The Clare Echo 23/12/21

065 671 9021

clareecho.ie

DEC 23 2021 WI DE RANGE OF INSTAX CAME RAS , P RINT E RS OR INSTAX F IL M

AVA ILA B LE N OW IN STO RE A N D O N LIN E

Mum and daughter offer festive visits to those living alone PÁRAIC McMAHON

paraic@clareecho.ie

A

SCARIFF mother and daughter are hoping to spread the festive cheer by offering to spend time with people living alone on Christmas Day.

Sarah-Kate McConnell and her daughter, Harmony have put the word out that they are volunteering to visit people in Scariff and further afield on Christmas Day if they are on their own and would like some company.

“It just kept playing on my mind that some people might be on their own this Christmas and might not want to be, myself and my daughter would

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happily have company or we could visit people if they wanted or if people were in fear we could always sit in the garden. A couple of weeks ago we sang for the residents of the nursing home, we could always sing in someone’s garden if they like,” Sarah-Kate explained to The Clare Echo.

FULL STORY pg 8

l Harmony and

Mum Sarah-Kate McConnell

2 NEWS

Index

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

COLUMNISTS

22-24

Mayor donates card fund

YEAR IN REVIEW

26-29

by PÁRAIC McMAHON

RECRUITMENT

30-31

CLICK FOR CLARE

32-33

SPORT

34-40

NEWS

EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

2-17

GREENER CLARE

20

C

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

NEWSDESK

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

SALES

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

DELIGHTED: Eoin Lahiffe, Frankie Lyons and John Cahill celebrate Rice College’s success in claiming the Corn Shéamuis Uí Dhonnchú for the first time in their history after overcoming Our Lady’s Templemore last week

LARE’s first citizen is to make donations to two local organisations instead of sending Christmas cards this year.

Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr PJ Ryan (IND) has made a Christmas donation of €350 to the Irish Red Cross Clare and Clare Cancer Support (Sláinte an Chláir).

“I am delighted to contribute my Christmas Card allowance to the fundraising efforts of these organisations as each of them contributes in a profound and meaningful way to the wellbeing of people in Clare,” Cllr Ryan stated.

Last year, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) who was Ryan’s predecessor offered to write a personal card or letter to individuals who were feeling isolated or lonely during the pandemic.

 Mayor PJ Ryan

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THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

NEWS

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4 NEWS

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

€2m confirmed for Blake’s Corner

FUNDING: Blake’s Corner €4.4M HAS been allocated to Clare County Council from Transport Infrastructure Ireland for road improvements with €2m set aside for Blake’s Corner.

An inner-relief road for Blake’s Corner will now be progressed as a result of the allocation of €2m in Government funding. It is envisaged that this project will go out to tender in the coming months.

In order to improve access to Shannon Airport, €500,000 has been set aside to advance a section of dual carriageway.

Pedestrian and cycle crossings are to be put in place at Clareabbey Roundabout following confirmation that it was to receive €10,000.

Pavement works for parts of the N67 are also included, namely Doonbeg (€820,800) and Baunmore (€350,000) while Parknamoney on the N68 (€280,000) will also benefit.

Minor works on the N85 in Kilnamona have been granted €100,000 with the remainder of the breakdown for local authority support (€120,000), Minister’s Place RSI implementation on the N67 (€200,000), a road safety inspection scheme on the N68 (€20,000) and further road safety inspections (€10,000).

Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) was confident long-standing issues at Blake’s Corner would now be addressed.

“Blakes Corner is notorious, not only for those of us in Clare who love to head west for a Sunday drive in the summer but for the droves of visitors and buses travelling to Clare all year around.

“There have been many false dawns in terms of addressing the issues at this lethal junction but the additional funding of €2 million will really help get it over the line.

He added, “Those who are familiar with Blakes Corner may also be well aware of the pedestrian and cyclist challenges at the Clareabbey Roundabout on the Ennis bypass too, as it forms part of the key route to west Clare from the motorway. This grant will improve things at that roundabout for all road users, I have no doubt”.

Improvements on the ground should help Shannon Airport in the air, the Meelick native believed. “As you enter Shannon Airport and pass the security hut on the approach, the road becomes a single lane each way. This has been assessed by experts as not being safe – as in a case where emergency services and so on need to access the airport, passing may be an issue.

“Whilst our first priority must be rebuilding air connectivity in and out of Shannon, it’s also encouraging to see groundworks taking place to improve things at the airport too”.

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‘No resolution will resolve dispute’ PÁRAIC MCMAHON

M

paraic@clareecho.ie

EMBERS of the Doolin Coast Guard will be stood down permanently with the unit to be reconstituted in the shortterm before a broader appointment process will commence.

Junior Minister, Hildegarde Naughton (FG) has requested the Irish Coast Guard to begin reconstituting the Doolin Coast Guard unit following receipt of a report and recommendation from independent mediator, Kieran Mulvey.

On November 2nd, the unit was stood down from operations and training activities in the aftermath of six volunteers resigning. These departures en bloc were unprecedented and occurred between October 27th and 29th.

As recommended in Mulvey’s report, members of the Doolin Unit will be permanently stood down. The unit will be re-constituted in the short term by temporarily appointing volunteers who Coast Guard believe can work and operate together. This is hoped to address the situation presented by the absence of a functioning Doolin Coast Guard Unit.

A broader appointment process will

commence in due course with the view to permanently restoring the Coast Guard Unit in the Doolin area prior to next summer.

In his report, Mulvey outlined, “Regretfully I have formed the conclusion that no form of mediation will lead to a resolution of the matters of disputation in the Unit”. Analysis of one to one interviews conducted “did not reflect well on the interpersonal relationships within the Unit,” or its future, Mulvey stated.

Volunteers did not respond to the mediator’s attempts to get an engagement on the identification of the interpersonal difficulties between them and which formed such a major and negative narrative in the Graphite HRM Report from February 2020. This report flagged “a complete absence of trust, respect and in some cases an absence in terms of a desire to resolve matters. The issues are entrenched within many years of interpersonal differences and disputes which now involves potentially nearly half the members within the Doolin Unit”. Absence of one to one interviews and individual feedback following this report is viewed as one of the primary reasons for the six resignations.

Mulvey stated members must now make “sensitive and personally challenging decisions in the interest” of the unit’s restoration.

NEWS 5

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Mother fearful of bringing sick son back to caravan PÁRAIC MCMAHON

A

paraic@clareecho.ie

N ENNIS mother has shared her fears of the potential impacts of having to bring her sick five month old baby back to live in a “seriously overcrowded car-

avan”.

Laura Molloy Hutchinson lives in the halting site on the Quin Rd in Ennis with her husband, Paddy, their seven children plus her sister Tara and her daughter. She has lived there since 2000 and referenced the “tragedies” which saw two of her brothers die as a reason for wanting to get away from the location.

For the past week, Laura has been staying at University Hospital Limerick with her youngest child, five month old John Kevin who has Bronchiolitis and on Wednesday morning was transferred to Dublin to undergo further tests with concern expressed about his voice-box and heart.

Of the current living conditions, Laura explained, “we’re living in a mobile home with three bedrooms that wouldn’t make the size of a living room in a house. I’ve my five

HEALTH: Paddy Hutchinson with his children Michael, Martina, Rosalina, Nathan Myles, and Paddy, along with his Sister-in-Law Tara Molloy and her daugther Amelia Rose (Photo

by Natasha Barton); (inset left) Laura Molloy Hutchinson and (inset right) baby John Kevin

month old who is currently in the hospital, my year and a half old son in bed with me and the husband, I’ve my twin girls in their own room, I’ve a 12 year old, 10 year old and three year old in another room. I also have

my eighteen year old sister who is homeless as well, she is in with me because I couldn’t leave her on the streets with her one year old baby, she is on the couch”.

“If the rest of the kids get a cold I’m afraid,

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there is nowhere that I can isolate him properly, when he gets sick he really does”. His first stint in hospital saw him moved to Temple Street’s ICU where he spent “four days fighting for his life” after getting Bronchiolitis, double pneumonia and a collapsed right lung.

“A caravan is not suitable to bring back a five month old baby with these conditions”.

“I’m not looking for a mansion on the hill,” Laura told The Clare Echo. Now aged 30, she has been on the Council’s housing list since turning 18, around this time she was allocated a bay on the halting site. She has said the Council have yet to offer her a house during this time.

Responding to queries from The Clare Echo, a spokesperson for Clare County Council outlined, “If someone is a tenant of a halting site they may be deemed to have their housing need met currently. Equally a tenant of a halting site may be approved for a transfer to standard social housing and if so then the household are open to bid on properties advertised on CBL”.

The spokesperson added, “It should be noted there are 17 vacant Traveller specific units of accommodation vacant which are only available for allocation to members of the Traveller community”.

6

NEWS

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

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7

8 NEWS

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Scariff family offer to spread Christmas cheer

by PÁRAIC Mc MAHON

A

SCARIFF mother and daughter are hoping to spread the festive cheer by offering to spend time with people living alone on Christmas Day. Sarah-Kate McConnell moved to East Clare in 2019 with her daughter, Harmony. This will be their first Christmas in the county, having travelled back to her native Dublin last year.

In order to mark the occasion and to give back to the area they have fallen in love with, both Sarah-Kate and Harmony have put the word out online volunteering to visit persons in Scariff and further afield on Christmas Day if they are on their own and would like some company.

“I’ve been surrounded by help and support since I moved, it just kept playing on my mind that some people might be on their own this Christmas and might not want to be, myself and my daughter would happily have company or we could visit people if they wanted or if people were in fear we could always sit in the garden. A couple of weeks ago we sang for the residents of the nursing home, we could always sing in someone’s garden if they like,” Sarah-Kate explained to The Clare Echo.

Their move to East Clare arose because of Sarah-Kate’s curiosity to see the steiner school in Raheen. “When I got off the bus I was asked by someone when I was going into Centra if I needed help with anything because I had my daughter with me, her buggy and a suitcase. When I was going out from Centra someone else came up to

 KIND: Harmony and Sarah-Kate McConnell me and asked me if I wanted a lift, I thought to myself what is this place where everyone is so helpful, I just fell in love with the people, the beauty of Lough Derg and I just knew I had to move there,” she recalled.

This community spirit is the inspiration for her act of goodwill. “We didn’t know anyone when we moved but now we are surrounded by good people and it’s a great community”.

The fact that the pair had COVID-19 in September and that they are currently immune from contracting it has eased any worries they may have had about visiting other people’s homes.

Year of challenges and opportunities for Shannon Chamber LITTLE did we know when we started our year in January 2021 that by year-end we would, once again, be faced with renewed restrictions warranted by the increasing spread of COVID-19. To say it has been a challenging year is an understatement but, like all challenges, the satisfaction lies in overcoming them rather than being overcome by them.

It has been a year in which our member companies, yet again, demonstrated remarkable resilience in sustaining their operations. The aviation, tourism, and hospitality sectors, most adversely affected by the pandemic, saw a ray of light shine when air travel resumed, albeit late in the season. We do hope that current circumstances do not thwart the progress that is being attained, yet, at the same time, we would ask everyone to think health and safety first when planning

the weeks ahead.

Having prepared a comprehensive three-year strategy in late 2019 for our Skillnet training offer to members, we too were forced to pivot very swiftly once the unforeseen pandemic impacted our lives. Forced to work remotely from our members, we had to ascertain anew their entire set of requirements for training, as they too, had to quickly adjust their plans.

We engaged with our member companies to ascertain their exact requirements and preferred methods of training.

Following this deep dive into their needs, we successfully applied for a number of Skillnet funding streams, to enable us to provide a range of training programmes that would help companies through the crisis, most notably companies in the aviation and manufacturing

sectors.

The training we provided benefited both the unemployed and the employed.

This was the first time we put such an increased emphasis on helping the unemployed.

The feedback we have received for working with companies to enable them to sustain their businesses and for giving their ex-employees the opportunity to seek alternative employment has been most gratifying and complimentary of training provided via Skillnet.

Despite the challenges faced in 2021, Shannon Chamber Skillnet has delivered an unprecedented number of training programmes to new and existing companies across all sectors – 216 Training Programmes to 143 companies involving over 1,200 trainees. We look forward to continuing this close collaboration with our members in 2022.

The Board and Executive of Shannon Chamber would like to take this opportunity to wish you, the readers of The Clare Echo, a joyous, healthy and Happy Christmas and a more promising year ahead.

JOURNEY FOR MENTAL HEALTH

 WORTHY CAUSE: Donie Shannon of West Coast Motorcycle Club presenting a cheque for €3,600 to Regina Downes of Happy Feet Happy Minds also in the photo are Dereck Moylan, James Davaran, John Murphy West Coast MCC and Therase Cleary Happy Feet Happy Minds. The money raised will go towards counselling hours and art therapy for children in West Clare schools

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

NEWS

9

10 NEWS

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

‘What we have been through is horrendous and unimaginable’ PÁRAIC MCMAHON

M

paraic@clareecho.ie

ICHEÁL ‘Mick’ Ryan’s widow has filed a US Court motion over the plane crash which killed the Clare man.

A senior UN humanitarian worker from Lahinch, Mick passed away at the age of 39 when he was among 157 people to die when their Boeing 737 Max aircraft, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, crashed six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, on March 10, 2019. It was the second major crash involving a Max aircraft in five months.

Naoise Ryan, Mick’s wife has said she intends to do everything possible to hold Boeing executives to account for the deaths. She has not accepted an offer of $1.4m which was made to her from the crash victim fund. “It’s blood mon-

 TRUTH: Naoise Ryan

Photo by Jonathan Tyner

ey. This isn’t about money. I say this all the time, it’s about truth, accountability, and real justice”.

Boeing avoided prosecution af-

ter a deferred prosecution agreement was reached between the US Department of Justice and Boeing.

It included a fine of $243.6m, com-

pensation to airlines of $1.77bn, and a $500m crash-victim fund.

Since the agreement was reached, only one employee of Boeing has been charged with a crime despite the indictment making clear his criminal acts were not undertaken in “rogue fashion and without the direction or knowledge of others within Boeing”.

She and other family members have filed a motion in a US court detailing how the US government “violated their rights through a secret process” when it struck the DPA with Boeing in January, and they have asked a judge to scrap the agreement. “If the US justice department had advised us of our right to confer with it about the crimes associated with the crash, we would have urged the department to hold Boeing accountable to the full extent of US criminal law,” Naoise said.

“We would have pointed out that the Boeing employees whose conduct form the basis of the DPA were acting in furtherance of Boe-

ing’s programme goals, set at the highest levels of the company.

Boeing should be fully prosecuted.

The agreement reached under the Trump administration is merely a slap on the wrist that wrongly holds no executive accountable,” she added.

Anger was expressed by Naoise with the agreement reached. “It is unbelievable, the idea that with the evidence out there and the evidence has come to light since”.

Her fight for justice will continue, “I feel very strongly about it, it is not something I’m prepared to give in on, there is no amount of money than anyone could offer in a DPA or agreement that would make me feel this is justice.

“Justice has to come from accountability and holding those responsible to account, more than anything I want to ensure this doesn’t happen again, something has to change”.

She concluded, “What we have been through is horrendous, it is unimaginable”.

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NEWS 11

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Tulla farmer missing 'large piece' of his ear after farm yard altercation with sibling

A

by GORDON DEEGAN

N EAST Clare farmer was left with a "large piece" of his ear missing after a farm yard altercation with an older brother, a court has heard.

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Dublin based medical professional, Conor O’Halloran (39) appeared in connection with being charged with assault causing harm of his younger brother, farmer Daniel O’Halloran (35) at a farmyard at Liscullane, Tulla on May 5th last.

In court, Sgt Aiden Lonergan outlined the State case against Conor O’Halloran to allow Judge Alec Gabbett determine if the case should be heard in the district court or the circuit court where more serious sanctions apply.

