Month: September 2007

CLARE’S connections with the Shell to Sea organisation were strength- ened over the weekend with a large crowd turning out in Doolin for the second traditional concert in support of the organisation. The concert took place in the Russell Cultural Centre in Doolin and was the main fundraising for the organisation in Clare this year. A number of high profile local musi- cians including Davy Spillane, Jackie Daly, Ado Morris, Michael Hynes, Peter Griffin, Terry Bingham and Yvonne Casey, all offered their services for the evening. A similarly success- ful fundraising concert took place in Doolin in the summer of 2005. Clare has one of the strongest local branches of the Shell to Sea organi- sation, with membership in the coun- ty now fourth highest in the country

after Galway, Dublin and Mayo.

Other local traditional musicians who entertained the crowd in Doolin included Kevin Griffin, Danny Burke, Ogie Doyle, Ted Mc Cormack, Peadar O’Reilly, Eimer Howley, Gerry Shan- non, Ger Hoyne, Tess Mc Govern, Geraldine and Shane Mc Gowan, Ian Lambe, Niall Sheedy

and Paul Stafford. Meanwhile, a good number of Clare people will travel to Bellanaboy this Fri- day, September 12, to take part in a sit- down protest outside the gates of the Shell

facility. According to local spokesperson, Sean

Harrington, the pur-

pose of this demon-

stration is to highlight,

“the natural resources

of Ireland which have

been given away to Shell, Statoil and

others in a deal that means we pay the

market rate to the multi-nationals for what should be ours.”

PRESSURE is mounting on Clare’s four elected members of Dail Eire- ann to make a concrete stand on the Shannon/Heathrow crisis.

Following a heated debate at last night meeting of Clare County Coun- cil, Clare TD’s Tony Kileen (FFP), Timmy Dooley (FF), Pat Breen (FG) and Joe Carey (FG) were described as “ducking and diving” and having “forked tongues” on the issue.

Speaking at the meeting, north Clare Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind), said the onus should be on the coun- ties TD’s, rather that the County Councillors, to voice their concerns ODN BON ISw Ie CoR

“I have listened to this debate morning in and morning out. I don’t think that this is the remit of council. We have a representative democracy and the people who should be doing the job and put their necks on the line are the TDs.

“We are muddying the waters by sticking our necks out,” said Cllr Feouae

“If they acted the way that they talk this could be overturned in five seconds. But they have been ducking and diving with forked tongues.”

Speaking on the subject, Labour councillor, Pascal Fitzgerald, said that he believes that the government

TDs will support the decision.

“We have Clare TDs on the radio talking about this everyday with dif- ferent stories.

‘There is only one man up in Dub- lin who can change this, and he doesn’t give a crap about Shannon,” said Fitzgerald. “I believe that the TDs will support the Government. I believe that Shannon is gone unless our TDs stand up for the people of this region.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) indicated that he believed that a deal would be struck in the future which will maintain good connectiv- ity for the region, but could not con- firm when this might be formalised.

Responding to the comments, County Manager, Alex Fleming, re- acted positively.

“Tl think that this case is winnable, there has been example of people power winning out in the past, one example is the Western Rail Corri- dor,” he said.

‘We can take it from today’s meet- ing that there 1s unanimous support and we will be doing our utmost to continue this campaign.”

A motion was agreed to calling for An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, he meet with the council on the deci- sion while a letter urging support will also be sent to every TD in the Western Region.

MEMBERS of An Bord Pleanala may soon face vetting from Clare Council Council should a motion put forward by the council be accepted by the planning authority.

This follows a motion put forward at last nights meeting of Clare Coun- ty Council by north Clare Council- lor, Michael Kelly (FF), which ques- tioned the logic of decisions made by An Bord Pleanala.

The motion, which was proposed by Cllr Kelly and seconded by Cllr Martin Conway (FG), called on the Department of the Environment to inform the council on the back- erounds of Bord Pleanala officials and in particular what percentage of officials are city or country dwellers.

“My concern is that the rural agenda is not being catered for the the mem- bers of An Bord Pleanala. I want to find out once and for all what is the background of the people who make decisions concerning rural Ireland,” said Cllr Kelly.

