clubs as they are the ones putting in the work which is reflected on the field of play.

EB: Can one take the fact that Clare clubs have contested the last four Munster Senior Club Finals as a clear barometer of the standard of camogie?

DM: It is at senior club level. I mean I thought that the county final last year was a fabulous game and some of the scores that Inagh-Kilnamona put together were really class. So it will be a very competitive senior championship once more but the where the standard is at, I’m not sure as you go down the grades, particularly at underage.

Having been involved at Under 16 level, we [Clooney-Quin] would have tested ourselves against opposition outside of the county and for instance, the best three or four teams in Galway would be significantly ahead of the equivalents in Clare.

So while our county senior champions wouldn’t fear the likes of Sarsfields in Galway, It’s not every club in Clare that would be comfortable looking for a challenge against those. So whatever about the overall standard which would be difficult to mea-

sure, there’s no doubt that whoever comes out on top in the senior ranks will have nothing else in their heads but to win a Munster Club Championship as well.

And that’s not a position that has always been there so that alone is hugely positive.

EB: Let’s look ahead to the potential candidates for the senior crown and we’ll start with Group A which contains three of last year’s semi-finalists in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Kilmaley and Scariff-Ogonnelloe along with Kilkishen/Bodyke and St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield DM: It’s not easy to call at all really so thanks for letting me go first. Kilkishen/Bodyke are very competitive now and have a lot of good players. We played Doora/Barefield ourselves in a challenge recently and perhaps they are just short those prolific forwards that will score enough to beat the best teams but they will give it everything and are very athletic and determined.

But overall, I still feel you’re probably looking at picking two from Scariff-Ogonnelloe, Kilmaley and Newmarket and that’s very tricky because I feel that Kilmaley are on an upward curve.

Kilmaley gave Inagh-Kilnamona a really, really good game last year in the semi-final but Newmarket, while they’ve lost the last few finals, are actually getting the best out of themselves every year and unfortunately are just falling short in those finals against better teams as opposed to any frailties.

So I’ll punt for Kilmaley and I’m still not sure who will come out on top between Scariff-Ogonnelloe and Newmarket.

TOG: I’m also torn between those three.

Kilkishen/Bodyke and St Joseph’s are both capable of causing an upset but probably won’t be able to sustain that over the four matches.

I think there will be plenty of twists and turns in this group, with the first round matches in particular will be very telling in terms of form as there’s never anything between Newmarket and Kilmaley while I’d be expecting Scariff-Ogonnelloe to be redoubling their efforts in order to win back the crown they won in 2019.

BMN: Three into two definitely doesn’t go, at least when I was in school anyway.

In the past few years, Newmarket and Scariff-Ogonnelloe have been the ones consistently reaching the semi-finals but I think Kilmaley are going to break that up this year.

After all they came with a hair’s breadth

of being back in a county senior final at the expense of the eventual champions Inagh-Kilnamona last year and I think there’s a burning desire to go that one significant step further this year.

In my opinion, Scariff-Ogonnelloe are the favourites to top Group 1, based upon the 2020 championship and the recent league.

Newmarket struggled a bit in this year’s league but I think whoever comes out on top between Newmarket and Kilmaley in Tubber on Friday night will have a big advantage in the race to join Scariff-Ogonnelloe.

DM: Scariff-Ogonnelloe have a very strong set of backs but injuries and absentees have lessened their scoring prowess up front. Still, I would be stunned if they don’t reach the semi-finals.

TOG: Goalkeeper Aisling Corbett is now the chief target up front and offers Scariff-Ogonnelloe a much different threat than in previous years. Kilmaley are maturing and in Niamh O’Dea, they have a major leader. I would find it difficult to back against Newmarket considering their record but I would base a lot on the opening round result between Newmarket and Kilmaley in terms of the confidence that the win will give and also how the losing team responds.

EB: So still a bit of conflict on who will join Scariff-Ogonnelloe in the last four so is Group B any clearer as it comprises of the county champions Inagh-Kilnamona, the Senior B winners Truagh-Clonlara, intermediate champions Feakle-Killanena and Sixmilebridge?

BMN: You couldn’t look past Inagh-Kilnamona to top the group, with the second spot maybe between Truagh-Clonlara and Feakle-Killanena. It’s only their first senior campaign but Feakle-Killanena have a capability to do a Meath on it and make a major impact at senior level.

With a Munster Intermediate Final to come later in the year, a good performance in the county senior championship would set them up well for that decider against Clanmaurice in a few months time.

TOG: I would largely agree with that. Inagh-Kilnamona are my favourites for the championship, with Truagh-Clonlara second overall so to have both in the same group is interesting. Feakle-Killanena have real potential but it may come down to their final match against Sixmilebridge to show that.

I can’t see anyone beating Inagh-Kilnamona this year. I mean they only strengthened

their panel last year and last year had three or four subs that were just as good as those that started.

They also have an edge as Inagh-Kilnamona will still feel aggrieved not to have played the Munster Final last October because with the form that they were in at the time, there’s no doubt in my mind that Inagh-Kilnamona would have won that Munster title.

So that motivation will still be there and while they may get a fright along the way, there are too strong overall to be caught more than once.

DM: I can’t really argue with that. Inagh-Kilnamona have some excellent young players that they introduced last year that are only going to get better. Truagh are also going well, there has been a huge collective effort this year so I’d imagine that Truagh and Inagh-Kilnamona, when it comes down to the heel of the hunt, will emerge from the group.

I say that with the knowledge that Sixmilebridge, with Chloe [Morey], Maire McGrath and perhaps Naomi [Carroll[ is available could pull off any result on a given day and that Feakle-Killanena have excellent forwards and won’t have any fear any of their group rivals.

EB: So without having to read between the lines, is everyone in agreement that Inagh-Kilnamona remain favourites to retain their crown for what would be a fifth title in six seasons?

DM: I think so. Their strength-in-depth and winning know-how is difficult for any other club to match at the moment.

BMN: Yes, their experience alone dictates that they should have the edge.