After viewing colour photographs of Daniel O’Halloran’s left ear in the aftermath of the alleged assault, Judge Gabbett declined jurisdiction and ordered that the case be heard in the circuit court.

Judge Gabbett commented that "there is a large piece of the ear missing in this photo”. He said: “It is a significant injury.”

Sgt Lonergan stated that the medical report outlined that there was “a noticeable piece” of the left ear missing. Sgt Lonergan stated that Conor O’Halloran of Rosebank, Old Bawn, Tallaght, Dublin 24 is a Dublin based medical professional and is married with two children while Daniel O’Halloran resides at the Liscullane farm with his wife and son.

Sgt Lonergan stated that the background to the incident is that the two brothers “are in disagreement due to tensions over land owned

by Conor O’Halloran and farmed

by Daniel O’Halloran and a suggestion on how an area of forested land should be used and owned”.

Sgt Lonergan stated that it was alleged on May 5th this year, Daniel O'Halloran saw that Conor O’Halloran was there “in what could be described as a rage”.

Sgt Lonergan stated that an altercation ensued with both men tum-

bling and tussling on the ground where it will be alleged that Conor O’Halloran bit the top of the alleged injured party’s ear. Sgt Lonergan stated that in a prepared statement provided to Gardai last July, Conor O’Halloran stated that during the incident, he alleged that he was being choked by his brother, Daniel.

Daniel O’Halloran was brought to University Hospital Limerick for treatment and a medical report was handed into court.

Sgt Lonergan stated that the DPP has recommended that the case be heard in the district court taking into account the injury, the incident, the character of both parties and bringing this matter to a quick conclusion and that the sentencing powers available to the district court would be able to deal with the case.

However, Judge Gabbett declined district court jurisdiction transferring the case to the circuit court and the case was adjourned to February 16th next. Judge Gabbett further remanded Conor O’Halloran on bail to that court date.

Walk-ins to triple as vaccination relocates back to West County

 COVID: The West County Vaccination Centre

by PÁRAIC McMAHON CLARE’s capacity for walk-in COVID-19 clinics tripled yesterday (Wednesday) with the permanent relocation of the Ennis vaccination centre to Treacy’s West County Hotel.

As of this Wednesday (December 22nd), the Clare COVID-19 vaccination centre is permanently relocating back to Treacy’s West County Hotel from the former outpatients department at Ennis Hospital.

Walk-in clinics for the forty plus age group will begin at the West County at 3.30pm on Wednesday. Until close of business this Thursday, anyone notified to attend a scheduled clinic

at the former outpatients department should attend that location as notified.

Extended half-day and full-day walk-in clinics are being held to meet public demand for booster vaccines, and as part of the national effort to maximise the population’s immunity in view of the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omircon variant, and continued prevalence of the Delta variant In view of the exceptional demand for COVID-19 vaccine boosters, people should note that if they are eligible for vaccination, they can attend a walk-in clinic at any of the three vaccination centres in Limerick, Clare or Tipperary, regardless of their county of residence.

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12 NEWS

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

New autism room opens at Quin National School STUART HOLLY

A

editor@clareecho.ie

NEW unit for children with autism to help integrate pupils into the mainstream classrooms will be officially opened at Scoil na Mainistreach in Quin on January 24.

The new facility will be allocated one teacher and two Special Needs Assistants. Sanctioned by the NCSE (National Council for Special Education), a classroom has been repurposed which will have special resources to cater for the various needs of the children. It follows the addition of a sensory room at the 295-pupil Quin National School three years ago.

School principal since 2015, Fergal Lynch told The Clare Echo that the school has an inclusive approach with the aim to integrate children into the classroom on a daily basis, “The room enables children with autism to enter the classroom on an integrated basis so that they would be included in their normal classroom but that they will also have their own classroom, a safe haven to go to, on a

INCLUSIVE: Quin National School daily basis at certain times of the day.

So some children will spend 30-40 per cent of their time in the class, and the other 60 per cent of the time they would be working with their peers, either on break or lunchtime or on subjects where they work particularly well with others. We currently have two pupils who have access to it and there are more spaces available if children wish to enrol.” He added that Scoil na Mainistreach has also applied to the Department for additional accommodation to extend the offering in the future.

Fergal added that the facility is an important addition to the Quin community, with children in the locality previously having to travel to schools

in Ennis or neighbouring parishes to avail of such facilities.

Scoil na Mainistreach has been “growing steadily” in recent years, having undergone an eight-classroom extension in 2015. Mr Lynch acknowledges that the last two years have been particularly difficult for students and parents, “particularly for children with special needs as they need routine and structure in their day” and he adds that the new resource “will certainly aid in the delivery of a top class education for children with special needs”.

Parents who wish to enquire about enrolment can visit quindanganns. com or email quindanganns@gmail. com.

ShannonDoc patient numbers to double over Christmas period SHANNONDOC, the out of hours GP service for the MidWest, has predicted patient numbers across the Christmas period will be double normal operating levels.

Looking ahead to the busiest period of the year for the service, which provides non-emergency GP care outside of normal surgery hours, ShannonDoc Chair Dr Ailish Kenny urged the public to be patient as staff try to deal with the huge increase in calls.

“We normally deal with about 2,500 patients per week but that will more or less double over Christmas when GP practices will, of course, be closed for public holidays as well as weekends. Over the course of the Christmas and New Year period, we could care for approx 10,000 patients in total.

“That’s a huge throughput and a credit to all our staff.

Every year the organisation rises to the challenge and our staff have been incredible over the past 20 months with COVID-19, while the public, too, have been understanding and supportive in light of the challenges facing all healthcare providers.

“But it is going to be a very busy period and we would ask

again for the continued patience of the public. Staff will be doing their absolute best in often trying circumstances due to heavy call volumes. If members of the public are not getting through as quickly as they would like, it’s because our team are dealing with other patients, but everyone will be dealt with.”

The ShannonDoc Chair also reminded the public of the change of telephone number to 0818 123 500 and not to contact ShannonDoc if the issue is an emergency.

“It is an easy number to remember but people must ring for an appointment and it is not a walk-in service. It is important, too, that people remember that the service is for urgent medical matters only but not emergencies. If people feel a medical issue is very serious, they need to immediately contact the emergency services by phoning 999 or 112.”

He added “The other ask we have is that people bring their Medical/GP card with them if they have one and, of course, that they follow all COVID-19 guidelines.”

For further information on ShannonDoc, visit www. shannondoc.ie

ShannonDoc Christmas Arrangements 2021 Date

Day

Cover From:

Cover To:

PLEASE REMEMBER

23/12/2021

Thursday

18.00 (Thursday)

to 09.00 (Friday)

24/12/2021

Friday (Christmas Eve)

09.00 (Friday)

to 09.00 (Saturday)

25/12/2021

Saturday (Christmas Day)

09.00 (Saturday)

to 09.00 (Sunday)

• ShannonDoc service is for Urgent Medical Matters that cannot wait until your doctor’s surgery opens.

26/12/2021

Sunday (St. Stephen’s Day)

09.00 (Sunday)

to 09.00 (Monday)

27/12/2021

Monday (Christmas Day Bank Holiday)

09.00 (Monday)

to 09.00 (Tuesday)

28/12/2021

Tuesday (St. Stephen’s Day Bank Holiday)

09.00 (Tuesday)

to 08.00 (Wednesday)

29/12/2021

Wednesday

18.00 (Wednesday)

to 08.00 (Thursday)

30/12/2021

Thursday

18.00 (Thursday)

to 08.00 (Friday)

31/12/2021

Friday

18.00 (Friday)

to 09.00 (Saturday)

01/01/2022

Saturday (New Year’s Day)

09.00 (Saturday)

to 09.00 (Sunday)

02/01/2022

Sunday

09.00 (Sunday)

to 09.00 (Monday)

03/01/2022

Monday (New Years Day Bank Holiday)

09.00 (Monday)

to 08.00 (Tuesday)

04/01/2022

Tuesday

Normal Service Resumes

• Treatment is by appointment only.

• For Nurse advice, Doctor advice or to arrange an appointment Contact 0818 123 500 • To bring your Medical/ GP Card with you if you have one and photo ID • To follow all Covid-19 guidelines when attending appointment.

OUR NEW TELEPHONE NUMBER IS

0818 123 500

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

NEWS

13

14 Arts & Entertainment

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Doireann makes NY Times 2021 Top Books list

D

High standard among Shannon schools for art competition

by PÁRAIC McMAHON OIREANN NÍ GHRIOFA’s ‘A Ghost In The Throat’ has been named by The New York Times as one of the top books of 2021.

Her bestseller was already named the non-fiction book of the year at the An Post Irish Book Awards and now the piece of prose is receiving plenty of international plaudits. ‘A Ghost In The Throat’ finds the eighteenth-century poet Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill haunting the life of a contemporary young mother, prompting her to turn detective.

This week, ‘A Ghost In The Throat’ was chosen among The New York Times Critics’ Top Books of 2021 and was selected as a notable book of the year. Publications such as The Globe, The Mail and NPR have listed it among the best books of 2021.

Writing in The New York Times, Parul Sehgal described the book as “a hybrid of essay, biography, autofiction and scholarship” and one that was an “exuberant, tangled passage”. She added, “The story that uncoils is stranger, more difficult to tell, than those valiant accounts of rescuing a ‘forgotten’ woman writer from history’s erasures or of the challenges faced by the woman artist.”

Kilnamona native, Doireann is also the author of six critically-acclaimed books of poetry, each a deepening exploration of birth, death, desire, and domesticity. Awards for her writing include a Lannan Literary Fellowship (USA), the Ostana Prize (Italy), a Seamus Heaney Fellowship (Queen’s University), the Hartnett Poetry Award, and the Rooney

 ART ATTACK: John Francis Head of Security, Inspector Paul Slattery, Sgt Joe o Donoghue and Pat O’Brien Chief Fire Officer

Photo by Joe Buckley

SECONDARY school students in Shannon put their artistic skills to use to display a Christmas mood, writes Páraic McMahon.

Organised by Shannon Garda Station, over 60 entries were received from St Caimin’s Community School and St Patrick’s Comprehensive School for the competition. “A massive thanks goes out the teachers from both schools for encouraging participation in the competition and to all who submitted entries,” the organisers stated.

Inspector Paul Slattery, Sergeant Joe O'Donoghue, John

 AUTHOR: Doireann Ní Ghriofa

Prize for Irish Literature, among others.

Now based in Cork, Doireann said she was “grateful” to be included.

She paid tribute to Biblioasis “for carrying it far across the ocean to new readers”. She continued, “It’s been wonderful to see their belief in this strange book rewarded this past while”. Colm Toibin was the only other Irish inclusion, his novel ‘The Magician’ also made the cut.

Memorably in the summer of 1995, Doireann not alone took

home a snack box meal with milk from Supermacs in Ennis but also won a competition to gain her hands on coveted VIP tickets to the All-Ireland final between Clare and Offaly.

Clare’s team of 1995 still stand as her sporting heroes, “it was an unforgettable moment for me. I feel like that team taught a whole generation of Clare people what it meant to be the underdog and to go out and give it socks anyway.

“I still think of that very often and I still draw great strength from it,” she said of the infamous win.

Francis Chief Officer Security Airport Police and Pat O'Brien, Chief Officer – Fire & Rescue Shannon Airport were on the judging panel and reported a very high standard of entries.

Six winners were eventually chosen along with six honourable mentions. The successful six each receive a €20 gift voucher for Easons which was partially sponsored by Eoin Hock of Easons in Shannon Town Centre.

Robin Leenan, Lily Egan, Justyna Wesołowska, Willow Leenane, Rokoslana Sipko and Brooke McGorrian were the winning entries.

Smother returns to RTÉ early in the New Year CRIME drama, Smother which was filmed Lahinch is to return to TV screens in the New Year, writes Páraic McMahon.

Regarded as one of the breakout Irish TV shows of this year, season two of Smother is set to begin airing every Sunday on RTÉ ONE from January 9th.

Clare’s rugged coast played a vital role in adding to the drama with the waves of Lahinch tying in perfectly with the thriller which centred on dark goings on with the Ahern family and the mysteri-

ous clifftop death of fall guy daddy Denis.

Seána Kerslake who plays Grace on the show was confident viewers would be kept on their toes when Smother returns. “If you thought there was drama and confusion in season one, there’s going to be even more this time round for sure”.

Weather conditions and the pandemic delayed filming for the first series but breaks in production have been few and far between for series two.

NEWS 15

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

FELIZ NAVIDAD IN BALLYNACALLY

YOU ARE NOT ALONE If you are feeling lonely or are in distress over Christmas, there is help available  SAMARITANS: Call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie Open 24/7.  PIETA: Call 1800 247 247. Open 24/7. Email: info@pieta.ie  RAPE CRISIS CENTRE: Call 1800 778 888. Open 24/7. Email: info@rcc.ie  WOMEN’S AID: Call 1800 341 900.

Open 24/7. Email: info@womensaid.ie  MEN’S AID: Call 01 5543811. Open 10-4 on 28, 29 and 30 December Closed from 24 December to 27 December and 31 December to 3 January.

 GOOD TIMES: Áine Heslin, Paddy (De Las Pampas) Mulcahy, Lenka Fairy and Sean Murphy from the Los Paddys Continental Clare group with Liam Kirwan and Aidan Halpin outside the Estuary Café on the green in Ballynacally. Organised by the Ballynacally Development Association, Paddy Mulcahy of De Las Pampas, Sean Murphy, Aine Heslin and Lenka Fairy from the group Los Paddys Continental Clare gave performances in a special Sunday morning event.Further events planned by the Development Association include a fundraising raffle for two Christmas hampers on Friday morning at 11am which will also be another musical gathering.On January 2nd, there will be a New Year walk and once again this will see music brought to the masses outside the cafe.

Email: hello@mensaid.ie  CHILDLINE: Call 1800 666 666 Free Text 50101. Open 24/7  50808: Text HELLO to 50808 if you are experiencing a crisis and are unable to cope.  ENNIS GARDA STATION: Call (065) 684 8100. 

EMERGENCY SERVICES: Call 999.

 SHANNON DOC: Out of hours medical service. Call 0818123500. See page 12 of this paper for opening hours

16 NEWS

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

SHANNON NEWS in association with

Reopened road blocked off by Council PÁRAIC MCMAHON

A

paraic@clareecho.ie

N ACCESS road to Shannon Town Centre which reopened on Saturday has now been closed off by Clare County Council.

Over the course of four days, there were plenty of twists and turns after Shannon Town gained an additional road, without permission, over the weekend.

Shoppers in Shannon Town Centre were taken aback by the additional entry and exit point at the roundabout leading from the R471 to the R472 at Tullyvarraga in front of Lidl which was first accessible on Saturday morning.

From this point, motorists are now able to drive through to the shopping centre rather than continuing straight to Bothár na Rinne and turning left. Equally, drivers can now use the new road to exit.

This road had previously been covered in grass with efforts to bring it back into use ongoing for close to two decades. Clare County Council closed the road due to health and safety concerns in light of traffic collisions. When this closed, the entrance by Bothár na Rinne was opened up as an alternative.

Works took place throughout Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday morning to clear the area so that the road was brought back into use, The Clare Echo understands.

Management of Shannon Town

HAZARD: The access route Photo by Joe Buckley

Centre were unavailable to comment when contacted by The Clare Echo.

Local reaction initially has been positive among Saturday morning’s shoppers while motorists

have had to make a double-take while seeing cars approaching the roundabout from the new access point. Concerns have been expressed that the health and safety aspects that led to the road’s clo-

sure still exist.

By Wednesday evening, the road had been blocked off again with crews from the local authority installing bollards to prevent vehicular access.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, a spokesperson for the local authority stated that they responded to the “development of an unauthorised access onto the main Shannon Town roundabout and Bother Na Rinne”.