“IT would like to know, are they rural landowners, would they have experience in rural planning, would they have qualifications or are they picked add lib.

“If I am correct in what I believe there are only about two members from farming backgrounds. If you were a rural person, you would like the people who are making the deci- sions about rural communities to the the experience and social qualifica- tion to understand what is happening

Oo) Fmd sto Ker

“We have huge population decreas- es inrural areas and you still find that properties are still being refused.

“There are huge inconsistencies with An Board Pleanala, if you look at phone masts, they allow masts to go up to 70 and 80 feet into the air but yet houses beside it are brought down to a 6.5, or in some cases 5.5, fringe.

“If you are obtrusive with a 5.5 fringe, how do you grant an 80 foot mast. There is an inconsistency here.”

Speaking on the subject, Clir Mar- tin Conway, described some of the decisions made by An Bord Pleana- la as coming from “Never, Never Land.”

A POLISH worker, who so im- pressed his Irish employers that they gave him a second job, will have to leave the counrty in disgrace having been caught handling a stolen hand- bag in the same hotel where he was employed.

Ennis District Court heard that Lu- kasz Tobera, with an address at St Brendan’s Road in Lisdoonvarna, se- cured a job with The Cliffs of Moher Hotel in Liscannor.

His solicitor said that Tobera’s em- ployers were so impressed with his hard work that they gave him a sec- ond evening job in a pub which they owned in the town.

But on his first night off – July 29 – the court heard, Tobera got drunk

and was found in the toilets of the hotel, rifling through a stolen hand- leet

He pleaded guilty before the court to handling stolen goods, one ladies handbag, €130 in cash and cheques to the value of €1,100.

His solicitor told the court that the accused “saw the handbag on the floor and took it in full view of the owners. There was no prospect of his every getting away with it. He came here to make a better life for his wife and children and now he has lost his job and will have to return to Poland.”

All the property was recovered, the court was told. After hearing that the Polish man had no previous convic- tions here or in Poland, Judge Joseph Mangan fined him a total of €500.

A COUNTY Clare priest has spoken up in court for a young teenager who broke into his home.

Mountshannon parish priest Fr John Jones’s home was broken into and a coinbox stolen, on June 9 last.

A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty in relation to that – along with eight oth- er charges – at Scariff District Court on Thursday.

The accused, who cannot be named because of his age, is facing nine charges arising out of alleged inci- dents on the border between Galway and Clare.

He is accused of entering a build- ing in Mountshannon in April with the intention of stealing beer and ATER eel ore

He is also charged with stealing a ladies handbag and child’s backpack, at Fossabeg, Scaruff, in June.

He is also accused of possession of an offensive weapon.

Sgt Joe Fallon told the court the ac-

cused replied “guilty” when eight of the charges were put to him, while he replied “not guilty” to the other stb axon

Defending solicitor James Nash told the court his client was pleading

guilty to all charges.

Superintendent Tony Kennelly said there was no parental control and the accused was living in very poor con- Chis Keys tse

Mr Nash said, “It is a good thing that this 1s coming to a head. On one side society needs protection.”

Judge Joseph Mangan said he was seeking a probation report.

Supt Kennelly said he was applying for bail with conditions attached.

Fr Jones then addressed the court and said he has known the accused for a number of years.

“I have always found him very forthright, friendly and respectful. I’d be very hopeful he could be a law abiding citizen,’ said the priest.

Judge Mangan granted bail to the accused, on a number of conditions. He will re-appear in court later this year.

A YOUNG man who assaulted a bar owner in Scariff has been handed a three-month suspended jail term.

James Walsh (26), of Waterpark, Scariff, pleaded guilty to assault- ing Michael Rogers, at Rogers’ bar, Scariff, in October 2006.

The owner of the pub, Michael Rog- ers told Scariff District Court that that accused invited him outside.

Mr Rogers refused and the accused lunged at him.

He said he pushed him twice and refused to leave the pub. He eventu- ibaa

Defending solicitor SsaN bs Loughnane said his client had en- tered a guilty plea to assault.

He said that while there had been an assault, the victim didn’t actually suffer physical injuries and Mr Rog- ers agreed with this.