TOG: It’s a tough championship to call this year but Inagh-Kilnamona are still the team to beat and whoever beats them will more than likely be champions.

Concern over dual schedule

by PÁRAIC McMAHON

DUAL-players face the prospect of two games per weekend for the next five weeks.

Camogie games are to take place on Friday and Saturdays with Sunday dedicated to football. For dual-players it means a lot of action and an increased risk of injury, a worry pointed out by club managers.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, St Josephs Doora/Barefield manager, Kieran Ryan felt the expectations on dual-players were made even more difficult with the structures in place. “Expecting girls at any level to do senior camogie on a Saturday and play senior football on a Sunday is not realistic, it’s tough for one week let alone five weeks.”

Banner Ladies manager, JJ O’Dea will have players lining out for Inagh/Kilnamona, Kilmaley, St Josephs Doora/Barefield, Éire Óg and Corofin in the camogie.

“We’ve a serious amount of dual-players, playing five games Saturday and Sunday for the next five weeks, that is an awful lot to ask. With COVID-19 still around, if one of our panel is deemed a close contact we could end up losing players very quickly.”

Chairman of Clare LGFA, Seán Lenihan explained, “Due to Covid, we have a shorter window than normal and the calendar is fairly full, particularly for dual clubs and smaller clubs who depend on a number of girls playing across the age groups”.

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SENIOR CAMOGIE TEAM PROFILES Group A

NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS

MANAGEMENT: Brian Enright (manager), Alan Hehir, Paudie McMahon, Joe Brett, Sinead O’Neill, Martin Conlon (S&C) CAPTAIN: Aimee McInerney KEY PLAYER: Katie O’Flanagan ONE TO WATCH: Sinead White FRESH BLOOD: Izzy Coffey, Lauryn Flaherty DEPARTURE GATE: Lorraine Bible FIXTURES: Round 1 v Kilmaley (Sept 18) Round 2 v Kilkishen-Bodyke (Sept 25) Round 3 v Scariff-Ogonnelloe (Oct 2) Round 4 v St. Josephs Doora/Barefield (Oct 9); Round 5 a bye (Oct. 16)

SCARIFF-OGONNELLOE

MANAGEMENT: David O’Sullivan (manager), Sarah Skelly, J. P. Houlihan, Alan Gorman, Ronan Moore (S&C); Eleanor Walsh and Cormac Sullivan (Stats and Backroom), Dr. Conor McGee (medical) JOINT CAPTAINS: Mairead Scanlan and Amy Barrett KEY PLAYER: Amy Barrett ONE TO WATCH: Abbie Walsh FRESH BLOOD: Abbie Walsh, Labhaise O’Donnell, Lorraine Grady, Bonnie Murphy, Roisin Collins, Danielle Beston, Emer Rodgers DEPARTURE GATE: Aoife Power(cruciate injury out for the year); Holly McGee and Ashling Corry(overseas) FIXTURES: Round 1 v Kilkishen/Bodyke (Sept 18); Round 2 v St. Josephs Doora/ Barefield (Sept 25); Round 3 v Newmarket-on-Fergus (October 2); Round 4 on October 9(Bye); Round 5 v Kilmaley (October 16

KILMALEY

MANAGEMENT: Danny Cabey, Kieran Dillon (Joint managers), Eoin O’Malley (coach) Dermot Maher (selector and goalkeeping coach) Siobhan Maher (selector), Marie Hehir (selector) Aidan Griffin (S&C) CAPTAIN: Niamh O’Dea KEY PLAYER: Niamh O’Dea ONE TO WATCH: Sarah Ni Ceallaigh, FRESH BLOOD: Lauren Cahill DEPARTURE GATE: None FIXTURES: Round 1 v Newmarket-on-Fergus (Sept 18); Round 2 bye ( Sept 25); Round 3 v St. Josephs Doora/Barefield (Oct 2); Round 4 v Kilkishen-Bodyke (Oct. 9); Round 5 v Scariff-Ogonnelloe (Oct 16)

KILKISHEN/BODYKE

MANAGEMENT: Liam Doyle, Jim Lynch, Sean Hehir, Sinead Doyle and Catherine O’Gorman CAPTAIN: Kate Lynch KEY PLAYER: Alannah Ryan, ONE TO WATCH: Hannah Minogue, FRESH BLOOD: Emer Murphy DEPARTURE GATE: Niamh O’Brien FIXTURES: Round 1 v Scariff-Ogoonnelloe (Sept. 18) Round 2 v Newmarket-on-Fergus (Sept 25) Round 3 bye (Oct 2); Round 4 v Kilmaley (Oct 9); Round 5 v St. Josephs Doora/Barefield (Oct 16)

ST. JOSEPHS DOORA/ BAREFIELD:

MANAGEMENT: Alan Hehir (Manager), Eamonn O’Loughlin, Carmel Duggan, Elaine O’Mahoney, Ann Marie McGann CAPTAIN: Emer Casey KEY PLAYER: Siofra Ni Chonaill ONE TO WATCH: Louise Woods

FRESH BLOOD: Sinead O’Connor, Casey O’Callaghan, Shauna Moloney DEPARTURE GATE: None FIXTURES: Round 1 bye (Sept 18); Round 2 v Scariff-Ogonnelloe (Sept 25); Round 3 v Kilmaley (Oct 2); Round 4 v Newmarket-on-Fergus (Oct.9); Round 5 v Kilkishen/Bodyke (Oct 16) Group B:

INAGH/KILNAMONA:

MANAGEMENT: Eugene Foudy (Manager), Flan Barry, Joe Ryan, Marie Kenneally, Mikey Barrett, Carmel McInerney (Medical) CAPTAIN: Claire Hehir KEY PLAYER: Aoife Keane: ONE TO WATCH: Tierna Hegarty FRESH BLOOD: None DEPARTURE GATE:: None FIXTURES:; Round 1 v Feakle-Killanena (Sept 18); Round 2 v Sixmilebridge (Oct 2) Round 3 v Truagh-Clonlara (Oct 16)

TRUAGH/CLONLARA:

MANAGEMENT Bob Caulfield (Manager), Ryan Morris, Kieran Foley, Eamonn Noonan, John Conlan; Joe Clancy (Covid officer); John Hogg and Nuala Hawes (First Aid) JOINT CAPTAINS: Michelle Powell and Eimear Kelly KEY PLAYER: Eimear Kelly: ONE TO WATCH: Joanne Egan FRESH BLOOD: Emer Begley, Alex Condren, Amy Shanahan, Aoife Dillon: Departure Gate: Roisin Begley (Cruciate injury out for the season) FIXTURES:

Round 1 v Sixmilebridge (Sept 16) Round 2 v Feakle-Killanena (Oct. 2) Round 3 v Inagh-Kilnamona (Oct 16)

SIXMILEBRIDGE:

MANAGEMENT: Conor Dolan (Manager), Mike Morey, Jim Fitzgerald; Helen Seago (Physio) Catriona Scanlan (Covid officer) Joint Captains: Niamh Lyons and Sarah Loughnane KEY PLAYER: Maire McGrath ONE TO WATCH: Fina O’Brien FRESH BLOOD: Aiveen McNamara DEPARTURES GATE: Susan Fahy FIXTURES: Round 1 v Truagh-Clonlara (Sept 16) Round 2 v Inagh-Kilnamona (Oct. 2) Round 3 v Feakle-Killanena (Oct 16)

FEAKLE/KILLENANA:

MANAGEMENT: Ger Conway (Manager), Ollie Noone, Siobhan Nelson, Catriona Naughton, Aoife Torpey; Carmel McGrath (First Aid), Enda Collins (Physio) JOINT CAPTAINS: Aoife Tuohy and Shauna Canny KEY PLAYER: Ella McNamara ONE TO WATCH: Lorna McNamara FRESH BLOOD: Louise Callaghan, Ellie Edge O’Neill DEPARTURE GATE: Jodie Guilfoyle FIXTURES: Round 1 v Inagh-Kilnamona (Sept. 18) Round 2 v Truagh-Clonlara (Oct. 2) Round 3 v Sixmilebridge (Oct 16)

Underage silverware claimed at U14 & U16

Jubilation and plenty of beeping was to be heard across Clare in the past week with the first pieces of silverware handed out in the ladies football underage championships.

Fergus Rovers were crowned U14A champions after beating Kilrush Shamrocks, in what was a tight affair the winners only began to pull away in the final ten minutes.

West Clare Gaels overcame the challenge of St Josephs Doora/Barefield in the U14A Shield while Burren Gaels had a goal to spare over Newmarket-on-Fergus in the U14A Plate.

St Josephs Miltown advanced to the U14B Cup final defeating Cúil Gaels by two points while Wolfe Tones proved too strong for Doonbeg in the U14C Shield final.

The Parish had bragging rights in the U16A final as they beat Fergus Rovers while St Josephs Miltown took the U16B Cup at the expense of Burren Gaels, the U16B Shield was claimed by Kilrush as they defeated West Clare Gaels.

Newmarket-on-Fergus beat rivals Clarecastle to scoop the U16C title with Cooraclare besting Cúil Gaels to take the U16C Shield and Kilmihil had too much for Clooney/ Quin in the U16D Cup.

PICTURED: Some happy scenes in Tubber GAA Grounds as Burren Gaels (4-05) just overcome Newmarket on Fergus (3-05) in a very exciting Clare LGFA U14A Plate Final. Burren Gaels Caoimhe Byrne O’Connell and Lisa Murphy celebrate at the final whistle. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography

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Tulla’s U15B Shield winners celebrate after their victory on Tuesday evening

Tulla, Clooney-Quin and Kilmaley in winner’s enclosure

by EOIN BRENNAN

TULLA produced an emphatic final display to cement the last Under 15 silverware of the season when overcoming Broadford by 2-25 to 2-09 on their way to the Under 15B Hurling Shield on Tuesday evening.

Triumvirate Emmet Mulcahy (1-7), Ryan Hayes (0-7) and Daniel Humphries (0-6) combined for a handsome tally of 1-20 as Tulla led from start to finish in an impressive showing on home soil.

An early Conor O’Brien goal set the tone as Tulla blazed into a 1-3 to 0-0 advantage by the sixth minute. So while a John Moran-led Broadford steadied the ship to halve the deficit, the hosts just seemed able to move through the gears when required to pull clear once more.

A seven point unanswered rally led by some excellent long range shooting through Emmet Mulcahy (3) and Daniel Humphries (2) stretched the gap to double figures, a margin that would be preserved by half-time despite a Broadford goal for Michael Vaughan at 1-16 to 1-06.

In a concerted effort to alter the narrative, Broadford re-emerged to hit 1-2 including a brilliantly worked Aodhan O’Driscoll goal to lower the arrears to just five by the 34th minute. Again however, it only seemed to motivate Tulla as Ryan Hayes and Humphries restored a ten point cushion by the three-quarter mark before an Emmet Mulcahy clinching goal on the restart left no doubt as to where the final Under 15 crown will reside.

In contrast, the first Under 13 honours were awarded on Sunday as the second teams of Kilmaley and Clooney-Quin proved goal hungry in garnering Academy Shield titles.

Kilmaley traveled to Fr. Murphy Me-

morial Park to take on hosts Newmarket-on-Fergus in the Academy A decider, with a lightening start laying the foundations for a 6-7 to 3-1 victory for the visitors.

Goals through Aidan Cleary (2) and Sam Switzer boosted Kilmaley into a 13 point advantage by the 15th minute at 3-4 to 0-0, with defensive anchors Seanie Connellan and Liam Keane proving just as effective in preventing Newmarket from settling into their stride.

Three Newmarket goals in the next two quarters from Tadgh Guinane, Rory Freeman and substitute John Burke made little inroads into the deficit after Aidan Cleary had completed his hat-trick to see Kilmaley remain in control at 4-6 to 3-0 by the final water break.