“Following an assessment, this access was deemed to represent a significant hazard to persons using the public road. Measures have been taken to reduce this hazard under Section 13 of the Road Act 1993 and the access is now closed.

Clare County Council were supported in this operation by An Garda Siochana”.

New high-tech weather radar to be installed in airport

by PÁRAIC McMAHON SHANNON AIRPORT is to have a new dual-polarisation weather radar installed this summer.

Listed as an action in the Government’s Climate Action Plan, the addition of the high-tech weather radar is aimed to lead to improved weather forecasting and climate monitoring from the weather station at Shannon Airport.

Clare TD, Cathal Crowe

(FF) was confident it would result in better advanced detection of flood events.

“Shannon Airport’s weather station has provided a fantastic forecasting service for a number of years now and the addition of this new radar will enhance what can be predicted and studied from this station”.

He added, “Dual-polarisation weather radars involve cutting edge technology

RAIN ON ME: The weather radar at Shannon Airport

and software than has the ability to discern between heavy rain, rain, snow and sleet.

“This information will give meteorologists and the Irish Aviation Authority a more acute understanding of what weather fronts are moving inland from the Atlantic Ocean. The new radar should help to improve the accuracy of precipitation estimates, leading to better advance detection of flood events”.

17

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

in association with

TOY SHOP APPEARS ON RTÉ

Ennis’ walkway trails to be progressed next year PÁRAIC MCMAHON

W

paraic@clareecho.ie

TPY SHOW: ENNIS shop, Littles Ones was the youngest business to feature in The Toy Shop which aired on RTÉ ONE last night (Wednesday). The business owned by Fiona Ryan and situated on Parnell St was recognised as one of the most inspiring and successful businesses to feature in the show

ORKS will commence next year on walkway trails throughout Ennis.

Funding was obtained under Active Travel measures to progress level one works outlined in the ‘connecting’ objectives of the Connecting and Co-Creating Ennis document.

Undertaken in the summer of 2020 by the Intelligence Unit (IU) of the School of Architecture at UL, the Connecting and Co-Creating Ennis project aims to rejoin parts of the county town physically

’Insufficient road width’ adding to traffic problems

by PÁRAIC McMAHON is insufficient road width on “INSUFFICIENT” road width is causing difficulty at peak school times outside Coláiste Muire.

An appeal for the Ennis Municipal District to work alongside An Garda Síochána and the secondary school to devise a traffic management plan for College Rd was issued by Cllr Ann Norton (IND).

Possible solutions will be examined between the Ennis MD and the Gardaí, senior executive engineer Eamon O’Dea responded.

“It should be noted that College Road is a residential road where a number of the house do not have front driveways, therefore at peak school times there

SOLUTION: Colaiste Muire

the College Road between the School and Sandfield Park to cater for two way traffic and car parking”.

Speaking at the December meeting of the Ennis MD, Cllr Norton detailed, “it is like every school that we have issues when it comes to dropping off and picking up of students, it is quite a narrow road, there’s quite a number of houses in the area and one of the issues is that there is a lot of elderly people living in that particular area, the demand for parking and picking students up is causing a lot of problems”.

She acknowledged that efforts had been made to change bus times to try alleviate congestion but felt

more needed to be done.

“There is a lot more children attending the Coláiste than there was a number of years ago, there’s a lot of young students being picked up.

“We don’t want to see accidents happening similar to what happened in St Flannan’s, safety has to be the foremost priority around schools”.

Recalling that he witnessed the congestion “first hand on many occasions,” Cllr Pat Daly commented, “College Rd a very tight road, all other schools have sufficient roads around for parking. I sympathise with the residents there on a daily basis, a traffic management plan would be very welcome”.

and socially while also getting citizens actively involved in Ennis’ development. Senior executive officer of the Ennis Municipal District, Leonore O’Neill outlined, “These works will be undertaken in 2022.

“The co-creating element is being advanced through a number of agencies, in co-operation with Ennis MD”.

She confirmed that €950,000 was secured for the walkway trails which is an incorporation of the co-connecting project. The works will be advanced next year and involve “a mixture of footpath works, seating, pedestrian crossing and a large body of smaller scale works”. Six student architects and two researches spent five walks walking the streets of Ennis while setting up a studio at the County Muse-

um to complete their work for the project, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) recalled.

“Old medieval towns like Ennis have become car dominated, the survey on Ennis pedestrianisation will be very interesting”.

One particular finding from their research which impressed Cllr Flynn was the acknowledgement of the old Ennis town boundary in the design of a slight heart shape which has been referenced in branding of the capital.

Development of healthy heart routes varying from 2km to 5km were welcomed by Flynn, “it is great to see we will be getting a lot more people walking in our public spaces”.

Progress of the project was welcomed by Cllr Pat Daly (FF).

18 FEATURES

Open your heart

Thought for the week

W

Great turnout for Gort Christmas cycle

Thought for the week

RONAN SCULLY

ITH all the rushing and racing of the Christmas Day and week upon us and most people in full throttle, it is easy to get lost in all of the festivities, shopping, parties, cooking, eating, drinking and gift giving. There’s so much to do and so little time to do it along with the worries and restrictions of Covid-19. Many of us I am afraid have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas and what it really represents and what we should believe it to be.

Christmas is really about the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Jesus represents real love, forgiveness, care, mercy and compassion towards each of us and our fellow human beings on this journey called life. I believe through my personal faith that we are all God’s children and we should treat each other as we ourselves would want and like to be treated and loved. It is so important because of that belief and especially at this time of the year to think of the less fortunate and the most needy, sick, unwell and vulnerable in our communities and our world, especially with our ever growing number of homeless people and children.

We must be continually challenged by the circumstances and the place of our Saviour’s birth on the edges of society.

We must always remember those who may not have gifts under a Christmas tree or a warm house or a bed to wake up in on Christmas morning or any morning or have no food or drink to have on that day or any day or are homeless or live in Direct Provision or are facing another day of war or famine or drought.

God loves us so much and all he asks is that we show that same love, care, forgiveness, empathy, compassion and mercy to one another and everyone

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

that we can help and support in some way. That is the real beautiful meaning of giving to others during the Christmas season and it helps us to realise that nothing is impossible as long as we believe in God and in one another.

The True Meaning

While for so many people the Christmas season is about materialism and commercialism and keeping up with a hectic schedule, we should all try to where possible now and then to slow things down and take some time out to not only appreciate, focus and meditate on the true meaning of Christmas but also to embrace the true spirit of Christmas. Emotionally this is a difficult time of the year for so many people and families in our midst and on the edges of our communities and our world.

Also the stress of the Christmas season especially during this time of Covid-19, if one is not careful builds upon stress to destroy the holiday cheer of many. The underlying problem for so many people is that they focus all their energy on what they do not have rather than embracing what they do have and that for me is what the Christmas spirit is all about focusing on what you have within you and around you and treating others the way you would like to be treated, cared for and loved. The true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ. The Christ child is a symbol of love, light, hope, compassion, mercy and peace that makes this such a joyful season.

However, there are some for which this message is not enough to overcome the depression, anger and stress of the season and of life.

That is why it is so important to embrace the true meaning of Christmas, you need to reach down within yourself into your heart’s core to your soul to find the spirit of

Christmas. In order to embrace the true Christmas spirit you must be willing to give. Give of yourself, your time, your forgiveness, your prayers, your actions, your acceptance, your compassion, your mercy and your love, and give of your worldly possessions.

Do not think of the gifts you give to others as an obligation or duty, but think of it as a symbol of your love for them. While no gift can accurately reflect the love we feel for those who are near and dear to us, we can show them that they matter by spending time and thought to create or select a gift with meaning or give what is most precious of all the gift of our time and presence. Embracing the spirit of Christmas also means giving to those beyond our immediate sphere as well, especially those most in need in our communities and in our world. Obviously it is easy to throw some money in a charity collection box or envelope, and that is certainly worth doing and most needed, but if your Christmas spirit needs a boost then perhaps you should try something more hands-on and volunteer and put yourself out there.

Local churches, homeless shelters and organisations, schools, and charitable organisations can and do usually give you a list of opportunities to give of yourself, to volunteer and help out with their work and their needs in their help of our vulnerable brothers and sisters in need in our communities and world at this time. Embrace the spirit of Christmas and find the true meaning of the season to bring more joy and happiness into your life and the lives of people in need both locally and globally. This Christmas if you can and if you believe, mend a quarrel, seek out a forgotten friend, dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust.

Remember it’s sometimes easy to forget that that baby born that night grew up to become an adult. And when he did, and he was asked what God wants us to do with our lives, he answered this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and love your neighbour as yourself.” We need to listen to God in prayer and meditation, who is telling us not to let anyone feel alone or unloved this Christmas or at any time.

Each and every one of us needs to let those around us know that we love and care for them. Christmas is a time when it’s particularly important to make people feel included.

Don’t let anyone be on their own this Christmas.

In other words, open the door, open your heart, and let the Holy Spirit of Jesus in with all his challenges.

Many blessings to everyone this Christmas, this New Year and always.

HI VIZ: 140 people registered to take part in the event

W

ELL over 140 people registered for the inaugural #GortChristmasCycle, joining Gort Cycle Trails and Santa to walk, cycle and scoot from the Gort playground to Sullivans Hotel where they were treated to hot chocolate and coffee, writes Elaine Tubridy.

Great entertainment followed by well-known local puppeteer Tommy Baker and Seamus, aka Your Mans Puppets.

There was a great mixture of big bikes, small bikes, trikes, electric bikes, fold-up bikes , cargobikes and even a recumbent bike.

“We would like to thank all of

Photo by Nadine Reichel

the participants for taking part,” said Katleen Bell Bonjean.

“All this was made possible thanks to the help of An Garda Siochana, who escorted us safely, the marshals from various cycling groups such as Oranmore Cycle Bus, I Bike Oranmore, and Axa Community Rider David Murray from Clarinbridge. High Viz jackets and other merchandise were donated by Galway Cycling Campaign and https://tribesonbikes.ie/ Thanks to The Road Safety Authority and Cyclist.ie for supplying flashing bikelights and Nadine Reichel for the amazing pictures,” Katleen added.

Search for Gort Cycle Trails on Facbook for more info.

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Community KILMIHIL

lMINI CHRISTMAS: The Light up your Wagon Drive By was a great success with over 132 vehicles taking part and people lining the roads as it drove by - The participants put in a great effort making it very difficult to pick the overall winners of Paul Crowley driving a mini with Christmas Tree on top and Fergus Corry of Beechwood Civil driving an Arctic The organisers would sincerely like to thank Power’s Pharmacy and Fitzpatricks Hardware for their generous sponsorship along with all the participants and people who donated to the event. Plans are already in hand for next years event!

KILSHANNY

lCHRISTMAS BABY: Fr. Robert McNamara P.P. with members of the St. Augustine’s Church choir making a presentation to Mrs. Chris Arthur, choir organist at the Vigil Mass on Saturday night last in advance of her 90th Birthday which she will celebrate on Christmas day. All the parishioners wish Chris a very Happy Birthday

COMMUNITY 19

20 FEATURES

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

GREEN CLARE

Council are dreaming of a green Christmas

STUART HOLLY

W

editor@clareecho.ie

ASTE can be prevented in Clare over the festive period by adhering to a Green Christmas, one of the county’s environmental awareness officers has highlighted.

Through packaging and gifts, Christmas tends to be a time of year that generates more waste. By managing our waste responsibly and taking steps to prevent, reduce and reuse this Christmas, we can reduce our carbon footprint and help preserve our earth’s limited natural resources, Karen Foley, Environmental Awareness Officer, Clare County Council flagged.

In instances where packaging cannot be reused or upcycled, much of it can be recycled, Karen stated. She urged the public to check mywaste.ie when they are uncertain as to what can be recycled. Recyclables can also be brought to one of County Clare’s five recycling centres and transfer stations. A carload of recyclable waste brought to Ballyduffbeg, Lisdeen, Shannon, Scariff and

Ennis costs as little as €5.00. Opening times and recycling costs are available at Clare County Council’s website.

“Householders can also bring bottles and aluminium cans to our bring banks located around Clare for free. It is important to remember to keep these bring bank sites clean and tidy by depositing only bottles and aluminium cans into the banks during the festive season. Boxes, bags or other materials used to carry recyclables should not be disposed of at the bring bank. Bring banks are serviced regularly. However, there is huge demand on sites at this time of year. Where bring banks are full, alternative sites should be used. We thank people for their co-operation,” Ms Foley stated.

She added, “While out and about over Christmas enjoying County Clare’s amazing amenities, we are also urging people to always Leave no Trace and, when it comes to litter, either Bin It or Bring It Home. If there is a problem with littering or illegal dumping in your community our Waste Enforcement Team can be contacted at 1800-606706 / 065-6846331 or via email at enviroff@ clarecoco.ie”.

Further tips are available on social media by following @GreenerClare.

12 TIPS FOR A GREENER CHRISTMAS 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Choose products with less packaging. Say no to excess packaging.

Presents – Buy locally produced gifts, you’re supporting local jobs and helping the environment by reducing transport miles. Buy experiences rather than gifts!

More gift ideas – Other great gift ideas include upcycled Christmas tree decorations, native tree vouchers, solar powered radios and torches, energy saving light bulbs.

Offset extra miles – Give a tree or garden plant as a gift to help offset the extra miles travelled at Christmas.

Buy a battery charger – Avoid gifts which require batteries, or purchase a battery recharger and rechargeable batteries.

E-cards – Why not send a festive e-card instead of a paper one, or make your own from paper and textile scraps you find around the house.

Alternative wrapping – Try alternative wrappings like newspaper, old material and string or ribbon that can be reused. Or consider gift bags

as they can be reused over and over.

Shopping bags – Bring your own reusable bags when shopping. Say no to plastic bags.

9. Make a list! – Make a shopping list so you’re not tempted to buy things you don’t really need or want.

10. Low food transport miles – Shop for locally produced food or fair trade labels. Challenge yourself to make dinner entirely from locally produced produce.

11. Food for thought – At least 30% of all the food we buy is thrown out! Visit www.stopfoodwaste.ie for inspiring ideas on how to shop smarter for food over the festive period as well as recipes for what to do with leftovers.

12. Recycle – remember to use your dry recyclable collection provided by your waste collector. If unsure what can be recycled visit www.mywaste. ie. To prevent contamination in the household recycling bin it is important to ensure that items being placed in this bin are clean, dry and loose. You can also use your local bottle bank and/or recycling centre.

8.

GREEN CHRISTMAS: Wrapping paper can generate a lot of waste

NEWS 21

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Santa praises Clare kids ahead of Christmas night ELAINE TUBRIDY

I

elaine.tubridy@clareecho.ie

N AN exclusive interview with The Clare Echo, Santa Claus has praised the children of Clare for their resilience during what has been an extremely challenging year.

“It’s been such a tough time for everyone, but most especially children. I have been so impressed with how they have all coped with having their lives turned upside down. Clare kids are such an incredible bunch. Sure, there have been times where they have been less than patient with what’s been going on, but that’s very understandable. That’s why I have torn up the naughty list this year. Every child deserves a great Christmas,” he said.

That being said, the man in the red suit has advised kids not to be disappointed if he can’t deliver everything they have asked for.

Logistical issues as well as trouble getting the necessary parts has caused Santa a migraine or two.

“Half of my suppliers have had to suffer temporary closures due to Covid and that whole Suez Canal thing was a nightmare,” he sighed.

He did promise that he would do his best, though.

He also asked that children be patient if there are no batteries with their toys. “I’m very old, sometimes I forget to bring them down the chimney with me,” Santa said.

Santa revealed that Clare children are some of the kindest he has ever come across and asked them for a special favour.

“I’ve been watching and I see how kind they all are. This year,

I need to ask them to go one step further.

“Please kids, be mindful of those who didn’t get a lot of toys for Christmas and be sure to share your gifts with the other children.

