Month: November 2007

IN THE past few years, camogie has become of the fastest growing sports in the county. The successful influence of the county junior side has contributed largely to this re- surgence as has the increasing pro- motion at ground level. In addition, this expanding interest in the sport has commanded greater exposure 1n the national media which in turn has further developed the sport’s profile. Better standards of coaching, facili- ties and personnel has also meant that the county has enjoyed great success at underage levels in recent years.

In order to hone this interest and progress Clare camogie to the next level, an open forum entitled “To- gether, Raising the Banner’ will take place in the Auburn Lodge Hotel this Saturday from llam to 3pm. The brainchild of Clare Junior captain and Munster Camogie Development Co-ordinator Deirdre Murphy, this exclusive forum which is open to all who are interested, is the most am- bitious and far reaching conference ever to be held in the county and boasts a star-studded line-up of GAA and camogie people which is sure to attract a large attendence. Among the speakers on the day are Donal O’Grady, an All-Ireland winning player and manager with Cork; Cyril Farrell who managed both Galway’s

hurlers and camogie players to All- Ireland success; Pat Fitzgerald, Sec- retary of the Clare County Board, Emily Hayden, a current member of the Tipperary senior camogie team and five time All-Ireland winner; Stella Sinnott, manager of this year’s All-Ireland champions Wexford and Mary O’Connor, National director of Camogie.

“The line up is really special” ad- mits All-Star nominee Deirdre Mur- phy, “What I hope will come out of the day really is that from listening to these speakers and being able to

have a questions and answers ses- sion, there should be a lot of valu- able information but also getting all of the people involved in Clare camogie and the people involved in Clare GAA into the one meeting in a proactive and vibrant setting, you would hope for clubs that it would in- crease the numbers of volunteers they would have working within their club structure and that it would develop a much more positive attitude towards camogie throughout the county and a proactive attitude I suppose.”

A qualified secondary school

teacher, Deirdre took the job as Mun- ster Camogie Development Officer at the beginning of the summer and after experiencing the varying levels of camogie in her role as a promoter of the game, she is certainly the best person to assess where Clare cam- ogie lies on the national map.

‘The standard of camogie amongst the strong counties has really, re- ally improved. The likes of Cork and Wexford that were playing in the senior final with the preparation and the work and the stardard that they can produce is just fantastic. But I suppose on the other hand, you have counties like maybe Water- ford, Kerry, Carlow and Wicklow where it’s a real struggle to try and give camogie a foothold once again. I think there has become a very big gap between strong and weak and I think in Clare we are somewhere in the middle of that gap and whether we move forward and close that gap and once again become one of the strong camogie counties or we are happy to remain a competitive jun- ior county which isn’t enough in my opinion. We should be there in a cou- ple of years time strongly challeng- ing for senior honours would be what I would hope that would happen in Clare in the next few years.”

SELINA Moylan confirmed her rep- utation as one of the brightest talents in American college soccer when she was named Daktronics Inc Women’s Soccer Division Two Northeast Re- gion Player of the Year.

It is just the latest accolade for the Ennis woman who has also won the 2007 East Conference Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year

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In 2006, The University of New Haven midfielder became the only two time all-American in the pro- sramme’s history and also a First Team All-Region and Third Team All-America pick, in the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Asso- ciation of America)/adidas coaches’ olan nts

These are major achievements when you consider the geographical

area involved (nine universities) and the high profile of the women’s game in America.

22-year-old Moylan has made a serious impression on the wom- en’s game since moving to study in America in 2003.

Statistical analysis is a major aspect of American sport and a quick perus- al of Moylan’s 2007 season quickly reveals why she is rated so highly.

The midfielder was second in the

league scoring charts on 17 goals and tied for fourth with eight assists.