Cleary would actually finish with four goals while the versatile Liam Keane concluded the scoring with an injury-time major as Kilmaley ran out commanding victors.

Over in Clooney, it was the home side’s determined finish that cemented the Academy B Shield as Clooney-Quin edged out O’Callaghan’s Mills/Bodyke by 5-9 to 4-5 on Sunday.

Timely goals from James Canny, Marcus Fitzpatrick, Darragh Browne, Eli Deegan and Daniel Cleary were all required as despite leading throughout the opening period, the hosts found themselves trailing by 4-5 to 3-5 entering the final quarter after the amalgamation found their range through James Moroney, Aidan McInerney and Donnacha Lenihan.

Clooney-Quin refused to panic however and responded with a decisive 2-4 unanswered burst to prevail in what was a hugely entertaining nine goal thriller.

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Winning start for Clare’s Kennedy Cup side

Ennis Town’s Chibby Okoye keeps the ball from Jamesy McConigley of Sporting Ennistymon

Clare 3 West Cork 0 Venue: Riverside Park, Shannon

Newmarket keep top spot

by SEAMUS HAYES

N

EWMARKET Celtic maintain top spot in the Maloney Garden Premier Division while Ennis Town continued their run of impressive form with Avenue Utd coming out on top against Shannon Town.

HEHIR’S STRIKE PROVES DECISIVE Avenue United 3 Shannon Town Utd 2 Venue: Roslevan

Two of the fancied teams for honours this season clashed at Roslevan on Sunday in the Premier league and the home side emerged with the points after a lively contest.

Avenue led at the break through a Ronan Kerin goal which was scored three minutes before the half time whistle.

Kerin struck again ten minutes after the break, doubling his side’s lead but Shannon Town came back strongly and for the third week in a row, Gary O’Connell scored. He added two to his collection this week and these scores levelled the contest at 2-2.

Ten minutes from time an Avenue free rebounded off the upright and Conor Hehir was quickest to react and he fired home what proved to be the winner for the Ennis based club.

Avenue United: Paul Roche; Cullen McCabe, Conor Mullen, Dylan Casey, Conor Hehir; Mark Roche, Eogxhan Thynne, Alan Roche, Cian O’Dea; Ronan Kerin, Eliaz Kunz Subs: Thomas Hehir for Kunz; Stephen Jordan for M. Roche; Dylan Barry for A. Roche; Shane Brown for Thynne; Jamie Roche for Mullen.

Shannon Town A: Shane Russell; Steven Carroll, Colum Treacy, Darren Griffin, Brian Monaghan; Jack Kelly, Brian O’Connor, T.J. O’Dwyer, Rob Wall, Kieran Hackett, Gary O’Connell Subs: Charlie Morrisson for B. O’Connor, Rory Hayes for R. Wall; Cody Waller for Carroll.

STRONG FINISH FROM ENNIS TOWN Ennis Town 4 Sporting Ennistymon 2 Venue: Lees Rd, Ennis

Ennis Town continued their impressive early season form when they defeated Sporting Ennistymon in the Premier League on Sunday.

A storming finish from the Ennis side saw them score four times in the last twenty minutes at Lees Road to claim the points.

The winners were down to ten men following the sending off of Peter O’Brien but they dominated the closing period and goals from substitute Robbie Gormley, Sean Perrill and two from Davy Keenan helped them to maintain their winning run.

Sporting Ennistymon’s goals came from Mikolay Augustyn in the first half while Jack O’Dea hit the target in the second period.

Ennis Town; Aidan Jordan; Thomas Collins, Sean Perrill, Stephen Horgan, Chibby Okoye, Eoin Keenan, Declan Ensko, Peter O’Brien, David Keenan, Lee Clohessy, Dean Hegarty Subs: Robbie Gormley for Ensko; Lase Isebajo for S. Horgan.

Sporting Ennistymon; Darragh Flynn, Joe Gallagher, Ciaran Monaghan, Michael Leigh, Jack O’Dea, Thierry Buton, Chris O’Keeffe, Matthew Crowe, Mikolay Augustyn, Jamsey McConigley, Darren McNamara; Subs: Eanna Collins for Matthew Crowe.

SPOILS SHARED AT CASSIDY PARK Lifford 1 Mountshannon Celtic 1 Venue: Cassidy Park, Ennis

A share of the spoils resulted when Lifford entertained Mountshannon Celtic at Cassidy Park on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors took the lead midway through the opening half through Martin Cunningham after he received a pass from William Glass. Cunningham’s effort should have been dealt with by Lifford goalie Rhys Phillips.

Midway through the second half, Lifford equalised through

Dean Coughlan who should have put his side into the lead moments later but he failed to avail of an excellent opportunity.

An understrength Mountshannon team will be happy with a share of the spoils but Lifford will rue a number of missed opportunities.

Lifford: Rhys Phillips; Josh Ryan, Zube Okoye, Darragh Kerin, John Maher; Michael Junaid, Gary McNaboe, Matthew Kearney, Dylan Ryan, Nathan Boaventura, Dean Coughlan; Subs: Lunga Balman for D. Ryan; Jean Ganda for M. Kearney Mountshannon Celtic: Andrew O’Dwyer; Michael O’Brien, Oran Scanlan, Niall Deer, William Kavanagh; Martin Cunningham, Michael Barrett, Ben Harrington, Ronan Dooley, William Glass, Conor Whelan Subs: Harry Gaffney for B. Harringtom; Ethan Madden for W. Kavanagh; Luke Sugrue for R. Dooley; Stephen Hayes for L. Sugrue (inj)

CLARE began their 2021 Kennedy Cup campaign with a comprehensive win over West Cork on Saturday.

Davy Wall’s side took the lead following a great move on thirteen minutes. Matt Jones and Ethnik Aliu put Eoin Devanney clear on the right wing and he crossed the ball for the run of the striker Tiernan Adelu who made no mistake.

From that moment Clare seemed a bit more in control of the game with West Cork trying to counter attack with direct balls over the top but the Clare defenders Glen McNamara, Aidan Moloney, Daniel Brody and Liam Heffernan dealt well with the visitors.