It breaks my heart but sometimes I can’t deliver everything for those who deserve it most. Those kids have a special place in my heart and I will always look out for them in other ways and help them where I can,” he added.

Even though it has been another unusual year, Santa has reminded children that all of the usual guidelines are still in place to prepare for his visit. He has a very busy night ahead. Getting around to every single house in the world in one go is far from easy. So in order to make the process as smooth as possible, he requests that all of the children go to bed early as he can’t come down the chimney if kids

 HO HO HO: Santa Claus delivering presents last year

are still awake. “I’m very shy,” he revealed. “If you hear me moving around the house, it’s so important that you stay in bed. You will startle me and I will waste precious time hiding when I could be delivering presents. I am a hide and seek world champion, so there’s no point trying to find me.”

In a final word for parents, Santa congratulated them all for making it to Christmas Day. “It’s been a whirlwind, I know. Enjoy every minute of the break and remember that the biggest thing your kids want is your time. Make their day by putting away the screens and playing with them,” he concluded.

22 COLUMNIST

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

POACHED PEARS IN MULLED WINE Kearney Cooks

I

T’S my last column before Christmas, so I thought I would share one of my absolute favourite Christmas dessert recipes. It only needs two ingredients, can be made up the night before so it’s ready to plate up on Christmas Day, and it’s just bursting full of Christmas flavours .

So without further ado, here is my very simple Poached Pears with Mulled Wine Syrup.

YOU WILL NEED • 4 good hard pears (or 1 per person) • 700ml mulled wine Step One Peel your pears and put them into a pot, cover them with your mulled wine and simmer on a low to medium heat for 30 minutes.

Step Two Remove your pears from the mulled wine and set aside. Turn the heat up to high and boil your remaining mulled wine until it reduces significantly and is now a thick syrup.

Step Three Place your pear on a plate (cut the bottom off the pear to make it stand up on the plate), drizzle some syrup over the top and serve with cream or ice cream.

This dish is gluten free and vegan (obviously without cream or ice cream) so it will suit most people at the Christmas table. It can be served warm or cold and it is a simply wonderful dish to end a meal with.

As usual if you have any questions about this recipe or others please feel free to message me on Instagram, also keep an eye on The Clare Echo Face-

book page or my Instagram @stevekearney37 for the instructional video that goes with this recipe.

And finally, have a safe and happy Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Enjoy

Steve K

COLUMNIST 23

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

With

With With

W

E HAVE just made arrangements to bring in the dry cows from the grass they have been grazing on the out block. My father J.J. and myself walked through the cows in that place this Wednesday morning and one would perhaps think bad of having to bring the girls back into the shed. The ground conditions are firm underfoot which isn’t always the case for us this late in the year, there is a sweet, musky, hay like aroma from the grazed but somewhat trodden upon pasture.

Each cow is busy about pursuing that last morsel of the most generous of grazing seasons 2021.

Nonetheless Christmas is but a few days a way and we suspect less clement weather is just around the corner.

The cow now needs to be nurtured closer to home as she faces her last few weeks of pregnancy where her diet and consumption of minerals becomes even more important.

As a farmer what wishes would I have on my Christ-

mas list for 2022? Number one is world peace which is probably over ambitious but at least not any new conflicts. Obviously the world needs no extra suffering or displacement of people from their homes, however with modern conflicts comes often comes geo-political manoeuvring in the form of sanctions being imposed on the aggressor and then being reciprocated back by the aggressor.

We saw this in 2014 when the EU imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion and annexation of Crimea.

Russia reacted by banning imports of food from EU member states. Russia is currently amassing some 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border. We have been unable to export food produce to Russia since 2014 so these sanctions have shrunk our world somewhat.

Number two on my list would be that farming is let flourish without the negative, careless talk of ill-informed commentators.

I was listening to a panel discussion on one of the

national radio stations last week, all speakers were urbanites, none from a food producing background and they were allowed by the presenter to spout off lies and careless misinformation. One of the panellists mentioned that in terms of the environment, “we know Irish farming has to move away from cow farming to growing crops”. No one pressed her or asked her, why or how do we know that, where is the evidence.

This woman’s vocabulary related to livestock farming didn’t seem to go beyond calling cattle cows no more than if I were to call all people women. She then went on to say our national herd has been getting larger every year and should be reduced. This is the most blatant lie that is being pedalled on national airwaves.

The fact is that in 1974 there were 7.4 million cattle in Ireland, today there is just 6.9 million cattle, a reduction of some half a million cattle.

I would like to take the opportunity to wish you a very happy and healthy Christmas and New Year.

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS

 GIVING: David Moylan, West Coast Motorcycle Club presenting a cheque for €3,620 to Kira of St. Claire’s School. Also in the photo is John Murphy Principal of St.Claire’s School, James Davoren, Johnny Murphy and Clinton Tully of West Coast MCC and Julian Davoren of St. Claire’s School. Over a hundred bikers donated at the motorcycle run on Sunday. Staff from St. Claire’s School also did a bucket collection around Ennis

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Y O U R

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L O C A L

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24 NEWS

Are the models accurate?

“T

HE Government have lost the dressing room”.

That was how I described the state of current political affairs on Clare FM on Monday morning having taken soundings from politicians from Government parties over the weekend. The announcement of restrictions, effectively closing most of the hospitality and entertainment industries a week before Christmas, was a body blow to hundreds of thousands of people. Indeed, the morning I spoke to Morning Focus was the same day restrictions came into effect, meaning tens of thousands of people were waking up that day out of a job for the third time in less than 2 years. Your heart simply must go out to them.

This is not to make light of the seriousness of Covid and its impact on the healthcare system.

Having just concluded the phone call interview, my next port of call was my local GP to receive my booster vaccine. Real world

data from various countries who were hit with Omicron first have shown the boosters effectiveness in reducing severe outcomes from the new variant, backed up by lab data compiled over the past few weeks. However, what had been suspected was that Omicron would be a far less virulent disease than previous variants. As I type, new figures from South Africa, Denmark, Canada and the UK all seem to point in that direction.

This begs the question, why are NPHET models predicting thousands of people ending up in hospitals with Covid in January, when there is no scientific basis for assumptions of that nature? I get that they wish to get ahead of the disease given what happened last Christmas, but at a time that Ireland was seeing falling numbers in our hospitals and a steady daily case average, why the need to rush into doomsday models and imposition of restrictions?

Surely waiting a couple of days to gather more useful real-world data on Omicron could have proven beneficial. What’s more, why is

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Eoin Neylon

An inside look at Clare’s political spectrum

no one in Government seemingly asking this question?

The fact that the Tánaiste went on national radio on Thursday morning, ahead of cabinet sub-committee meetings, and effectively informed the public that new restrictions were on the way, completely undermined the process in place for the decision making and severely undermined the position of Taoiseach and his authority as the head of Government. This has irked many from FG and FF alike who are growing increasingly tiresome of the Tánaiste’s “media attention seeking” as one FG Cllr described it to me. “If Government are to retain the confidence of the people, they need to be seen to be calling the shots, not NPHET”, one FF politician said to me when I asked for their view on the situation and Martin’s leadership. Indeed, the public perception appears to be that NPHET are now completely calling the shots, with Government too afraid to call their recommendations into question, given events last Christmas. But

then, who is providing oversight to NPHET? Certainly, their previous modelling has proven overly conservative with the delta wave providing 25% less cases, and therefore hospitalisations, than even their most optimistic predictions.

Are these models which have now put thousands of people out of work in any way accurate? They might be, but without full transparency and oversight, it’s hard for the public to retain confidence in the message, especially when they cling to the farcical line that high case levels in schools are not being caused by in school transmission, but by adults giving Covid to kids outside the school grounds. It’s a patently nonsense statement, and quite incredulous they are sticking to it, despite the mountain of evidence and accepted international opinion and advice to the contrary.

Furthermore, NPHET’s inexplicable shelving of expert reports advocating for HEPA filters for schools and antigen testing months ago, only to have to climb

down later when public opinion became too much to bear, underlined the lack of trust people have in the messaging from the expert group. As of yet, there has been no good reason offered by NPHET for its refusal to follow international best practise in these areas, which could well have mitigated many of the cases we’ve seen over the past few months. Again, there has been no coherent voice from Government, at least publicly, questioning these decisions and precious few from the Opposition benches as well, it should be noted. Clare’s own Michael McNamara has proven himself adept at asking these questions on our behalf in the Dáil yet is receiving few if any answers.

In any event, if public confidence is to be restored, it will require changes. If Government itself won’t change then perhaps a change of Government is needed.

Question only remains, will that be a change of personnel from the current coalition, or will there be a change of Government parties altogether?

Nollaig Shona !

My priorities for 2022 As First Vice-Chair of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, I will continue to work to foster a positive EU-UK relationship for the benefit of both sides of the border that will have enormous ramifications to our all island economy.

Seán

KELLY

The Conference on the Future of Europe is a project to bridge the distance between citizens and EU decision makers. We want you to have your say on the EU’s priorities moving forward.

See futureofeurope.eu for details on how to get involved.

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YOUR VOICE IN THE EU

Wishing you all the best for the New Year!

seankelly.eu sean.kellymep @seankellymep

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The EU has committed to reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. This ambitious target can be achieved with actions like significantly increasing renewable energy production and addressing the energy performance of our buildings stock.

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THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

We will have no newspaper the 30th of December Our office will be closed until Jan 4th

25

26 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

2021

year in review

Clare Echo editor STUART HOLLY delves into the archives to bring you the biggest stories from a year which continued to be dominated by Covid-19

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

Bishop of Killaloe Fintan Monohan issued an apology following the Commission of the Mother & Baby Homes report found that 168 children died at the County Clare Nursery in Kilrush, where conditions were described as “even worse than Tuam”. The facility was owned and financed by Clare County Council and run by the Sisters of Mercy between 1922 and 1928, and by directly employed lay staff from 1928 to 1932 when it closed.

Meanwhile, OUR first front page of 2021 would set the tone for the year, with a story on Clare experiencing its highest level of infection since the pandemic began, with over 800 people being diagnosed in the fortnight leading up to January 7. Alongside this was a picture of Ennis Hospital porter David Crowe receiving the first Clare staff member to receive the vaccine, as the programme began to roll out. Later in the month, the Army were deployed to Cahercalla Hospital to help deal with a Covid outbreak.

night he confirmed he was not proceeding with the appointment.

Numerous tweets from Forde’s Twitter account prompted the reversal. Previous tweets criticised the Traveller community, social welfare recipients and called the Tanáiste Leo Varadkar (FG) a leak.

In a statement to The Clare Echo, Deputy Joe Carey (FG) labelled the episode as “a sorry saga”.

Speaking in Dáil Éireann, Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) described it as a “fiasco” and said Forde has “no ostensible experience” to lead either Shannon Airport, Shannon Commercial Properties or Shannon Heritage.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) said three candidates were identified with Forde selected following the public appointments service. “Then it emerged of tweets that were unacceptable and the Minister took very quick action to deal with that and the Minister will be dealing with the successor”.

BISHOP SORRY SHANNON CHAIR MAKES TWEET OF HIMSELF A six hour turnaround which saw the appointment and then cancellation of the new OVER KILRUSH Chairperson of Shannon Group plc was coined as a “fiasco” and “a sorry saga”.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, February 16, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan (GP) NURSERY REPORT announced the ex-CEO of Aurivo, Aaron Forde as Rose Hynes’ successor. Later that

The Púca of Ennistymon with artist Aidan Harte

MAY

MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN ENNIS On March 24, an Ennis man was charged

with the murder of mother of two, Sharon Bennett.

At Ennis District Court, Patrick Ballard (34) appeared after being charged with the murder of Wexford native, Ms Bennett.

Mr Ballard has been on remand in prison after being initially charged with the assault causing harm of Ms Bennett (29) in the Market area of Ennis on Thursday, January 28, 2021.

Ms Bennett died 13 days later at University Hospital Limerick.

At Ennis District Court, Det Garda Noelle Bergin gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution of Mr Ballard at 10.30am on Wednesday morning (March 24) before court.

Det Garda Bergin told the court that Mr Ballard of Ashford Court Hotel, Ennis made “no reply” in response to caution and charge.

Sgt Aiden Lonergan applied that the initial charge of assault causing harm against Mr Ballard be withdrawn as the murder charge has been made.

Judge Durcan granted legal aid to solicitor, Tara Godfrey concerning the murder charge.

Ms Godfrey applied that Mr Ballard be psychiatrically assessed while on remand in prison and Judge Durcan granted that application.

Mr Ballard and Ms Bennett were in a relationship at the time of the alleged murder and Ms Bennett was a mother of two girls, aged nine and six from a previous relationship.

APRIL

PÚCA PLANS POOH-POOHED Plans for a Púca of Ennistymon

sculpture were scrapped in mid May following local backlash over Clare County Council’s plans for the sculpture which had an estimated price tag of €30,000 and formed part of the Destination Towns Programme.

Clare County Council confirmed that the process to put the sculpture in place was paused with a full review to be published in the near future. The Púca was selected by a panel comprising a community representative, an independent artist, the project manager for the Ennistymon scheme and Clare Co Council’s Arts Office. It was inspired by the Irish folklore of Ennistymon.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Denis Vaughan of Save Ennistymon’s Heritage described the proposal as “a monstrosity, it is a ghostly figure, we’ve had enough ghosts and don’t need anymore”.

Meanwhile, a Clare direct provision resident told The Clare Echo in May that he feared for his family in Afghanistan

MARCH

69% WANT ENNIS PEDESTRIAN PLAN THE Clare Echo conducted a public and

as the Taliban began a military offensive which would ultimately lead to the fall of the republic in Kabul. Sayed Farid Sanai (32) was one of the most recognised news anchors in Afghanistan but was forced to flee his country in October 2019 after gun and

bomb attempts on his life by the Taliban.

Due to COVID-19, international protection applications were delayed. Just this month, Minister Helen McEntee confirmed that the Afghan Admission Programme would open for applications on December 16.

business survery in April to guage attitudes towards pedestrianisation in Ennis.

The Covid-19 Mobility Plan was introduced the previous year to enable safe shopping for members of the public, however it led to a wider debate around the advantages of pedestrianisation.

Some 69 per cent of people surveyed said they would like to see some form of pedestrianisation in Ennis planned for in the long term, 26 per cent were against it with a further five per cent undecided.

Of those within the business community, some 49 per cent were in favour of a longterm plan for pedestrianisation versus 40 per cent who were against.

However an overwhelming majority of both shoppers and business people believed Ennis was unprepared to deal with the logistics of a pedestrian plan, with 74 per cent of businesses and 57 per cent of the public respondents saying Ennis does not have the parking and traffic infrastructure to accommodate pedestrianisation.

2021 YEAR IN REVIEW 27

JUNE

SURFERS SAVE THE DAY A group of surfers were responsible for saving dozens of lives at a

chaotic Lahinch as hot weather and an influx of domestic tourists arrived in Clare.

Scenes at Lahinch saw thousands of visitors visit the beach with no lifeguards on duty when it was reported that two toddlers went missing, a heart attack scare occurred and over twenty rescues from the water were carried out by volunteer lifeguards and surf instructors.

Local surfers were hailed for their bravery in carrying out life-saving rescues on members of the public that got into difficulty. The group of men included Mike Paige, Aaron McGettigan, Ollie O’Flaherty, Ben Bennett, Ollie Welsh, Stephen Hanna, Liam Posener and Bradley Skidmore.

Richard Brangwyn spent over four hours in the water and carried out numerous rescues and assists while James Monaghan was responsible for two serious rescues.

Meanwhile, an easing of Covid-19 restrictions saw a return to outdoor dining for groups of up to six people, while cinemas, theatres, and gyms were also able to reopen under social distancing conditions.