She helped lead UNH to 12 wins this season, the fourth year in a row that the team has won 11 or more neTeWke s(erce

In her debut season in 2005, Moy- lan wrote her name into the record books when her winning extra-time goal lifted UNH to its first-ever WiGraVae sarees

She is currently pursuing a major in

Management of Sports Industries. A former captain of the Ireland under 19s, Moylan was the eircom ladies under 18 international player of the year in 2002.

She spurned offers from some of the major colleges in America at the time instead choosing UNH because it was an up and coming college that she hoped to accomplish great things e180 8

ENVIRONMENTAL experts will continue to monitor air quality in the area affected by last week’s fire on Station Road.

Clean-up teams have been working at the site of Bredin’s Hardware store since Thursday after it was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Wednes- day morning.

Eleven homes in nearby Ard na

Gréine were evacuated in the after- math of the blaze, after particles of asbestos cement used in the roof of the building were blown into homes and gardens.

Of those evacuated, all have now returned home after being housed in hotels in Ennis at the weekend by Ennis Town Council.

Sean McCusker of McCusker Envi- ronmental, the company overseeing the work at Bredin’s, said extensive

assessment and air monitoring of the area had revealed no traces of asbes- ON

He said, “Most people are back in their homes by this stage. We have been down there for the past three days. We are continuing with the clean-up, but we have not found any trace of asbestos, either outside or i1n- side people’s homes.”

Mr McCusker said clean-up teams will continue to monitor the area.

“All the tests have shown that no fibres are present but the cleaning will continue in houses and the area around them. We are not quite sure for how long.

“The air will be monitored for some time yet purely as a preventa- tive measure.”

The next stage in the clean-up proc- ess is the demolition of the remain- ing sections of the building.

Mr McCusker said, ““The demoli-

tion will take place as a soon as pos- sible. That is something we are keen to start soon. Contractors will be contacted in the next week.”

At a meeting on Friday attended by residents, members of Ennis Town Council and a representative from the Health Services Executive, Chief Fire Officer Adrian Kelly said the building was structurally unsafe and that he would be issuing a closing OKeloe

ige na- tional school in Ennistymon remains in doubt today following a meeting between representatives of the Stein- er School and Department of Educa- tion officials yesterday afternoon.

The meeting, which included two representatives of the Department of Education, two senior school inspec- tors, three represent of the school’s patron body Life Ways and senior teacher Una Ni Ghairbhith, was de- scribed as “lukewarm” by a school official.

“We were trying to get some clar- ity on a number of issues but no ma- jor progress was made by either side today. Both sides were looking for clarification on a number of issues

relating to our application for official Status,” said Ms Ni Ghairbhith.

“No date has yet been given for a decision but we would obviously be looking for this to be sorted out as soon as possible.”

The Mol an

THERE was music in the air on Sat- urday night when one of the finest and most passionate musicians ever to grace a session in Clare had hisa cheivements of 80 years recognised.

The Ennis Trad Festival Graddam Award, sponsered by The Clare People, was presented to Stephan ‘Sonny’ Murphy at a gathering of friends, family and fellow musi- Eke

Among the guests at Cois na hAbhna were a whole generation of

Ennis musicians who came to play and to pay tribute to the great con- certina player and the influence he had on their musical development.

Among the now celebrated musi- cians who owe much to Sonny as a mentor were the Hanrahans, Paul Roche — who is married to Sonnny’s daughter, Helen — John and Seamus McMahon, John Rynne and Eamon and Geraldine Cotter.

On the night, the 87-year old was presented with a pewter statuette by John Rynne and The Clare People’s Joe O’Muircheartaigh, while Kieran

Hnrahan of RTE’s Ceili House was the presenter.

The great man himself treated the gathering to a musical performance as did his daughter Helen and his son, Kevin.

Robbie McMahon of Spancill Hill fame was in strong voice on the night.

A native of Kilmihill, Sonny has been playing music sunce he was a small child and has been mentor to countless young musicians over the years, particularly the members of Stockton’s Wing.