The second half picked up with Clare enjoying most of the possession and in the seventh minute of the second half the attempt of Adelu was saved again by the very good West Cork goalkeeper but it was finished from close range by Oliver Hawes.

Hawes slotted home Clare’s third goal when substitute Kevin Hanley was sharp to spot his run.

Clare’s next outing will be on Sunday October 3 when they will be away to Cork schoolboys and they will follow this with a home game in Tulla against West Waterford/East Cork on Saturday October 23 at 2p.m.

Clare: Conor Wall (Shannon Hibs), Daniel Brody (Sporting Ennistymon), Liam Heffernan (Mountshannon Celtic), Glen McNamara (Tulla United), Aidan Moloney (Bridge United), Conor McFadden (Tulla United), Eoin Devanney (Sporting Ennistymon), Matt Jones (Bunratty/Cratloe), Tiernan Adelu (Shannon Hibs), Ethnik Aliu (Avenue United), Oliver Hawes (Burren United) Subs: Shay Waller (Shannon Hibs) for Aliu, Kevin Hanley (Shannon Hibs) for McFadden, Ryan McCarthy (Ennis Town) for Devaney, Kyle McInerney (Shannon Hibs), Adam Kilker (Shannon Hibs), Eoghan Garrihy (Burren United), Darragh Baker (Tulla United).

EASY FOR NEWMARKET CELTIC

Shannon Hibs 0 Newmarket Celtic A 5 Venue: Riverside Park, Shannon

Newmarket Celtic maintained their strong challenge for another Premier Division title when they accounted for Shannon Hibs on Sunday.

The winners led 4-0 at half time and at this time they were well on their way to collecting the points.

They continued to hold the upperhand in the second half and emerged as comfortable winners on a day when David McCsrthy (2), ex Hibs player Jamie Egan and Paddy Purcell (2) were the goalscorers.

Newmarket Celtic A: Shane Cusack; Conor McDaid, Paddy Purcell Eoin O’Brien, David O’Grady; Alan Kelly, Jamie Egan, Pat Mc Daid, David McCsrthy, Garry Higgins, Cathal Hayes; Subs: Eoin Kelly for Higgins; Ian Collins for McCarthy Shannon Hibs: Piotr Kaluzza; Bob O’Connell, Alex Cole, Pa Devanney, Ciaran McKee, Declan Delaney, Lee Wall, Adam Ryan, Zygge Wall, Darragh Mc Dade, Billy Connors. Subs: Shane Keating for D. Delaney; Scott Whelan for Ryan

Tiernan Adelu scoring Clare’s first goal against West Cork Photo by Joe Buckley

Glory for Shannon Town

SHANNON Town Utd have secured league glory on the double with their senior women’s side and U15 boys claiming honours.

Five straight wins, one draw and one loss was sufficient to see Shannon Town win the U15 Division 1 league.

It is the first title claimed by this group.

There was further reason to celebrate for the club when they had league glory in the Limerick Womens and Schoolgirls soccer league. The side managed by Ray Keane and Daniel Doran wrapped up the honours with two games remaining having gone the entire season unbeaten.

A 5-0 victory over Herberstown saw them clinch the title with goals on the night from Emma Nolan (2), Eryn O’Leary, Ella Kelly and captain Leona Bridges.

They still have their eyes on further silverware having qualified for the semi-finals in both the Division Cup and Open Cup against Bridge Celtic and Murroe.

Shannon Town Ladies: Caoimhe Nolan, Cara Conway, Rebecca Delgarno, Leona Bridges, Sarah Cusack, Leah Kelly Shelly Goggins, Sharon McGorrian, Emma Nolan, Ella Kelly, Megan Kelly, Amanda Madden, Ciara Lysaght, Liz Byrne, Tara Carew, Thantra O Callaghan Eyrn O'Leary, Enya Kelly, Megan O' Connor, Tara Lawless.

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WRC for Clare man

Driver Niall O Sullivan & Navigator James O Brien pictured recently in Ypres, Belgium competing in WRC (World Rally Championship). Niall created history by being the first Clareman to compete in such a prestigious event

because

THIS RUNS

Find out more about Jackie and other amazing greyhound stories on grireland.ie/thisrunsdeep

Killaloe’s Reddan continues winning

KILLALOE’S Pat Reddan had reason to celebrate in Limerick once again with Redzer Ruinart progressing in the semi-finals of the SIS Cambridgeshire The feature at Limerick Greyhound Stadium last Saturday was the two semi-finals of the SIS Cambridgeshire and it was Marathon Queen, Dana Point, who flew home to record the fastest of the two semis for the Mullins-Curtin-syndicate of Gort.

Redzer Ruinart (Kinloch Brae - Redzer Ruby) was the fastest of the second round winners last week and she followed that up with an off-the-pace performance in the opening semi final. Owned by Pat Reddan of Killaloe, Redzer Ruinart was installed the 5/4 favourite after a rapid 41.55 clock last time out and she came away well from trap five to be only headed by Bling Bling Emma, who took a flier from trap one. Bling Bling Emma owned

by John Meehan of Newmarket-on-Fergus continued to hold a narrow advantage up top however, but she was to come under serious pressure from Redzer Ruinart who swooped the penultimate bend to take control.

It was Saturday night racing only this week in Galway with the feature contest on the ten race programme being the A2 graded ninth contest over 525 yards.

As the traps rose for the feature contest all six runners came away pretty much as one but in the run towards the opening bend the white jacketed Ballylean Rogue showed the best early pace and rounding the opening bend the Paddy Collins of Doora owned Ballylean Rogue led by almost a length from Brickhill Jethro and Loose Women with Tiger Roll in fourth place out wide. Racing down the back Ballylean Rogue extended his advantage to over three lengths as Loose Women pressed Brickhill Jethro for second spot.

Approaching the home bend, Loose Women continued to reel leader in but Ballylean Rogue always had enough in hand and the son of Newhall Missile and Notimetotalk prevailed by half a length at the line in 28.90.