JULY

COUNCILLORS BREACH EXPENSES RULES Normally known as silly season in the media industry, it was a busy July

Gearoid Rodgers and his horse Blue Maverick in Killaloe in February

Photo by John Mangan

news cycle in Clare as businesses experienced their busiest summer in decades with temperatures breaching 30 degrees while staycationers came to Clare in their droves.

Two Clare councillors, Mary Howard (FG) and Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) came under fire for breaching expenses rules. As part of an RTÉ investigation, it was revealed that hundreds of councillors contravened law by failing to declare expenses they received from external organisations, many elected representatives also received double payments by incorrectly claiming expenses from their own local authority and from an external organisation for the same official absence.

Meanwhile, Clare was in mourning as local lifeguard Fionn O’Brien (20), from Knockanean, lost his life near Quilty in a tragic surfing accident on July 5.

28 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

AUGUST

NIGHTMARE AT UHL

A COROFIN native shared details of what he described as “a nightmare” stint at University Hospital Limerick in August.

Dermot Hayes was admitted to UHL after complaining of pain around his naval area. The Clare Echo previously documented how the Ennis resident has undergone dialysis treatment at home since July of last year.

After undergoing a cat scan, he was put on a trolley in A&E. “I was left in a corridor, it was choc-a-bloc. It was like a warzone. I was getting anxious, no one was telling me when I would be out of here, there no indication if it was one hour or ten hours that I’d be left there for”.

The well-known activist claimed that COVID-19 guidelines were not being adhered to in the A&E. “We were all pale to pale on trolleys and we’re supposed to be talking about COVID but yet we were up on top of each other”.

In a statement to The Clare Echo, a UL Hospitals spokesperson admitted that complying with social distancing had become difficult due to the volume of presentations.

Meanwhile family members of the late Pat Nugent described their search for answers into his 1984 death as “never-ending” and “cruel”.

An inquiry into how Gardaí investigated the death of Pat Nugent in Bunratty 37 years ago was completed by former judge Patrick Clyne and issued to the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee (FG) in November of last year.

Despite Minister McEntee issuing commitments that the report would be published fairly soon after, the Nugent family have yet to receive the report.

SEPTEMBER

PYRITE PROBLEMS The Clare Echo reveals that Clare

County Council official were made aware of pyrite problems in the county as far back as 2018, but no action was taken.

Joe Carey TD (FG) first raised the matter with Clare County Council Chief Executive, Pat Dowling in April 2018 having submitted a parliamentary question before Dáil Éireann in February of that year.

Efforts in Limerick to be included in a pyrite remediation scheme were brought to the attention of Clare County Council as they were encouraged to put together a similar application.

No response was issued to the Clarecastle TD by May 2018 when subsequent correspondence was issued to Mr Dowling.

An application was submitted to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage by Clare County Council on 29th July 2021, three years later.

Meanwhile Clare TDs said findings from a political rich list which reported that two of them were millionaires are “misleading”.

The Irish Independent published its political rich list a two month investigation.

Figures from the report show that the county’s four TDs are worth a combined €2,610,798 with both Deputy Michael McNamara (IND) and Deputy Joe Carey (FG) included among the country’s 68 TDs who were allegedly millionaires.

l WRITING IS ON THE WALL: Seamus & Mary Hanley show the extent of Photo by Joe Buckley the pyrite damage to their home

2021 YEAR IN REVIEW 29

OCTOBER

ENNIS ‘ENVY OF EVERY TOWN’ The Ennis 2040 plan is published at an officially unveiling by An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.

Included in the economic and spatial strategy is provision for 5,000 additional jobs and a population increase of 1.6 percent per annum, along with the provision of an urban bus and making the town “more pedestrian friendly”.

Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Pat Dowling was defiant in his ambitions for the county town, “Ennis can be the envy of every town and community in Ireland”.

While it appeared to be good news for the county town, concerns were raised separately by councillors for the future viability of rural Clare with plans to dezone lands in areas without wastewater infrastructure touted in the upcoming County Development Plan.

NOVEMBER

LIVES AT RISK IN DOOLIN The Clare Echo reported in early November that “lives are at risk” after the

Doolin Coast Guard Unit was stood down amid an ongoing dispute. One of the busiest coast guard units in the country, the Doolin unit was stood down from operations after six of the 18 volunteers announced their resignation from the unit. According to the Irish Coast Guard, divisions “have unfortunately existed” within the unit for years.

Meanwhile, the rate of Covid-19 infection was on the rise again, with 1.027 cases in Clare alone over a 14-day period.

DECEMBER

STORM BARRA BLOWS HARD

A Red Status weather warning sent everyone home from work early on December 7, with schools closing for two days. At the height of Storm Barra, 3720 homes and businesses were without power across Co Clare.

Meanwhile, huge crowds of mourners attended the funeral of Peggy Morrissey at St Mary’s Church in Mullagh who lost her life in a traffic incident. Speaking at her funeral, her son Marty said, “In my humble opinion, the greatest Irish mother in the history of motherhood.”

SYDNEY STEALS THE SHOW

l TV STAR: Isabella Sydney at home with her twin brother AJ and mother Clare, after appearing on the Late Late Toy Show in November. She was also later presented with a cheque for €1,200 from a Christmas jumper day which was held at her school, CBS Ennis Photo by Natasha Barton

30 RECRUITMENT

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

BUSINESS AND RECRUITMENT

ROADS ACT 1993 TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 75 of the Roads Act 1993 of Clare County Council’s intention to close the roads detailed hereunder for the period stated, in order to facilitate site investigation works on O’Connell Street, O’Connell Square, Salthouse Lane and High Street.

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

'Hospitality seems to be the first to go every time, it's soul destroying'

M

by PÁRAIC McMAHON

ORALE is dropping to a new low in the hospitality industry with the sector drained from ongoing setbacks caused as a result of COVID-19.

As of Monday, restaurants and bars excluding takeaways/ delivery must close at 8pm, no indoor events are allowed after 8pm, earlier indoor events are capped at an attendance of 50% or 1,000, crowds at outdoor events are limited to 50% or 5,000 attendees, crowds of 100 are allowed for weddings, there are no changes to domestic travel or household visits.

Members of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) expressed “exceptional concern” with the impact of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant which Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) in an address to the nation said was “exploding throughout Europe”.

Co-owner of Monks in Ballyvaughan, Patrick O’Donoghue was adamant a new approach was needed in how the country attempts to combat the virus. “It is time to learn to live with COVID, it’s not going where, we need to learn to live with it and by living with it I mean continuing to live our lives,” Patrick stated.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, the Ballyvaughan native highlighted that the hospitality sector needed to be trusted by the Government. “The Government are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, everyone will jump on the bandwagon either way. The most important thing is for us

to stay safe, the next important thing is for us to learn to live with the virus, letting staff go from the hospitality sector every time there is a new variant is not the answer. The answer is by trusting us in the hospitality sector to provide as safe an area as we can, we are currently doing that and we’ve had the rug pulled out from us”.

“I always use the term that there is light at the end of the tunnel but this tunnel is getting longer and longer, we are adults and we should be adapting to live with what comes us at us in life, this is running and hiding from it, we can live with it but running away from it won’t do that,” he stressed.

Eamon Duggan of Malachy’s Bar in Quin acknowledged the gravity of the health situation but felt the impact to the public’s mental health by limiting cultural and social activities further needed to be recognised.

House parties are expected to rise in frequency over the festive period with the earlier closure of pubs. This was an area that needed to be tackled, Eamon stated. “There has been a free for all in house parties, garages and shebeens, at least we’re regulated in the pubs, why are we going after those that after regulated, why not go after the unregulated, why target the regulated.

What’s the effort behind closing down house parties and shebeens and unregulated businesses”.

Newmarket-on-Fergus native Duggan questioned if new personnel were required on NPHET to bring a different viewpoint and a change of tack in reacting to new vari-

Roads to be closed: O’ Connell Street, Ennis from O’ Connell Square to junction with Station Road. Salthouse Lane and High Street.

Date and time of closure: O’ Connell Street, Salthouse Lane and High Street Closures: 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Monday-Thursday, 17th - 20th January 2022, 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Monday-Thursday 24th - 27th January 2022 and 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Monday-Tuesday 31st January to 1st February 2022.

Alternative routes / diversions: There will be no through road, from Abbey Street to O’Connell Street for the duration of the works.

Diversion will be at O’ Connell Square at the junction of Bank Place and O’Connell Square. Traffic flow will be reversed on Old Friary Lane for duration of works on Salthouse Lane and High Street. Diversion will be at junction of Salthouse Lane and Old Friary Lane. Follow diversion signs in place. A map outlining the closures is available on our website at www.clarecoco.ie Emergency Access Emergency Access will be maintained.

Objections / representations may be made by email to roads@clarecoco.ie or in writing before 4.00 pm on Friday 31st December 2021 to: Administrative Officer, Roads & Transportation Department, Áras Contae an Chláir, Clare County Council, New Road, Ennis, Co. Clare Clare County Council regrets any inconvenience that these closures may cause.

PUBS: Eamon Duggan

Photo by John Mangan

ants. “This virus will be us ongoing for some time, every time there is a strain will we continue to be closed down or restricted. Should we be listening to the voices of business to learn to live with this virus, is it time to change tack and change the NPHET personnel. Live with this as opposed to hiding from it. Is this the right approach or do we need to try live with it, change tack, get the boosters out. I think we have to have a little bit of pragmatic and common sense towards vaccinated people”.

Co-owner of the Shannon Springs Hotel, Dermot Kelly was frustrated that the recommendations earmarked hospitality as one of the first areas that would suffer. Fellow colleagues in the Irish Hotel Federation were also shocked with the recommendations, he said. “Hospitality seems to be the first go every stage, it’s soul-destroying. We’ve stocked up for Christmas,

we’ve prepared rosters and all sorts to get through the few weeks, we’re already restricted but operating as safely as we can”.

Measures in place at hotels like the Shannon Springs are adequately helping to limit the spread of the virus, Dermot believed. “My initial reaction was how can this be given we’re 95 percent with double vaccination in the country, why would they push this on us, there has to be some allowances, the hospitality sector has had low incidences of outbreaks, we’re operating to the guidelines, you need to have the COVID cert and ID to gain access to the bars and restaurants, we have the social distancing and the air circulation”.

Supports for businesses currently not available in the month of December such as the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme need to be made available in January, the Ruan man felt.

CLOSING DATE EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY 5TH JANUARY 2022 Clare County Council is currently inviting applications from suitably qualified persons for the below competitions.

Clare County Council will, following the interview process, form panels that will be used to fill sporadic vacancies that may arise subject to sanction approval from the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage.

• IS ANALYST DEVELOPER (NETWORKS) Completed applications must be emailed to: recruitment@clarecoco.ie not later than 4.00 p.m. on Wednesday 5th January 2022.

• TEMPORARY HARBOUR CONTROLLER - DOOLIN PIER (SEASONAL) PANEL Completed applications must be emailed to: recruitment@clarecoco.ie not later than 4.00 p.m. on Wednesday 5th January 2022.

Application forms and further particulars may be obtained by requesting same from the Human Resources Department, Clare County Council at 065-6846251, via e-mail: recruitment@clarecoco.ie or can be downloaded from the following website: www.clarecoco.ie Clare County Council is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sectors of the Community.

Scriobh chugainn as gaeilge más fearr leat.

RECRUITMENT 31

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Funding policies need to recognise Shannon Airport recovery 'will take years'

by PÁRAIC McMAHON

S

HANNON Airport securing funding under the Regional State Airports Programme needs to become a multi-annual occurrence, Chambers of Commerce in the Mid-West and the Irish Hotel Federation have said.

In welcoming a €10.1m allocation for Shannon under both the Covid-19 Regional State Airports Programme 2021 – 2025 and the Covid-19 Supplementary Support Scheme, Chambers of Commerce in the West and Mid-West – Ennis, Galway, Limerick, and Shannon - in collaboration with the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) stated that Shannon’s inclusion for CAPEX and OPEX funding worth €5.5m was in line with business cases they pitched throughout the year.

“However, as previously highlighted by our grouping, this funding must be multi-annual as recovery will take until at least 2025,” a joint statement from the groups outlined.

“Policy needs to be updated to reflect

current realities that it is going to take multiple, not single, years to recover to 2019 traffic levels.

"Shannon and Cork should be permanently included in a multi-annual regional airports programme which is in line with EU state aid rules which allows funding for airports with less than 3m passengers,” the business grouping stated.

Commenting on the announced Supplementary Support Scheme of €93m, of which €91m goes to Dublin (€79.6m allocation), Shannon (€4.6m allocation) and Cork (€7m allocation) with the balance to the small regional airports, the business grouping stated that the criteria for allocation of this new €91m incentive scheme are particularly important and must be updated to a) prioritise regional impact and b) provide for multi-annual support to regional airports which don’t have the benefit of a capital city location. “The joint chambers and the IHF have previously provided a detailed business case and working model on how this can be done,” the business grouping added.

Aldi Killaloe named Store of the Year

by STUART HOLLY ALDI’S Killaloe store has been awarded Discounter Store of the Year at the prestigious National Grocery Retail Awards for its outstanding customer service, excellence in the provision of high-quality food and superior display.

Aldi received the award at the inaugural National Grocery Retail Awards, hosted by Checkout.

The awards showcase the best-in-class in Irish retail and honour the companies and suppliers that help Ireland’s leading stores achieve levels of service and product excellence that set them apart from competitors.

Judges commended Aldi’s Clare-based store of having consistently performed well since opening in December 2019. In particular, the judges noted the Killaloe store team has been working hard to provide an outstanding shopping experience to customers, in addition to maintaining high standards and quality of display across its fresh fruit and vegetable offering.

One of four Aldi stores in Clare, the Killaloe store features Aldi’s award-winning Project Fresh layout and design

SATURDAY 8TH OF JANUARY 2022 Would you like to work at Ireland’s most visited natural attraction?

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RECRUITMENT OPEN DAY FOR 2022 SEASON at the Ennistymon Innovation Hub,

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and is powered by 100% green electricity. The store boasts a large shop floor spanning 1,149m², 104 car parking spaces, wide aisles and hi-spec fixtures and fittings. Aldi continues to expand its store network with a total of 149 stores nationwide.

Aldi currently works with over 330 Irish suppliers. In Aldi Killaloe, Irish-grown produce accounts for up to 50% of the product range, with over 70% of the store’s fruit and vegetable lines also sourced from local Irish suppliers. Aldi has invested more than €3,000,000 in its Grow with Aldi supplier development programme since 2018, which provides an opportunity to Irish food and drink companies to gain a list-

ing in all its 149 stores.

Celebrating the award win, Aldi Killaloe Store Manager, Ian Dawson said: “The whole team here at Aldi Killaloe is delighted to be named Discounter Store of the Year.

We are proud to offer customers fresh, quality products at unbeatable prices that our competitors can’t match. The spacious design of our store means customers can easily pick up what they need while safely adhering to Covid-19 social distancing measures.

"We were recently voted as the supermarket with the best customer experience in Ireland, and our aim is to always ensure that our customers have the very best shopping experience in store.”

about working at a World Class Visitor Attraction.

You are welcome to bring an

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Competitive Renumeration Rates

If you or someone you know

Uniform Provided

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would be interested in working as part of our team, please come Saturday 8th of January.

If you require any further information, please email careers@cliffsofmoher.ie

www.cliffsofmoher.ie

32 CLICK FOR CLARE

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Personalised gifts and classes at Ballymorris STUART HOLLY editor@clareecho.ie

I

T’S difficult for some to conduct an interview with a potter without mention of ‘that scene’ containing Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore getting steamy at a potter’s wheel in the 1990 hit movie, Ghost. The reference is all the more significant to Hannah Arnup of Ballymorris Pottery in Cratloe, who bore witness to a recreation of the scene by none other than Wee Daniel.