DEMANDS were made last night that the Taoiseach, the Minister for Transport and Aer Lingus CEO, Der- mot Mannion come to Clare and ex- plain themselves before a full meet- ing of the county council. Councillor Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) made the demand at last night’s meeting of the local authority, in a motion before the council in which

she also urged the council to express its “grave concern relating to Gov- ernment inaction on the proposed withdrawal by Aer Lingus of the Shannon/Heathrow routes next Janu- ary” and to abhor “the Government’s lack of understanding or apprecia- tion of the negative fallout this will have on County Clare and the west of Ireland.

“I’m absolutely confounded by the Government’s inaction – they are act-

ing with total arrogance…members of this council must demand an im- mediate meeting,’ she said.

Cllr Tony Mulcachy (FG) support- ed his party colleague. He said that Clare’s TD’s “should at least have abstained in the Dail vote’, on Aer Lingus.

Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) said there were “so many people fighting to stop Shannon becoming a backwater air- port, and they are getting no help”.

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) praised the mayor and Director of Services, Ger Dollard for their efforts to re- verse the Aer Lingus decision.

‘The Government must know that people are not going to forget this one in four years time because jobs are being lost,” he said.

And Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) ap- pealed to Mayor Patricia McCarthy not to “let the fight peter out. There was atime when the grassroots of F1- anna Fail would be listened to but not any more”’.

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said that having met with both the Taoiseach and the minister, “I don’t believe there is a simplistic solution. I think the Public Service Order is the only real alter- native at the moment”.

Mayor McCarthy said that she wanted to assure the councillors “that the fight 1s not going out under any circumstances”.

She told the meeting that the pos- sibility of a legal challenge was still being investigated but “once we go down that road, we will not be able to debate the issue at all”.

The meeting passed both motions.

A second motion on the Shannon/ Heathrow slots loss from Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) and Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) was amended slightly to call on the Government to provide the necessary finances for Shannon to actively press for the acquisition of slots to Heathrow.

OVERALL crime in Clare has fallen by four per cent so far this year, while there has been a massive increase of 28 per cent in public order offences.

Figures relayed to members of Clare County Council by the head of the Clare Garda Division yesterday also revealed that drug detection had risen by 4.3 per cent.

The number of drink driving de- tections have also risen by 14.5 per cent, to 481, while 14 anti-social be- haviour orders (ASBQOs) have been served by gardai in Clare since the measure came into effect at the be-

ginning of the year.

So far this year, there have been 1,265 detections for public order which is up 28 per cent on the figure for the same period last year. Crime detection rates in Clare are 44 per Cone

Chief Supt Gerry Mahon said that criminals who travel from place to place are being targeted, in particular. ‘They come from Limerick, they come from Dublin, they come from Galway, they come from Eastern Europe. That’s the trend this year,” he said.

He said the spread of drugs is a live issue in Clare and is being closely as- sessed. ““That’s an issue we are look-

ing at closely. Crime and drugs are hand in hand. One causes the other,” he said.

He confirmed that CCTV will be installed on the streets of Ennis in April, while the initiative in Kilrush came into effect last year.

He also told councillors that addi- tional funding has been provided to fight organised crime under Opera- tion Anvil.

Additional resources have been pumped in to deal with road traffic accidents and the traffic corps has in- creased in personnel from 12 to 28.

A number of councillors expressed concern about the levels of Garda re-

sources, while others felt community policing was lacking in rural areas.

The drugs scourge was also men- tioned and Chief Supt Mahon reas- sured councillors that the newly ap- pointed detective inspector would address this issue as one of his first briefs.

Kevin Moynihan is the first garda ever to hold the rank of detective in- spector in Clare.

Responding to concerns raised by Clir Tony O’Brien (FF) about sparse Garda resources in Killaloe, the Garda chief said that an additional detective and five gardai had been appointed in that area.

CALLS were made last night for more parking spaces for disabled drivers, wider parking berths and bigger fines for able-bodied people who abuse the spaces.