The most authoritative performance on the night came in the A5 graded seventh contest as the Siobhan Garrahy of Lahinch owned Cloneyogan Zippy routed her rivals by upwards of ten lengths in 29.08. Away well from her trap two berth the daughter of Kinloch Brae & Tiermana Rum quickly grabbed the rails berth and showing plenty of pace led by three lengths rounding the opening bend.

Turning down the back the winner really opened up as as her rivals toiled in her wake Cloneyogan Zippy raced further clear with every stride as Master Of Magic kept on for a distant second.

Looks Fantastic owned by Roslevan’s Martin and Eve Crowe won the opening contest of the night which was graded A5.

Looks Fantastic never saw another rival as she recorded her second career success by five lengths over Blacklabel Magic in 29.07. The Donal Duggan of Tulla trained daughter of Droopys Sydney and Sarista led by three lengths rounding the opening bend from Blacklabel Magic with Sports Oliva in third place. Clear and out in splendid isolation approaching the penultimate corner Looks Fantastic was always in control throughout.

In race five, the Declan and Terry McDonagh of Liscannor owned Kinielty Clever was another all the way winner on the night as the daughter of Droopys Roddick and Doubly Clever made all the running from her trap six berth in the A7 graded 550 to cruise home seven & a half lengths clear of Peteles Duck in 30.59.

PICTURED: Pat Reddan with Redzer Ruinart.

16-09-21

Clare Echo THE

pg 42

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

Davy & Tim form another winning team

by SEAMUS HAYES DESPITE having to, once again, postpone its annual Golf Classic until the autumn rather than hold it on its normal mid-summer date, Shannon Chamber welcomed 35 teams, involving 140 players, to the fairways of Shannon Golf Club last week The victorious team, representing Career Decisions and comprising Tim Crowe and Davy Fitzgerald (Dromoland GC), Joe Hartnett (Fota Island GC) and Kevin O Hara (Ballykisteen GC) claimed the crystal trophies, sponsored by Gift Innovations, and four pairs of flights, sponsored by Shannon Airport.

The Smithstown Light Engineering team, comprising Phil Alldritt and Fergus Cooney (Dromoland GC), Jason Travis (Ballyneety GC) and Conor Mc Philips (Shannon GC) were runners up and also received crystal trophies sponsored by Gift Innovations.

Third and fourth places were taken by teams from Invesco Ltd., and Powcon Ltd. Nearest the pin was won

by Declan Costelloe (Limerick GC) playing on the DHL Global Forwarding team whilst the longest drives, men’s and ladies’ were won by Ed Rossiter (Castletroy GC) playing on the Invesco Ltd. team and Suzanne Mc Conway (Dromoland GC) representing AIB.

ENNIS GOLF CLUB: The Lions and cups team of three modified scramble at Ennis was won

by Mary McMahon (19), Carmel Verling (17) and Brid Cunningham (17) with 64 nett. They had one to spare over Della Burns (14), Maura Ryan (22) and Mary Lenihan (13) with third spot filled by Rita O’Brien (15), Patricia Moroney (14), and Lourda Fox (18) with 66 nett.

In the ladies 9 hole stableford competition Anne McMahon (25) from

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East Clare was the winner with 198 points from Emer McHale(18) with a similar score. Joan Tassie (21) was third, also with 18 points. The winner of the lady improvers competition over 9 holes was Sinead O’Sullivan (27) with 44 nett.

In the senior ladies outing last week the winners were Peig Cleary, Mary McMahon, and Eileen J Corry with 50.1 points from Mary Gardiner, Joan Tassie, and Mary Murray with 50.25. In third spot with 52.5 were Geraldine O’Mahoney, Frances 0’Reilly and Joan Cullinan Coote.

The Ennis golf club’s classic was an excellent success attracting a huge response. Woodstock members Cian Moloney (12), Kevin McNamara (13), Bryan O’Loughlin (12) and Noel Casey (16) were the winners with 92 points from Ollie Kennelly (21), Tony Lawler (14), Michael O’Reilly (20) and Eamonn Corry (14) all from Ennis, who had a similar score.

On third spot with 91 points were John McNamara (11), Noel Normoyle (12), Flan Lyons (10) and Eddie Glenny (14) Ennis followed by another Ennis team of Joe Griffin (12), Darragh Carmody (14), Michael Meagher (8) and Martin Moran (3) with 89 points.

Conor Gleeson (10), David O’Loughlin (19), Colin Heaslip (9) and Shay Drohan (9) were next, also with 89 points while sixth spot was filled by Eugene Quinn (24), John O’Donovan (19), Seamus Kelly (15) and Nicholas Germaine (22) from Woodstock with 88 points. Sixty five teams played in the men’s section.

The winners of the ladies section which had fifteen teams were Mary McMahon (23), Carmel Verling (21), Brid Cunningham (21), Una Patton (26) with 87 points from Anne Casey (26), Aideen Considine (24), Eilis Neville (34) and Connie Corry (20) with 80 points with third spot filled

by Rita O’Brien (18), Ann O’Lough-

To book an appointment call us on 065 684 0844

Miriam Magner Flynn, CEO, Career Decisions (left) is pictured with Tim Crowe and Davy Fitzgerald, representatives from the winning team in the Shannon Chamber Classic 2021, who received their crystal trophies from Helen Downes, CEO, Shannon Chamber Photo by Eamon Ward

lin (16), Patricia Moroney (18) and Marianne McGough (19) with 78 points.

The presentation of prizes is scheduled for 8.30pm on Sunday night

WOODSTOCK GOLF CLUB: Woodstsock president Matt Power’s prize to the ladies was won by Chaye Kelly with 38 points. She had one to spare over Mary Sweeney with Fiona Landy, also with 37 points, in third spot followed by Marinne McGough on 35 points. The winners of the nines were Fran Feighery with 19 points and Eilis Neville with 17.

Fiana Power won the 9 hole competition while the guest’s prize was won

by Kathleen Frehill, Ennis with 25 points.