Daniel and Majella O’Donnell were in jovial form when visiting Ballymorris Pottery as part of Danial & Majella’s B&B Road Trip for RTE in 2018, and the pair couldn’t resist the urge to share a potter’s wheel a-la Swayze and Moore. “There’s a very funny video of them recreating the famous scene from ghost, Daniel is singing along [to Unchained Melody],” recalls Hannah.

The pair were visiting the Cratloe workshop for a pottery class, a now integral element of the business which was established in 1994 when Hannah and her partner, thatcher John Egan, moved to the 17th century farm. Since opening, the pottery has expanded and a new workshop has been created with a retail outlet, located in a renovated hay barn.

Hannah tells The Clare Echo that although she had planned to work in architectural ceramics, she was pulled in the direction of her

passion for pottery and a large commission to create commemorative plaques for Cork City Council in 1994 gave her business the kick-start it needed, and in Hannah’s words, “It has just grown. I’m not a large business but it’s quite diverse now and that has enabled us to survive.”

Hannah explains that she “never wanted it to be a business, I wanted to remain a potter as rather than being a business person” and while pottery is her expert craft, the diversity on display at Ballymorris Pottery speaks volumes of her business nous.

A pottery school was developed 10 years ago which is open to parties of adults for one-off classes, while Hannah also runs regular pottery classes with the next term commencing in February for those interested in trying their hand at the wheel. “They’re very popular at the moment, people are so keen to get out and do something that they love again, they are very well subscribed and are becoming much bigger part of the business,” she explains. The classes are open to beginners along with those wanting to build their skillset. “People are always surprised at how much they can make if you have no experience,” she notes.

Other areas where Hannah has diversified the business include the cherished personalised range of gifts which include options for personalised wording, design and colour - children’s hand prints have proved a big hit, something which was inspired when Hannah created a print for her own daughter. The Bal-

Hannah at her workshop in Cratloe

lymorris website states that “the advantage of our small business is that we can be highly responsive to your requests and ideas”.

At the heart of the business, Ballymorris Pottery has an extensive range of beautiful handmade stoneware ceramics - which are highly functional, an important ethos of Hannah’s - along with decorative ceramic plaques and jewellery reflecting the Celtic influence on Irish life. As everything is handmade, every Celtic swirl takes on its own personality.

These products are available locally at Craftworks on Parnell Street, Ennis and

O’Brien’s Craft Shop in Doolin, and Hannah notes a renewed interest in the public to support local producers. “[The pandemic] has made people more aware of supporting local business. I notice more people are coming in this year for Christmas shopping and without international tourism it has become more important. Campaigns like Click for Clare, it’s raising a local awareness, and the Craft Council have Love Made Local campaign, I think the two really help create awareness.”

Almost 28 years in business, when reminded that 30 years is just around the corner Hannah admits it’s a “crazy” thought. As she looks ahead to 2022, she is hopeful that she can expand on her classes while continuing to grow specially commissioned work, such as a recent project for Kerry Group which incorporated the handprints of their staff, which now sits in their HQ in Naas.

“I think one of the things I’ve become very aware of, you have to have a local support base and we’re lucky that we do have a good strong local support, and diversity helps us survive. I love the teaching so I think I would like to see that grow and become more of a centre SCAN TO VISIT that people would go to so they can experience it BALLYMORRIS POTTERY and get their hands into it themselves.”

For gift vouchers or learn about Ballymorris Pottery, visit ballymorrispottery.ie/ or call 061 357 118.

CLICK FOR CLARE 33

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Palm Free experiences ‘quite incredible’ increase in demand STUART HOLLY editor@clareecho.ie

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REMARKABLE business story in the hills of East Clare, Palm Free Irish Soap has defied the odds these past two years by growing their business two-fold – you could say, they’re cleaning up.

Such is the recent success of Palm Free that operations have moved from a converted barn at the Hoynes family home in Killaloe not once but twice, and they have been forced to take on extra employees to deal with growing demand as interest in locally-made products has piqued, one of the positive offshoots of the global pandemic.

Palm Free Irish Soap is a company that prides itself on using less chemicals, being zero waste, with

a commitment to sustainability.

While the term zero waste didn’t exist in 1996 when the Hoynes family began making alternatives to mass-produced soaps, it was a natural fit as engineer Tony and entrepreneur Catherine began their business journey in Killaloe. A decision was made from the outset that packaging was going to be kept to a minimum, with customers cutting the soap themselves to encourage minimum excess packaging.

Tony Hoynes tells The Clare Echo that the idea was devised by Catherine, but inspired by their four young girls. “One day my partner Catherine was looking at a bar of soap that she was washing the girls with. She looked at the ingredients and then did a bit of research – and in them days there was no internet so there was a lot of reading and trips to the library – and she found that lots of the ingredients were harsh chemicals; that was in baby soaps. So she decided then herself that she was going to create her own soap range, which she did quite successfully.”

Catherine created the Gallunac soap range - using 100 per cent vegetable oils - and the pair began to work tirelessly on the business, and were exporting soap “by the pallet-load” to the US before they decided to take a sabbatical, with a young family including a daughter with special needs to prioritise.

In 2014 the family began producing the soap again as Palm Free Irish Soap “for a bit of a hobby”, admits Tony. “Cathy started selling it to local people and a few local shops and before we knew it we were selling out to a lot of local gift shops and it just grew from there. Since

SCAN WITH PHONE CAMERA TO SHOP AT PALM FREE

Tony Hoynes collects his award at the Clare Business Excellence & Resilience awards from Pádraic McElwee

then, we’ve basically doubled our turnover year on year and it’s been going quite successfully.”

The last two years have unquestionably been the most transformative for Palm Free with demand for handmade local products soaring. Palm Free has moved twice since the pandemic began to facilitate their growing production line and they are now located in Raheen Business Park in Tuamgraney. Where previously only Tony, Catherine and their daughter Jade were involved in the business, they now have eight employees on the books. Tony acknowledges the shift towards online selling supplied a huge boost almost instantly when the country went into lockdown. It was a shift they were ready for thanks to availing of the Trading Online Voucher with Local Enterprise Office Clare.

“Up until two years ago, we were mostly a manufacturing wholesale business. The whole shift changed when the pandemic started. We were in limbo for about two weeks and because the shops weren’t ordering, the online sales started going up week on week on week, it was quite incredible, and a lot of local sales as well,” explains Tony.

Tony also credits the company’s recent success to a more educated public who “want to buy something more sustainable, with less waste and less plastic”. Palm Free

has successfully tapped into this market and have for two years running been overall winners of the National Green Award for a Micro business, while this year they added to their mantelpiece the Best Micro Business at the Clare Business Excellence & Resilience Awards, which Tony acknowledges was a “great achievement” which the Hoynes family were “all very

shocked and pleasantly surprised” about.

Next year, Tony says Palm Free are hoping to build on their export market to the US, while closer to home they are already developing new products including a vegan lip balm.

Visit Palm Free Irish Soap on palmfreeirishsoap.ie or call 061 374392.

SCAN WITH PHONE CAMERA TO START SHOPPING IN CLARE

23-12-21

pg 34

‘WE MUST BE AMBITIOUS’

by PÁRAIC MCMAHON we started. We look forward

LADIES FOOTBALL in Clare “is in a better place,” the county’s Annual General Meeting heard with Seán Lenihan remaining on as Chairman.

Lenihan hit the ground running after his election last year, the Miltown Malbay native succeeded Cooraclare’s David O’Brien who issued a sudden resignation to the surprise of fellow officers at the 2020 AGM, a resulting Emergency General Meeting saw Seán step up to the hotseat.

Speaking at the Clare LGFA AGM, Seán reflected, “It has been a good year, it has been a positive year and a successful year, we’re in a better place now than when

to further advancing in the coming year”.

He referenced securing the sponsorship of Rengen Power as a major step in the right direction for the county, “they are a great fit for Clare Ladies, some of the things they hold dear, our values align with their values, we’re about being progressive and the best we can be”.

Continued support of Cooraclare native Martin Donnelly was also lauded by Lenihan, “Martin Donnelly is a brilliant Clare man, he doesn’t need to keep doing what he does but he does.

More games involving the county side need to be held at Cusack Park, the St Josephs Doora/Barefield

clubman maintained. “It shouldn’t be a novely to play in Cusack Park, should be a given, when we did go looking they did give it to us,” he acknowledged of the assistance of Clare GAA. A regular slot for ladies football has been sought at Caherlohan, he confirmed.

“I have floated the kite about Ballyline if it becomes redundant to the Co Board but it comes with a huge challenge of maintaining and having money but we need to be ambitious”.

Kilmihil’s Monica Callinan remains as secretary, having coming very close to stepping down from the role. Pat Walsh, Michelle Madigan and Fiona McGorrian walked away from their

respective positions of Asst Secretary, PRO and Registrar, Therese Doohan succeeds McGorrian with the remaining vacancies to be filled.

President: Christy O’Connor Vice Presidents: PJ O’Halloran and James Costelloe Chairman: Seán Lenihan Vice Chairman: JJ O’Dea Secretary: Monica Callinan Asst Secretary: Vacant Treasurer: Geraldine Kelly Asst Treasurer: Edel Conway Registrar: Therese Doohan PRO: Vacant Culture & Language Officer: Sheila Murphy Munster Delegates: Carmel Bohannon & Christina Hayes Central Council Delegates: Seán Lenihan & Monica Callinan Seán Lenihan

Burren Eye Photography

Ballina’s Finn breaks Clare camogie work to fill roles after AGM national record

by PÁRAIC MCMAHON

BALLINA’s Finn McGeever was on the Irish Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team which broke seven minutes for the first time.

They recorded a sixth place finish in the final of the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The Championships are world swimming’s finale of 2021 and the culmination of the short course (25m pool) season.

McGeever, Jack McMillan, Jordan Sloan and Robbie Powell took 21 seconds off the Irish Senior Record to become the first Irish relay team to qualify for a World Championships Final in 28 years. The quartet, who train across Swim Ireland’s National Centres in Bangor, Dublin and Limerick, then knocked a further three seconds off in that Final to set the new standard at 6:59.54.

Three of this team – McMillan, McGeever

and Sloan –set a new Irish Senior Record in this event in the long course (50m pool) format at the LEN European Aquatics Championships in May - the performance earned Ireland their first ever spot in a Men’s Olympic swimming relay event, and a first Olympic swimming relay of any kind in 49 years A past pupil of St Anne’s in Killaloe, Finn was third in the water. Already 2021 has been memorable for him, achieving his first Irish Senior Record in 400m Freestyle in April, then helping set the Irish Senior Record for this event at the LEN European Aquatics Championships in May, before making his Olympic debut – again in this event – at Tokyo 2020.

He trains at the National Centre at the University of Limerick. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to this. It’s really cool to be out in a World Final. This is my first individual senior meet too as I did the 400m Freestyle, so this is all new to me,” he reflected.

PÁRAIC MCMAHON

paraic@clareecho.ie

CLARE camogie are working to fill the vacancies of Vice Chairperson and Development Officer, both posts were left vacant following its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Cratloe’s Joe O’Donnell continues as Chairman, Ann Sanz was returned as Secretary having taken on the role this year, award winning PRO Brid MacNamara remains in situ as do husband and wife, Martin and Marie-Louise Kaiser in the roles of Treasurer and Fixtures Secretary respectively.

Eleanor Skelly of Scariff/ Ogonnelloe stepped down from the role of Vice Chairperson with Jimmy Kenny vacating the post of Development Officer while Evelyn O’Brien concluded her stint as registrar.

Kenny and Denise Brooks assumed the new roles of County Grounds Officer and Club House Officer respectively.

Both the Vice Chair and Development Officer positions are to be filled at the January meeting of the County Board.

Joe O’Donnell continues as Chairperson, a role he was elected to in 2018

President: Kitty McNicholas (Éire Óg) & Michael O’Halloran (Corofin) Chairperson: Joe O’Donnell (Cratloe) Vice Chairperson: Vacant Secretary: Ann Sanz (Banner) Asst Sec: Caroline McAuley Rynne (Inagh/Kilnamona) Fixtures Secretary: Marie-Louise Kaiser (Newmarket-on-Fergus) Treasurer: Martin Kaiser (Newmarket-on-Fergus) Asst Treasurer: Billy Murphy (Kilkishen) PRO: Brid MacNamara (Ruan) Asst PRO: Mary McMahon (Éire Óg) Registrar: Billy Murphy (Kilkishen) Development Officer: Vacant County Grounds Officer: Jimmy Kenny (Banner) Club House Officer: Denise Brooks (Doora/Barefield) Munster Delegates: Ann Sanz & Caroline McAuley-Rynne Munster Convention Delegates: Ann Sanz & Marie-Louise Kaiser Congress Delegates: Eleanor Skelly (Scariff/Ogonnelloe), Brid MacNamara, Joe O’Donnell & Caroline McAuley-Rynne

pg 35

23-12-21

Relegation no more as amnesty granted for threatened four EOIN BRENNAN THE protracted Clare Senior Hurling Championship relegation issue finally concluded this week, with no team being demoted to intermediate level for 2022 following a vote at the special meeting of Clare GAA in Treacy’s West County Hotel.

Upon his election to the chair seven days previously, Kieran Keating immediately set about resolving this “thorny issue” that was put into doubt during the relegation round-robin between Clarecastle, Clooney-Quin, Crusheen and O’Callaghan’s Mills but only officially decreed null and void in early December after a successful Munster Council appeal

from Crusheen.

Consequently, sorting out the relegation debate was placed back at the feet of the county board as all four candidates were to be considered equal in any decision.

Four options were put forward by Clare GAA: 1. Revert to the original play-off format of drawing two play-off pairings out of the hat with the losing sides being relegated.

2. Look to replay the round-robin series again with the bottom two sides being relegated.

3. Relegate no-one in 2021 and instead look for special dispensation from Croke Park to relegate two teams in 2022 and two in 2023 in order to meet their 16 team criteria.

4. Relegate no-one in 2021 and relegate three teams in 2022.

What followed was an im-

passioned hour long debate that spanned the full spectrum of views and possible outcomes.

First, there was the potential of further appeals on the lack of governance surrounding the legitimacy of the entire 2021 fixture masterplan that could ensure that no adult championship team in either football or hurling be relegated at all.

On the flip side, the prospect of Clarecastle, Clooney-Quin, Crusheen and O’Callaghan’s Mills all being relegated if they failed to field in any rescheduled relegation series was also put on the table.

In the end, Kieran Keating looked for motions from the floor, with former Munster Council Chairman and O’Callaghan’s Mills delegate Robert Frost proposing that 18 teams contest the 2022 Clare Senior Hurling Cham-

pionship, with two teams to be relegated for the following two seasons.

If rejected, a reversion to the original winner-takesall play-offs would be implemented but following a further 20 minute discussion from both sides of the divide, the clubs voted narrowly in favour of O’Callaghan’s Mills’ motion by 18 to 16.

Earlier in the meeting, the following inter-county managers were ratified for 2022: Under 20 Hurlers: Terence Fahy (Whitegate) Minor Hurlers: Brian O’Connell (Wolfe Tones) Senior Footballers: Colm Collins (Cratloe) Under 20 Footballers: Michael Neylon (St Joseph’s Miltown) Minor Footballers: Dermot Coughlan (Kilmurry Ibrickane)

Photo: Clarecastle and Crusheen’s meeting this year’s championship Photo Gerard O’Neill

Corofin ‘left shackles off’

MUNSTER INTERMEDIATE CLUB FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL COROFIN 1-14 NEWMARKET (CORK) 0-11 Venue: Mallow, Cork

SCAN HERE FOR MATCH REPORT

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pg 36

Éire Óg bow out of Munster MUNSTER SENIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL ST FINBARR’S 2-14 ÉIRE ÓG 0-12 Venue: Páirc Uí Rinn Compiled by Eoin Brennan ST FINBARR’S ÉIRE ÓG Frees For: 14 (6/8) Frees For: 25 (15/10) Wides: 1 (0/1) Wides: 5 (3/2) Scores from Play: 2-7 Scores from Play: 0-10 Spread of Scorers: 4 Spread of Scorers: 6 Top Scorer: Steven Sherlock (0-9) Top Scorer: Gavin Cooney (0-4) Own Kick-Outs won: 14 from 17 Own Kick-Outs won: 12 from 17 (82%) (71%) PAUL O’KEEFFE, ST FINBARR’S MANAGER “I thought we were brilliant in the first half and we obviously went into crazy mode in the third quarter to let them back into the game as I think they outscored us by 0-6 to 0-2. So that gave Éire Óg a bit of oxygen and put a bit of extra pressure on us for the final quarter but the hard work had been done in that first half really. That’s probably as good as we’ve played all year, we took two great goals and that kind of closed out the game to be honest.