“While Mr Walsh isn’t without his failings, he is a hard working young man. He hasn’t been in any pub in Scariff since. He is at a very impres-

sionable stage of his life,’ said the solicitor.

Judge Joseph Mangan heard that the accused has a number of previ- ous convictions.

Addressing Walsh, the judge said, “You have two drink driving convic- tions. You have a criminal damage conviction. You have a public order conviction and now you have an as- sault conviction. Do you have an al- cohol problem?”

The accused replied, “No.”

The judge said, “You have five drink related convictions and you don’t have an alcohol problem. Is that what you are telling us. Do you have an alcohol problem?”

Walsh then replied, “Yes.”

The judge said, “It 1s about time you told us.”

Judge Mangan jailed Walsh for three months and suspended the sentence on a number of condi- tions. These include that he abstain from alcohol, attend for counselling and sign on weekly. He fined him €1,500.

A YOUNG man painted obscene eraffiti, “Bitch, it’s not over,’ on the home of his former Art teacher, a court has heard.

Kevin McNamara (18), of White- gate, faced several criminal damage charges relating to the incident in Tuamgraney on August 9 last.

He admitted painting graffiti on the teacher’s house, her car and a car and public house in the immediate vicinity, while the footpath was also painted.

‘Bitch – it’s not over. You’re f***ed, you bitch, you called me fat,” were the words painted on windows of his former teacher Ms Mary Rouine’s home. Crosses were painted on cars in the immediate area.

The total amount of the damage caused in the spate of crime amount- ed to €2,300.

Garda Gerry Slattery told Scariff

District Court the damage was simi- lar in all cases, but was more severe in the case of Ms Rouine.

Mary Rouine told the court her house was vandalised in the early hours of the morning.

Asked by Judge Joseph Mangan did she know why, she said, “No. I would have taught him this past year.”

Another of the victims Martin Whelan – a neighbour of Ms Rouine – said a big cross was painted on the windscreen of his car and paint drib- bled along the bonnet.

Asked by the judge why he was tar- geted, he replied, “Not a clue. Obvi- ously they were passing my house.”

Garda Slattery said he solved the crime after receiving information that the accused was in town that night.

He said he spoke to a number of people who were with the accused on the night. They confirmed he had been in town, but the accused took

responsibility for all of the damage. “It seemed to be focused against Mary Rouine alright,” said the garda. Defending solicitor James Nash said the accused was drunk and claimed he didn’t know what premises had

loess MOEA ONE-RXerOR

“There was a fair trail left. There was paint sprayed all along the road. It was pretty basic stuff,’ he said.

He said the accused had just com- pleted his Leaving Certificate. Ap- plying for an adjournment, he said his client should be given the oppor- tunity to “make recompense”.

Judge Mangan adjourned the case and ordered the accused to stay away from Scariff and Tuamgraney.

He ordered him to abstain from al- cohol, sign on weekly and abide by PCIE CANA

“I expect that the question of com- pensation will be finalised. I expect to see receipts for compensation,” said the judge.

‘I won’t say expect the worse if the conditions are complied with. [ll say, expect the next best thing,” said Walon LU COh Xen

THERE were few complaints from Clare afterwards but understandably, team manager Colm Hanly was won- dering how and why so much injury time was played.

“What in the name of God was all that injury time about? We were two points up and to have to go through that much injury time? I couldn’t tell on the sideline what all the time was for. Not to be unsporting, but I just can’t figure that out. But in fairness to Derry they kept going and going and got that bit of luck at the end.”

It’s been a long journey through the season for Clare and with the end in sight, the final roadblock was the one that caused the real pain.

“That’s the way it goes. That’s sport, you can’t legislate for that kind of thing. You work and you work as hard as you can and not to get the reward is painful but I’m sure we’ll be back. It’s literally as bad as you can get. These players have been phenomenal all year. They’s been so comitted, so dilligent at every train- ing session. There isn’t an ounce of energy left from anyone, they left

everything out there. It was just that bit of luck. We always just asked them for work rate and we got more work rate than anybody could have expected. I’m still trying to get my head around the end of the game, but I’m extremely proud. Fair enough we came up short but on the day we were the better team. They performed out- standingly well.” ;

Derry’s joint-manager Padraig O Mianain, who runs the team with his wife Susan, 1s gracious and forward- looking even though his side have just clinched victory from the shark’s mouth.