DROMOLAND GOLF CLUB: Ken Breen won the Friday open singles at Dromoland with 42 points from Eamon Power with 39 and Alan Leamy, also with 39 while Jason Ryan won the gross with 36 points.

Last week’s 9 hole competition was won by Billy O’Mahoney with 19 points from David O’Brien with 19 and Shane O’Brien, also with 19.

Shane O’Brien won the weekend’s 28 hole stableford competition with 43 points from Brian McNamara with

41 and Jack Hannan with 41. Robin Mounsey won the 18 and over category with 39 points while the gross was won by Killian Howard with 38 points.

The ladies Autumn major was won

by Mairead Bergin with 38 points from Geraldine Ryan with 36, Suzanne McConway with 35 and Julie Fitzgerald with 35. Leslie O’Flynn won the gross with 23 points while the nines were won by Catherine Quinn with 20 points and Mairead Toomey with 19 points. Colette Torpey won the 9 hole competition with 19 points. While nearest the pin was Geraldine Ryan and Siobhan Fitzpatrick won the long drive.

KILRUSH GOLF CLUB: The Munster Group men’s open singles at Kilrush was won by Jim Kelly (27) with 48 points from Joe Chambers (19) with 44, Patrick Coleman (19) with 44 and Paraic Cotter (15), Dromoland with 44.

The category winners were George Nolan (15) with 39, Michael Cooney (16) with 40 points and John Stapleton (23) with 44 points.

In the open singles on Saturday Tom G. Smyth Senior (18) won with 42 points from Patrick Coleman (17) with 41 points and Pat Mulcahy (19) with 41 points. Last week’s ladies singles was won by Geraldine Burke (19) with 39 points from Mary McCarthy (29) with 38 points and Ursula Lineen (27) with 38 points.

GORT GOLF CLUB: Paul Brennan (5) was the winner of the 18 hole singles, sponsored by Cosyhome Heating, at Gort at the weekend with 40 points. Liam Perkins (10) was second with 38 points with third spot filled by Mike O’Connor (18),

also with 38 points, Colman Cooney (5) won the gross with 31 points

EAST CLARE GOLF CLUB: Player of the year awards for three members at East Clare golf club were confirmed this week.

John Duffy is the player of the year for the stroke competition off the white tees while Michael Darcy is the player of the year for the stableford competitions off the yellow tees. Noreen Doyle has won the ladies golfer of the year title. The wins have come about following consistent golf by all three during 2021.

ST BRECKANS GAA GOLF CLASSIC: There was a big turnout for the St. Breckans GAA club’s golf classic which took place at Woodstock last week, marking the 50th anniversary of the Lisdoonvar\na based club.

The winners of the team of four outing were Pat Curtis (16), Gus Connors (16), David Daly (19) and Kieran Reidy (21) with 118 points.

The Corofin men are all members of Gort Golf club.

In second place with 113 points were Kieran Keating (14), Mark (29) and Fintan Ward (12) and Mike O’Brien (20) with 113 points.

In third spot with 109 points were Martin Flaherty (21), Michael Ryan (31), Brendan McDonagh (15) and Gerry O’Donnell (19) with fourth spot filled by Jody O’Connor (9), Joe McGrath (20) Paul Lehane (10) and Vincent Loughnane (31) with 106 points. Greg O’Leary was nearest the pin while Darren O’Neill won the long drive.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 43

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

THANKSGIVING

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

THANKSGIVING. ST. JUDE.

Most Holy Apostle St. Jude faithful servant & friend of Jesus. The Church honours & invokes you universally as the patron of hopeless cases, of matters almost despaired of. Pray for me I am so helpless & alone. Make use I implore you of that particular privilege given to you, to bring speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation & help of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations & sufferings & that I may praise God with you & all the Elect forever. I promise O Blessed St. Jude to be ever mindful of this great favour to always honour you as my special & powerful patron & to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

This prayer must be said for 9 consecutive days & published immediately & in 3 days the favour will be granted.

2007. Deep in our hearts your memory is kept, to love, to cherish and never forget. Time may pass and fade away, but silent thoughts and memories stay. No longer in our lives to share, but in our hearts you are always there. Rest in peace dear loved one and thanks for all you’ve done we pray that God has given you, the crown you’ve truly won.

SHANNON Nancy

& deceased members of The Shannon & Hewitt Families (14th Anniversary)

Will those who think of Nancy today, a little prayer to Jesus say.

Sadly missed by your loving family.

Anniversary Mass in Ennis Cathederal on Sunday 19th September at 11.30am.

In Loving Memory of a dear wife, mother,grandmother, sister, sister in law aunt & friend Nancy, of 86 Hermitage Ennis, who died on the 19th September

PLANNING NOTICES CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL DECOMADE, LISSYCASEY, CO. CLARE. Take note that Maria McMahon, intends to apply to Clare County Council for Planning Permission to build a new dwelling house, a private garage with new on- site sewage treatment system and all necessary ancillary services at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority during its public opening hours. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the planning authority on payment of the prescribed fee, €20, within the period of five 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 CLOGHAUNDINE, LISCANNOR, CO. CLARE. Take notice that Michael Keating Dip. Arch. (phone 085-8421780), on behalf of Bernadette and Richard Dixon, intends to apply to Clare County Council for full permission to construct 1 no. Dwelling House and garage with landscaping layout and new site entrance.

Connect to proprietary Waste Water Treatment System, connect to public services and carry out all ancillary site works at Cloghaundine, Liscannor, Co. Clare.

The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the 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 TULLYVARRAGA, SHANNON, CO. CLARE Take notice that Paul Conway Architects, Knockbrack, Ennistymon intend to apply to the Planning Authority of Clare County Council on behalf of the Board of Management of St Conaire’s National School for planning permission for development at St Conaire’s National School, Tullyvarraga, Shannon, Co. Clare.

The development will consist of a single storey 323sqM extension containing a Special Needs Unit and 5No Special Education Teaching spaces, internal alterations and new window with replacement pitched roof to the existing school, with new security fencing, play and sensory areas, additional car parking and landscaping.