Corofin’s Luke Neylon, Gearoid Cahill and Robin Mounsey COROFIN: Top scorer: Robin Mounsey (0-05) Scores from play: 1-09 Spread of scorers: 7 COROFIN MANAGER DOUGLAS HURLEY: “When we were with them going into the final quarter I knew we were in with a great chance because these guys were always going to die on their feet. These lads have great

Burren Eye Photography

NEWMARKET: Top scorer: Ryan O’Keeffe (0-05 5f) Scores from play: 0-04 Spread of scorers: 5 legs, great determination and if we are in a game in the last 10 or 15 minutes we have no fear. I think we left the shackles off a little bit today as we weren’t favourites but we had no fear coming here. A slog wouldn’t have suited us so the conditions were

perfect. We weren’t perfect of course, our shot selection was poor at times, has been the issue all year but we are in the final now and we will prepare for that”.

REFEREE: Jonathan Hayes (Limerick)

PAUL MADDEN, ÉIRE ÓG MANAGER: “Goals win games and we knew we’d be under pressure today and we said to the lads that if we concede a goal, it’s not the end of the world but I think we’d be more annoyed about how we conceded the first because we switched off totally.

“Probably over the game as whole, that was the ultimate difference, those small margins. When you’re playing at this level, you simply can’t switch off, you’ve got to nail your frees and generally be on top of your game the whole way through.

“So look, this is a learning for a lot of our lads but I have to say how proud I am of them. We were facing down a barrel at half-time, having conceded two silly goals by our book and to a man they responded brilliantly and I thought we were fantastic in the second half.

“At the end of the day though, you have to give credit to St Finbarr’s, they’re a fine side, are big and strong and have good forwards and they’ve a great chance of winning Munster as we would have if we had won today.

“But if we can take learnings from it which I’m sure we will as we’ve a lot of young lads playing, the future’s bright I’d say”.

REFEREE: Brendan Griffin (Kerry)

21st career win for Finnure Storm

When their racing days are over, we are there to care.

We’ve rehomed 3,435 retired greyhounds in the last two years.

FINNURE Storm claimed a twenty first career win on Thursday night at Limerick Greyhound Stadium.

Representing the Kelly clan from Mullagh, the remarkable Finnure Storm was among the four Clare winners on the night. Leading from trap to line, a finish of 29.14 was recorded by Finnure Storm to notch a twenty first career win.

Newmarket-on-Fergus owner Myles Cummins was in the winner’s enclosure with Shug Avery, who finished strongly to record a sixth career win in 29.12, she is a daughter of Droopys Cain and Portdrine Queen and was bred by Liam Carroll form Cratloe.

In recent months, the Sugan Prefix has been lighting up Limerick. Anthony, and Mark Cusack from Cooraclare are reaping the awards form their Skywalker Tuco and Sugan Jet litter and on Thursday night Sugan Tiny made it two wins on the bounce when she duly obliged in 29.47.

Kilrush’s Ger Garrahy now residing in Limerick was delighted when Yerevan recorded career win number six in 29.14 competing in an A3 graded contest. Yerevan is a son of Laughil Blake and Jetland Lady Friday night’s Galway card was dominated by the semi-finals of various Graded Stakes Sponsored by the Western Greyhound Owners & Breeders Association.

In the second semi-final of the WGOBA Stephen Murray Top Team A2 525 Stake, all six runners were away as one with Dance Pondo first to break rank towards the outside and led by over two lengths from Brickhill Layla rounding the opening bend and with some crowding behind the pair were clear racing towards halfway. Approaching the penultimate corner, Brickhill Layla owned

by Clare duo John Collins and Albert Long moved through on the leaders inner to take command and the daughter of Droopys Sydney and Rathmeehan May

eased clear to score by four and a half lengths in 29.05.

Sports Olivia was first to show on the run but as the opening bend loomed the Buttsys Burkos Syndicate of Shannon owned Buttsys Bullet forced his way through along the inside rail to take command of the contest entering the back straight.

Passing the halfway point the son of Ballymac Best and Killeacle Tammy was five lengths clear of his rivals and it was left to Taurus to chase home the Mathew Harte trained winner who was completing a kennel double by four lengths in 29.29.

Apart from the winners mentioned above, there is a big line up of Clare dogs going to traps on this Thursday night for the WGOBA night of Finals. Sixmilebridge’s Stephen Murray who has been top trainer of 2021 will receive a presentation on the night, the starting time is at the earlier 5:45pm.

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Crusheen/Tubber claim U21B title following penalty drama Crusheen/Tubber 2-16 Bodyke/O’Callaghans Mills 0-22 (AET) Crusheen/Tubber win 3-2 on penalties

Banner claim first ever U21 title

by SEAMUS HAYES

Banner 2-14 Ennistymon 0-11 Venue: Pairc Finne, Corofin WHAT has been a very successful year for Banner GAA club concluded on Saturday when the Ennis based club won its first ever under 21 championship crown in its forty four year history.

A merited victory saw the Banner club capture the U21C championship when they proved too strong for Ennistymon.

Three points ahead at half time when the score was 0-8 to 0-5, the Banner had the better of the second half and a goal from Daniel Daly sent them on their way to this latest success at the end of a season which saw them capture the minor B football championship title, the 2020 junior A football title and the under 21 B shield (losers section) football title With Shane Meehan in sparkling form, his five points in the opening half gave the Banner a lead they would hold throughout. Ennistymon could have been closer at the mid point but they

failed to capitalise on a numbers of opportunities from placed balls.

Daniel Daly’s goal in the third quarter extended the winner’s lead and from here on they dominated and emerged a worthy winners. Thomas Meenaghan got the team’s second goal After the game team captain Ian Molloy was presented with the trophy

by Clare GAA’s vice chairman Michael O’Connor.

Banner: Justin McGrath; Ronan Marron, Oisin McMahon; Ian Molloy, Niall Walsh (0-1) Andala Flynn; Brian Moloney, Shane Meehan (0-9, 5f); Daniel Daly (1-1), Matthew McGrath (0-1), Thomas Meenaghan (1-1); Mark Cleary, Diarmuid Toner(0-1);Subs: Aaron Kelly for Cleary; Sam Montwell for Daly; Cian McNulty for Flynn, Andrew Vaughan, Dylan Mooney, Andy Shannon.

Ennistymon; Oliver Considine; Thomas O’Dwyer, Niall Hogan; Tadhg Flynn, Diarmuid Fahy (0-1), Joshua Vaughan; Ciaran McMahon, Liam Cotter (0-1); Niall Canavan, Eoin Rouine, Ryan Barry; Dara McInerney (0-8, 6f, 1 ‘65), Macdara O’Keeffe; Subs: Christopher Organ (0-1) for O’Keeffe; Brian McNamara for Flynn; Eanna Rouine for Canavan; Eoin Hurley for Barry; Jack O’Regan for E. Rouine, Ryan Barry, Darran McNamara, David McNamara, Ultan MacDomhnaill, Kevin Nunan, Conor Gallagher, Shane O’Loughlin, Aaron Stackpoole.

Referee: Flan O’Reilly (Cratloe)

by Seamus Hayes CRUSHEEN/Tubber are celebrating this Christmas week after being crowned under 21 B hurling champions at Cusack Park on Sunday.

A penalty shoot out was required to determine a winner with Crusheen/Tubber capturing the honours on a 3-2 score. It is the first time a Clare club hurling championship has been decided following a penalty shootout.

Two evenly matched sides gave their all in this hugely exciting contest which saw them level on 10 occasions. Points were swapped in the opening minute before Crusheen/Tubber opened a two point lead only for their opponents to be back on level terms by the fifth minute.

They were level at 0-4 each after ten minutes before Bodyke/O’Callaghans Mills opened a four point gap bu the mid point of the half.

Crusheen/Tubber finished the half strongly and they landed the last three points to trail by the minumum at the break, 0-9 to 0-10.

When play resumed they continued where they had left off and after a brace of points from one of their star performers on the day, Oisin O’Donnell to edge one ahead, they struck for the game’s opening goal from Senan Dunford.

Bodyke/O’Callaghans Mills came storming back and another of the stars of this tie, Seanie

Doyle landed four in a row to level the contest (1-11 to 0-14) at the second waterbreak.

A minute into the final quarter the new champions struck for the game’s second goal and again it was Senan Dunford who found the net. Inside the final ten minutes they were four clear but Seanie Doyle was in sparkling form and he landed another four unanswered points to level the contest.

In the final minute of normal time Oisin O’Donnell put Crusheen/Tubber ahead but Bodyke/O’Callaghans Mills centre back Sean Wiley burst from defence to fire over a great point and send the game to extra time, Wiley was a standout player over the course of the final.

Freetakers Seanie Doyle and Murrough McMahon exchanged points from placed balls before a Fionn Hickey effort had the East Clare combination ahead by the minimum at the mid point in extra time.

The second period of extra time was seven minutes old when Murrough McMahon converted a 20m free to level for Crusheen/ Tubber. Straight from the puckout Bodyke Mills won a free which Doyle converted bringing his tally for the afternoon to 0-17 but Crusheen/Tubber weren’t to be denied and one minute into added time Oisin O’Donnell tie up the contest for the tenth and final time.

The excitement wasn’t over yet and the penalty shoot out saw more twists as both teams gave everything in search of victory.

Seanie Doyle was first up and his effort was saved by Tommy

Fahy only for the match officials to order that it be re-taken and this time the game’s top scorer made no mistake. Crusheen/ Tubber’s first two penalties from Murrough McMahon and Oisin O’Donnell were saved by Jack Minogue but in between those efforts he saw his own effort go wide of the target.

Colm Cleary and Cormac Murphy missed for Bodyke-O’Callaghans Mills while Pappy Taaffe and Diarmuid Mullins converted for the eventual winners leaving them one ahead after both sides had taken four penalties each.

Tiernan Slattery levelled when he converted for the East Clare combo but the title went to Crusheen/Tubber when Eanna McMahon converted his effort.

Oisin O’Donnell, Senan Dunford, Diarmuid Mullins, Eanna McMahon and Pappy Taaffe were promiinent for the winners while Sean Wiley, Keith Donnellan, Jack Minogue and Seanie Doyle stood out for the beaten finalists.

Crusheen/Tubber; Tommy Fahy; Ronan Kearney, Pappy Taaffe, Joey Droney; Cathal Droney, Eanna McMahon, Tadhg Dean; Liam Clancy (0-1), Diarmuid Mullins (0-2); Ian O’Brien (captain), Murrough McMahon (0-5, 4 f, 1 ‘65), Luke Ketelaar; Dylan Lyons, Senan Dunford (2-3), Oisin O’Donnell (0-5); Sub: John O’Sullivan for Lyons (35) Bodyke/O’Calllaghans Mills; Jack Minogue; Ronan Kelly, Keith Donnellan (captain), Cormac Treacy; Mikery McMahon, Sean Wiley (0-1), Stephen Donnellan; Fionn Hickey (0-2), Cormac Murphy (0-1); Fionn Slattery(0-1), Seanie Doyle (0-17, 0-14 f), Jamie O’Donnell; Thomas Minogue, Colm Cleary, Tiernan Slattery; Sub: Thomas Wiley for T. Minogue (34); Referee: Gus Callaghan (Feakle)

Woodstock to host open team scramble

by SEAMUS HAYES

WOODSTOCK GOLF CLUB: Woodstock will host open mixed team scramble competitions over the next two weekends.

On this Sunday (St. Stephen’s Day) and Monday the competition will be for a team of four and re-entry is allowed.

On Saturday January 1, Sunday January 2 and Monday January 3 there will be another open team of four mixed competition with two scores to count at each hole and, again, re-entry will be allowed.

Last weekend’s competition at Woodstock was a modified fourball which was won by Ray Casey and Pat McMahon with 42 points.

They had one to spare over Barry Scanlan and Aaron Lavery while third spot was filled

by Liam O’Connor and Vincent McInerney who also returned 41 points.

This week’s seniors scramble at Woodstock was won by John McGrath, David Rigney and Hugo Hughes with 46 points.

KILRUSH GOLF CLUB: The weekly Winter turkey competition at Kilrush last weekend was won by John K. Ryan (10) with 32 points from Cyril Kelly (12) who had a similar score. In third spot was John Stapleton (14) with 31 points followed by Eoin Fitzgerald (12) with 29 points.

PORTUMNA GOLF CLUB: The Christmas hampers competition at Portumna resulted in overall victory for Padraig Moroney with 35 points.

In the 0-9 handicap section, Tristan Hoary (8) was the winner with 29 points. Damian Gibbons (11) won the 10-15 handicap section with 34 points, John Cormican (19) won the 16-21 section with 32 points while Tomas Quinn (33) won the over 22 handicap section with 34 points.

SHANNON GOLF CLUB: Last week’s 15 hole Christmas hamper competition at Shannon was won by Hugh Heaney with 39 points from Liam Heffernan who had a similar score. John Hartrey

was third with 38 points while Aidan Mannix won the gross with 30 points. This week’s

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38 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

2021

Sports Awards

Clare Echo’s head of News & Sport PÁRAIC MCMAHON dishes out the gongs in the inaugural Clare Echo Sporting Awards

A

NOTHER sporting year has been and gone, some of the events are worthy of books in their own right, for now let’s look back and savour the memories as we dish out the 2021 Clare Echo Sporting Awards.

Sports Persons of the Year: Liam Jegou / Naomi Carroll (Clare’s Olympians)

Weirdest Sporting Accessory of the Year: Eoin Guilfoyle

Rising Star of the Year: Dean Casey

Eighteen year old Dean from Ennis continues to climb the ranks in the world of Irish athletics. In July, he recorded a sixth place finish in the final of the men’s 5000m final at the U20 European Championships. In recent weeks, Dean was part of the Irish U20 6000m running team which won silver at the European Cross Country Championships, he was the second best placed of the team and was thirteenth home overall. He is only the second Irish runner to have recorded a time of less than fourteen minutes in the 5000m.

Fine Wine of the Year: David Tubridy

Liam Jegou Photograph: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

QUITE literally the stuff of dreams, Liam Jegou and Naomi Carroll flew the flag for both the county and country while forming part of Team Ireland for the Tokyo Olympics which took place in July. Ballyvaughan’s Jegou finished in fifteenth position of the men’s semi-final in the men’s slalom, in the lead-up to the Games the canoeist was vocal in stating his pride at getting to represent his country.

Naomi from Cratloe had one heck of a journey to get to Tokyo bouncing back from an ACL injury and setbacks to regain her spot in the Irish hockey squad, her inclusion was telling in the European Championships and she had the honour of being part of the first Irish female hockey squad to partake in the Olympics. Ballina’s Finn McKeever, a past pupil of St Anne’s Killaloe was part of the first ever Irish men’s 4x200m team in an Olympic pool, alongside Jack McMillan, Brendan Hyland and Shane Ryan they set a new Irish record time of 7:14.58 but which was only enough to finish eight of eight.

As fantastic ambassadors for their county and country, the trio are exemplary athletes but their endeavours will undoubtedly inspire the next generation.