‘This is the third time we’ve played Eee A-UCmioteh BNO Mm aon anything in it. These two teams have been very evenly matched and it was was a great game of camogie out there today. A great advert for the game. I feel that the likes of ourselves and Clare are closer to senior division that many of the teams in our own division and I don’t know what Croke Park can do to accommodate us. If we could get into the top division and play the top teams that would improve us no end. We need to play better teams to progress and the dis-

play of camogie out there shows that there’s good camogie in both teams. We’re not too sure what the system is right now. Whether a team have to win twice to move up. Look at today. There’s nothing between these teams so either of us could stay perpetually down in the juniors. So I’d make an appeal to change the structure be- cause now we need to look at getting these two teams senior.”

The Derryman also felt that late on, the game was slipping from his side.

“The way we addressed the game all year, we put ourselves in a posi- tion to compete but at that level, you just need a bit of luck. To be honest, When our full-forward caught the ball at the end, it was 50/50 if it was a penalty. I wouldn’t have criticised if it hadn’t have been given. I thought that was the chance gone. But to get it with the last puck of the ball was unbelieveable. We know what it feels like. We lost the final last year by two points.”

THE FINAL whistle comes in the ninth minute of injury time and Croke Park is an ocean of emotion. Clare bodies drop to the floor, shat- tered, exhausted. Derry are whoop- ing and ecstatic.

In the tunnel beneath the Hogan Stand, just as Claire Doherty, the Derry captain climbs the steps to ac- cept the trophy, a Derry man appears with two bottles of champagne. He’s bouncing up and down. “I told ye I’d get some bubbly if we won,” he says to Doherty as she ascends the stand.

Once the formalities have been done with on the field, Clare begin to file in one by one, nosing slowly for the comfort of the dressing room. Faces are winced. Eyes are watered and tears stream down the cheeks of the majority.

You scratch your head and wonder when the old stadium saw such a late goal to steal an All-Ireland final and the best reference point is Seamus Darby’s effort for Offaly against Kerry back in 1982, almost 25 years to the day.

A quarter of an hour after that de- vestating Derry goal, Clare captain

Deirdre Murphy walks towards the dressing room.

She’s just played 38 minutes of immaculate camogie and has been Clare’s rock for the entire second eee

She stops to take in some air and to run her thoughts over what has just happened but the sequence of things just don’t make sense.

Clare lead by two seven minutes into injury time. It looks like she’s going to bring All-Ireland silverware back home but 90 seconds later, eve- rything has changed.

“It’s so hard to explain,” she says.

“When the referee called for a throw- in and they didn’t get clean possession from it, I thought we were in a great position. But when the ball came out, they got it and got that goal.”

Her own goal nine minutes from the end had looked like the score that would catapult Clare to the win and their first All-Ireland junior title in 21 years.

At that stage, they led by three points and were in control all over the field. But Derry still had those couple of goals in reserve.

It’s the second that will be re-run in Clare minds though and in the

corridor of the Hogan Stand, those wounds were just being dealt with.

“Inside in the dressing room, we’re still trying to come to terms with it. But the bottom line is, everybody on the panel worked unbelievably hard to get here and did everything that could have been asked of them today.

“We’re proud of how we played, but the way it finished in the end 1s a huge disappointment for us. What can you say?”

Deirdre wanders off, back to the dressing room to the only people that can understand.

ONE of Clare’s newest traditional music festivals came of age this weekend as music classes were added to the ever-expanding programme.

For the first time in its five-year his- tory, the Ellen (Nell) Galvin Trad1- tional Music Weekend hosted classes in tin whistle and bodhran with Karen McInerney, fiddle classes with Vincent Griffin, flute classes with Paddy O’Donoghue and set dancing classes with Mary Murrihy.

The festival to honour the talented Moyasta woman opened on Friday night.

The local legend that was Nell Galvin was born in Ballydinneen,

Knockalough on March 1, 1887.

She learned to play the fiddle un- der the blind piper Garret Barry. Nell was the first Clare woman to broad- cast traditional Irish music from RTE radio, known at the time as 2 RN.