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

application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL MILLBANK ROSLEVAN ENNIS CO CLARE We, Catriona + Aidan Moynihan, intend to apply to the above Planning Authority for Permission to construct a Private Dwelling House, Garage and Site Entrance along with all associated site works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority, during its public opening hours.

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

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL POULAFORIA, TULLA, CO CLARE: I, Paul Boyce, am applying to the above authority for permission for the following development on property at Poulaforia, Tulla, Co Clare: Permission for detached single storey dwelling, detached domestic garage/home office, onsite wastewater treatment system and percolation area, connection to necessary services, new entrance together with all associated ancillary and incidental site works

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

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

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL, CO. CLARE BALLINGADDY WEST, ENNISTYMON, CO. CLARE Take notice that Alan O’Rourke intends to apply for Permission to A. Amend Condition No. 4 of Outline Planning Permission Reg. Ref 16-299 to allow for a part single storey part two

storey dwelling on revised finished floor levels and amend Condition No. 5 to allow for alternative material finishes B. Amend the design and finished floor levels of the dwelling granted under Planning Reg. Ref. 19-852 to that of a part single storey, part two storey house and ancillary site works at Ballingaddy West, Ennistymon, Co. Clare This planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours and that a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL GARRURAGH, TULLA, CO. CLARE. Take notice that Ted Nugent intends to apply to Clare County Council for planning permission for the following: a)To retain additional floor areas to existing dwelling house b)To retain elevational alterations c) To retain domestic garage d) To retain 2nd vehicular entrance The planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority, Clare County Council planning department, Aras Contae an Chláir, New Road, Ennis, Co. Clare 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, LISHEENCRONY, KILKEE, CO. CLARE. Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (0659083667, www.diarmuidkeane. ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of Gavin Harvey for planning permission for the following development; (a) construct a replacement dwelling house to replace the existing substandard derelict cottage; (b) new site entrance; (c) private garage; (d) upgrade existing on-site wastewater treatment system; (e) convert existing derelict cottage to storage shed ancillary to proposed new dwelling; and (f) all associated site works and services at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority during its public opening hours.

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

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THIS WEEKS PUZZLES SEP 16

2

9 8

6 6 4 7

1 8

6

5

Loving

How to play

Prayers

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

ANSWERS 1

8

2

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6

7

7

5

4

3

1

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7

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9/10/21, 12:38 PM

Sandals

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Religious

6

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1

HOW TO PLAY

2

Ornament

2

9

6

Inspiration

6

4

3

5

Heaven

1

2

Healing

3

3

2

Harp

2

8

Halo

9

7

Guardian

4

9

Clouds

3

White

7

8

5

Wings

4

3

Cherub

Bow

9

8

Spiritual

4

Blessing

SUDOKU

How to play

WORD SEARCH

9/10/21, 12:38 PM

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

The Clare Echo Crossword

1/1

Daily Quick Crossword: 9 September 2021, 9/9/2021 Michael Curl

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Daily Quick Crossword: 9 September 2021, 9/9/2021

Order Online www.supermacs.ie

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Phone 065 6820914

12

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21

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CROSSWORD ANSWERS 1 Pompous gait 2 Monarch 3 Violent whirling wind-storm 4 Thrown violently 5 Yorkshire racecourse 6 Less expensive 7 Devoutness 13 Nasal aperture 15 Mathematical proposition 16 Plotted 17 Reddish brown 18 Vacant 19 Wherewithal 21 Respond 25

12

11

DOWN

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10

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THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

1/1

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46 PUZZLEPAGE

QUIZ 47

THURSDAY, SEP 16 2021

The Clare Echo Quiz MARTIN HAYES QUIZ

Hayes is from where in Clare?

He moved to Chicago in 1985 and 1A: Martin 6 began to collaborate with guitarist Maghera Dennis Cahill. Which US President did

A: 7 B: 10 C: 13

3

How many fiddle competitions did he win in the Fleadh before turning 19?

A: Four B: Six C: Eight

4

Hayes is one of only three fiddlers to be named an All-Ireland champion in the senior fiddle division in two consecutive years. In what successive years did Martin claim All-Ireland glory?

A: 1970 and 1971 B: 1977 and 1978 C: 1981 and 1982

5

His father P Joe Hayes and uncle Paddy Canny were founders of which musical group?

A: Kilfenora Céili Band B: Tulla Céilí Band C: Shaskeen Céilí Band

A: Ronald Reagan B: Bill Clinton C: Barack Obama

7

What is the name of the contemporary Irish/American music supergroup formed by Hayes, Cahill, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett in 2011?

A: The Gleaning B: The Gloaming C: The Glistening

8

In 1991, he released an album with his father P Joe Hayes, what was it called?

A: The Shores by Dromaan Harbour B: The Shores of Lough Derg C: The Shores of Lough Graney

9

He became the first musician to win the BBC Instrumentalist of the Year in 2001 and received the TG4 Gradam Ceoil award in 2008 but which university gave him an honorary doctorate in 2019?

A: NUIG B: UL C: UCD

10

Martin’s brother is a Fianna Fáil representative sitting in which house of Government?

A: Arás Chontae an Chláir B: Dáil Éireann C: Seanad Éireann

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

The answers will be revealed in next weeks edition.

l How many fiddle competitions did Martin Hayes win in the Fleadh before turning 19?

ANSWERS

6. Barack Obama 7. The Gloaming 8. The Shores of Lough Graney 9. NUIG 10.Arás Chontae an Chláir

He started playing the fiddle at the age of seven. How old was Martin when he won his first fiddle competition at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann?

Maghera 13 Six 1981 and 1982 Tulla Céilí Band

2

they perform in front of at the White House?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

B: Moyasta C: Moylussa

Last weeks Answers . Exhasut missing . Logo on T-Shirt missing . Dashes between number plate missing . Hole missing at the front of tractor

. John Deere badge missing (left) . Wing Mirror missing

Feakle v Newmarket-On-Fergus Photograph: Ruth Griffin

AND GUTTERING CLARE

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