Naomi Carroll

Doonbeg’s Tubridy sealed his place in the GAA history books. When he kicked a personal tally of 1-08 against Cork in June, the publican became the all-time top scorer in the history of the National Football League bypassing Sligo’s Mickey Kearns. In fourteen seasons, he has scored 22-415 (481 points) in the National Football League. Coupled with the distinction of the feat, David was later honoured with lifetime membership of Doonbeg Golf Club while elected representatives in the West Clare Municipal District are to hold a mayoral reception to recognise this. Showing no signs of slowing down, Tubs was one of the star men for Colm Collins’ side all throughout 2021.

Camogie star Chloe Morey may have the star spangled bandanna but razor sharp followers of the Clare club hurling scene would have noticed a peculiar accessory attached to one Newmarket-on-Fergus hurler. Wing forward, Eoin Guilfoyle was among the top performers for the Blues as they reached the last four for the first time since 2017 but he sported what was dubbed locally as ‘the finger condom’. Applied with great care and attention, the extra piece of protection came into force towards the end of the summer, ironically his older brother Colin was a doubt for their first round tie against Éire Óg due to a finger injury.

Eagle-eyed readers may also recognise Eoin from gracing the back pages in ‘Spot the Difference’ while supporting the Clare hurlers alongside his twin Padraic.

Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

Battler of the Year: Liam Alford Shannon’s Liam Alford became an undisputed and undefeated professional world kickboxing champion when he recorded success in Birmingham in August. Liam had a knockout victory over Qasim Beg, one minute and forty seconds into the fourth round of their bout. Prior to the fight, Qasim was undefeated in forty nine outings, the win also saw Liam claim the YKF, WKO, ICO and WRSA belts making him the undisputed champion in the 63.5kg weight division.

Photograph: Joe Buckley

2021 YEAR IN REVIEW 39

Sports Awards Scariff/Ogonnelloe players celebrate Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

2021 LOL Moment of the Year: Eimear Kelly’s solo parade

County finals are experiences to be cherished with every moment to be absorbed. Joint captain of the Truagh/Clonlara side that appeared in the Clare senior camogie final for the first time, Eimear adopted a similar motto for the drawn encounter in Clarecastle. Leading her teammates in the parade behind the solo uileann piper, Eimear was so engrossed in the crowd and savouring the day that she failed to realise that her teammates had left the parade and spent some time following the piper on her own. Not your typical occurrence on county final day but a memory to savour, nonetheless.

Team of the Year: Scariff/Ogonnelloe

Hell hath no fury like a crowd of East Clare women scorned! 2019 Clare and Munster senior camogie champions, Scariff/Ogonnelloe were back with a vengeance this year after they lost both titles following last year’s semi-final defeat to Newmarket-on-Fergus. A new management headed up by David Sullivan brought in radical changes to their starting fifteen and it reaped dividends. They blitzed through their group with little fuss beating Kilmaley, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Kilkishen/Bodyke and St Josephs Doora/Barefield before dethroning Inagh/Kilnamona in the semi-final and then ensuring the McMahon Cup went back East overcoming Truagh/Clonlara following a replay in the decider. They came back stronger this year, determination and resilience shining through particularly when the pressure mounted on the big days. A Munster campaign awaits and they will take stopping.

Unsung Hero of the Year: Clare’s referees

Instances of abuse towards schoolboys and schoolgirls referees became a talking point across the country this year but no such issues were reported in the CSSL. Whatever the code, the importance of referees cannot be underestimated. They are human, they make mistakes, some of them more than others and some of them will take different approaches in dealing with clubs or individuals. Shortage of the men and women in the middle has been flagged by county officers in both GAA and soccer, they don’t steal the show but without them the show would not go on. It’s something to take into consideration for 2022 and encouraging suitable persons to take up the whistle.

Jim Hickey. Photograph: Natasha Barton

Coach of the Year: Rob Mulcahy

Rightly regarded as one of the top strength and conditioning coaches to work in the county, Rob is an athletic performance coach and sport scientist currently employed by Clare GAA. He is currently laying the foundations with the county’s development squads, the rewards of which will hopefully be seen in the near future. He brings with him a professional approach and one in which improvement soon follows. Rob is responsible for keeping Colm Collins’ Clare side in tip top shape and he was also part of Donie Garrihy’s St Breckans management, fitness was definitely not an issue for either side not claiming silverware in the year that was. Excellent coaches have been lost to Clare GAA in the past, whatever happens in the future, if Clare GAA is to have bright days Mulcahy will be associated with them.

Truagh/Clonlara’s Eimear Kelly.

Photograph: Ruth Griffin

Manager of the Year: Davy Wall

Shannon’s Wall oversaw Clare’s success in the Kennedy Bowl, their first time winning the competition in twenty one years. Their comprehensive 3-0 win over Galway in early December also marked the third time in the forty year history of the Kennedy Cup competition that a Clare side collected silverware. Ex Newtown and Newmarket Celtic striker, Davy oversaw the development of a very promising outfit who only suffered one defeat in their entire campaign, they scored twenty goals and only conceded two throughout. Dominant and bright sparks for the future, inspired by their manager.

Photograph: Joe Buckley

40 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

2021

Sports Awards

Multi-tasker of the Year: Ann Marie McGann

Manager, mentor, broadcaster, officer, teacher and umpire were among the roles held by the Doora/Barefield club woman during a hectic year. She was joint manager of the Clare Junior camogie side, a selector to The Parish, an analyst on Channel Clare, a presenter on Scariff Bay, an umpire to her brother Rory and guiding the next generation of St Flannan’s College, all the while demonstrating an ability to fire out a very quick remark. On top of it all, she became the hype woman as Brid MacNamara did ‘a little bit of walking’ once again raising a huge amount of money for Clare camogie. There’s only 24 hours in the day for McGann, the days may change but the discussion towards matters GAA rarely deviates for the former goalkeeper. Now that the senior and junior county management are doubling up for 2022, it doesn’t appear that she’ll be getting increased downtime in the near future

Sporting Hipster of the Year: Seamus Collins

Anchor of the Lissycasey defence, Seamus Collins is the poster boy of sporting hipsters in the county. Committed to the long locks, Seamo is also a fan favourite among the Lissycasey faithful in light of his consistency on the field. Whether it’s high possession or the hair style, Collins is one of the most regularly photographed gaelic footballers in the club scene, equally the centre back would likely feature in the top fifteen if a team of the year was to be selected based on the past two seasons.

Sporting Romance of the Year: Treaty Utd

Captained by Shannon’s Jack Lynch, managed by Sixmilebridge’s Tommy Barrett with Callum McNamara of Newmarket-on-Fergus and Joe Collins from Ennis playing key roles, it doesn’t come as a major surprise that the people of Clare developed an affinity with the Limerick club. That there is no Banner outfit in the League of Ireland left a gap that Treaty certainly filled by winning over many football fans in the county as they made their first foray into the First Division. The recent signing of Newmarket-on-Fergus’ Lee Devitt adds to the Clare contingent at the club and will win over a few more Banner supporters.

Ann Marie McGann preparing for umpire duty at Cusack Park. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography

Sporting Personality of the Year: Donie Garrihy An annual contender for the manager gong, Donie strengthens view that the people of Clare are salt of the earth. Not alone that, but there is plenty of spice in any interview with the Doolin rather than the blandish approach favoured by plenty of his counterparts. “We’re not playing subbuteo”, quoting Delia Smith and name-checking Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini were among some of the memorable moments with the St Breckans boss this season, his side reached the Clare SFC semi-finals for the second year in a row. The two-time Oscar Traynor winning manager brings with him a ferocious work-ethic and honesty. It’s never dull with Donie and he of all is the man capable of leading St Breckans to very bright days.

Seamus Collins. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

Just Rewards Award: Imogen Cotter

Perseverance paid off for the Ruan cyclist at the beginning of October when she became the new Irish women’s elite road race champion.

Imogen’s fortitude shone through as only the best riders were left peddling in the final 20km of a 92.9km race in the Senior Women’s Road Race National Championships in Coolbeg, Rathnew, Co Wicklow. Based in Belgium with the Keukens Redant Cycling Team, Cotter outsprinted Megan Armitage (Team Rupelcleaning – Champion Lubricants) and Linda Kelly (Barrow Wheelers) to take the national title by a clear margin. As a distance-runner in her teens, she medalled at All-Ireland cross-country, 3,000m and 5,000m.

Tony Butler, Conor Moloney and Ethan Coughlan

Breakthrough of the Year: Clare trio make Munster debuts

Photograph: Joe Buckley Photograph: Bryan Keane/INPHO

Arguably one of the sporting highlights of 2021 for the people of Clare was to see the trio of Conor Moloney, Tony Butler and Ethan Coughlan make their debuts for the Munster rugby team. It occurred on a December day at the Coventry Building Society Arena, when against all odds Munster defeated Wasps 35-14 in the Heineken Champions Cup. 34 players were absent for the tie with the province’s trip to South Africa ruling out a large contingent after they contracted COVD-19.

They included 12 new faces in the squad of 23, the trio who passed through the ranks of Ennis RFC among them. Rugby followers will hope Conor, Tony and Ethan will have many more memorable days in red, they won’t shy from the challenge because to the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible.

CLASSIFIEDS 41

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

PLANNING NOTICES CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL 24 WILLSGROVE, CAHERCALLA, ENNIS, CO. CLARE Take notice that Kieran and Claire Kavanagh intend to apply to the Planning Authority for permission to construct a single-story extension to the side of their dwelling, changes to the ground floor windows and doors to the rear of the dwelling and to add additional windows to the attic area of their dwelling to allow for it to be used as liveable space at the above address.

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

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL CORLACK, SIXMILEBRIDGE, CO. CLARE Take Notice that We Olivia Moloney & William Irwin intend to apply to Clare County Council for Permission for the Construction of a Dwelling house, Garage & Proprietary Waste Treatment Plant, & to utilise existing road entrance to access site

including upgrades to same and including all ancillary site works. The Planning Application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the Planning Authority of Clare County Council, Planning Department, Áras Contae an Chláir, New Road, Ennis, Co. Clare during its public opening hours. A submission or Observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee of €20 within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL RATHVERGIN, CARROWKEEL MORE, RUAN, CO. CLARE Take notice Damien Corry and Teresa Roseingrave intend to apply to Clare County Council for planning permission to construct a dwelling house , with a waste water treatment system and percolation area at Rathvergin , Carrowkeel More, Ruan 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 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

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weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL BALLINAGUN EAST, CREE, CO. CLARE Take notice that Joe Garry is applying for retention permission for the construction of an extension to an existing dwelling, relocation of the sewerage treatment unit and percolation area, revision of site boundaries and retention permission for the construction of a garage along with all associated works at the above address. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of Clare County Council during its public opening hours and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL LAVALLY SOUTH, BALLYNACALLY, ENNIS, CO.CLARE Take notice that Sandra Murphy intends to apply to the planning authority for permission to construct a new dwelling house with a carport, complete with a new entrance, sewage treatment system and ancillary works at the above address. The planning application

may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the planning authority, Clare County Council, Aras Contae an Chlair, New Road, Ennis during its public opening hours and that a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the planning authority of the application.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL BALLYORTLA NORTH, ENNIS, CO. CLARE Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (065-9083667, www.diarmuidkeane. ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of Maria and Philip McMahon for planning permission to construct a new dwelling house, private garage, site entrance and on-site wastewater treatment system along with all other 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.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL THOMASTOWN HOUSE, KILCARROLL, KILRUSH, CO. CLARE Take notice that Diarmuid Keane + Associates Ltd. (065-9083667, www.diarmuidkeane. ie) intend to apply to Clare County Council on behalf of John & Barbara Soffe for planning permission to make the following alterations to the existing dwelling house at the above address: a) demolish existing front porch and rear kitchen/utility extension; b) construct new front porch and rear extension; c) construct link extension to connect house to existing outbuildings; d) convert section of existing outbuildings to residential use ancillary to the main dwelling; e) make elevational changes to the existing house and outbuilding; f) upgrade existing sewerage treatment system and g) all associated site works and services. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of

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

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL KILLARD ROAD, DOONBEG, CO. CLARE Further Information – Natura Impact Statement Planning Ref: P21/694 Date planning application Received: 01/07/2021 Development Description: Planning permission to construct a new dwelling house, site entrance, private garage and all associated site works and ancillary services at the above address.

Location of Development: Killard Road, Doonbeg, Co. Clare Take notice that following a requirement of the Planning Authority, “Name of Applicant” will be lodging a Natura Impact Statement (NIS) in respect of planning application P21/694.

This NIS will be available for inspection or purchase, at a fee not

exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority of Clare County Council, Áras Contae an Chláir, New Road, Ennis, Co. Clare during its public opening hours.

A submission or observation in relation to the NIS may be made in writing to the Authority on payment of the prescribed fee €20.00 within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the Natura Impact Statement and a copy of this public notice.

CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL GARRAUN, CLONLARA, CO. CLARE Take notice that Noel & Joe McCormack intends to apply for permission for development, the development consists of the construction of a slatted unit and associated site works at the above address.

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

PLACE YOUR PLANNING NOTICES WITH THE CLARE ECHO CALL 065 671 9021 EMAIL SALES@CLAREECHO.IE

42 CLASSIFIEDS

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PUZZLEPAGE

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

Christmas Puzzle Page

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

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THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

THIS WEEKS PUZZLES DEC 23

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ANSWERS

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QUIZ 47

THURSDAY, DEC 23 2021

The Clare Echo Quiz YEAR IN REVIEW QUIZ, 2021

In January, Joe Biden was elected US BEO Sleepwell opened a pop-up 1Trottenburg President. His deputy secretary Polly 6 shop in Ennis this Christmas, but who are its founders? has strong links to which Aoibhin Garrihy & Lauren Guilfoyle Aoibhin Garrihy & Sharon Shannon Aoibhin Garrihy & Sharon Connellan

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In March we carried a report on dog 7 fouling in Clare in 2020. But how many fines were issued in relation to

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This year, The Clare Echo became 8 the county’s only ABC audited newspaper, and officially the most distrib-

In February, which Clare councillor tabled a motion to give Ennis city status?

Pat Daly (FF) Mark Nestor (FF) Paul Murphy (FG)

the offence that year?

1 6 22

uted paper in Clare. How many weekly issues do we now print?

12,300 14,300 16,300

In March it was announced that three Which rugby player was announced 4 Bank of Ireland branches would close; 9 as the new front of Morrissey’s Pub which towns were affected? & Restaurant in Doonbeg?

Scariff, Tulla & Killaloe Scariff, Kilkee & Tulla Miltown Malbay, Kilkee & Tulla

Photograph: Joe Buckley

Keith Wood Conor Murray Dan Carter

Shannon Knights closed in March of According to this year’s contro5 this year, but in which year did it open 10 versial Irish Independent Political its doors?

Rich List, who is Clare’s most wealthy 1972 1982 1992

l Shannon Knights, Shannon, Co. Clare

TD with a worth of 1,085,046?

Michael McNamara Joe Carey Violet-Anne Wynne

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

The answers will be revealed in next weeks edition.

ANSWERS 6. Aoibhin Garrihy & Sharon Connellan 7. 1 8. 16,300 9. Conor Murray 10. Michael McNamara

Former Fianna Fáil TD for Dun Laoghaire Brian Hillery sadly passed away in January following a short illness, but where in Clare was he from?

Ennistymon Miltown Malbay Quilty

1. Liscannor 2. Miltown Malbay 3. Pat Daly (FF) 4. Miltown Malbay, Kilkee & Tulla 5. 1972

Clare town?

Liscannor Doonbeg Feakle

Last weeks Answers . Handle on box missing (right) . Lights missing (top right) . Vest different colour on box . The word ‘Congress’ missing on box (left)

. button missing on jacket of man (left) . The letter ‘N’ missing on box (middle) . Logo missing on speaker

The Brigdales Photo by Joe Buckley

AND GUTTERING CLARE