Clir Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab), who asked for a full report on whether additional spaces will be made avail- able, said Clare was “the only county in which there are no markings in bays which allow space for people in wheelchairs to get out of their cars.

“Get a wheelchair and see if you

can get in and out of your car in the space available – you won’t.

“People park right up against cars parked in disabled spaces. We need bigger bays, more spaces and better markings,” he said.

Clir Martin Conway(FG) said he supported Cllr Fitzgerald. Those Spaces which were painted in light blue in Clare “fare easily distinguish- able. They should all be painted in that colour in future and we need to look at increasing fines for people who abuse those spaces”’.

Cllr Joe Arkins(FG) said that he

agreed that the spaces should be painted an obvious colour, but added that he was concerned that there were no penalities for people who abused disabled spaces in hotels and other private locations.

Council Director of Service, Tom Carey, told the meeting that the lo- cal authority was constantly revising the number of spaces which it could make available for parking for driv- ers and passengers with a disability.

The council has completed a coun- ty-wide audit on the whole area of the needs of people with disabilities and

accessibility of council properties and lands. He added that he would expect some funding to be made available of foot of the findings.

“We want to assure the members that everything that can be done will be done to ensure that people with disability can have access,” he said.

In a relation motion, Cllr Pat Mc- Mahon (FF) called on the authority that issues disabled parking permits to ensure “they are issued to people who have a genuine need for same.

“There are able-bodied people us- ing these permits,” he said.

CLARE has a new champion to cel- ebrate this week with the news that a farmer from Sixmiulebridge has be- come the WE Lloyd Cup Champion for flocks of 31 to 60 Suffolk ewes at an international competition held in England.

Aidan Collins, from Rossroe in Sixmilebridge outshone flocks from all across the United Kingdom and Ireland to take the much coveted top prize from flocks of 31 to 60 ewes as well as taking the reserve title in the overall flock competition.

Indeed this is the second that Aidan has come in as overall reserve cham- pion, having last achieving this feat on his last entry to the competition

in 2000. This year he was piped at the post by four times overall winner Robbie Wilson of Strathisla in Aber- deenshire.

Aidan, who started his Cragroe flock 18 years ago in 1989 said he is delighted with the win, but is still chasing the ultimate gold cup.

“We are delighted, but of course I would still like to go that one step further and claim the gold cup,” he Sr AKGE

“We have had a tremendous year with a number of champions and re- serve at other Society sales also.”

The Gold Cup for overall champion last came to Ireland in 2003 when Tom Bailey took the trophy.

Indeed, this has been a highly suc- cessful year for the Sixmilebridge

farmers as he has already produced the female champion, reserve cham- pion and reserve overall champion at the Roscrea sale.

The flock also took the trophy for the best progeny group, with their most influential ram, Solwaybank Granger. Other prizes included re- serve to Robbie Wilson in three more sections namely flock ewes, stud rams and best ewe lambs.

There was victory on the double for Collins at the event as Aidan’s father, Sean Collins, received the tankard as one of the two top shepherds.

The family farm 300 acres of land in Sixmilebridge and in addition to the pedigree Suffolks they run a dairy herd of some 70 cows, plus beef cattle.

Acer Du oMO(OUTSA O1Cece MAUI ONO OComMT oUt am LE is a great honour,’ admits Sean.

Other winners included Robert H Wilson from North Dorlaithers in Aberdeenshire who took the Bris- tol Gold Cup for Champion Flock, the Sainsbury Cup for Best Ewe Lambs, the Howard Peel Cup for Best Stud Rams, the Bonnington in Bloomsbury Salver for Best flock of ewes and the Keeble Cup for flocks of 61 to LOO ewes and Stewart Dun- can from Gamrie in Banff who took the John Long Cup for flocks of 20 to 30 ewes. The event was judged by Midlands breeders David Inman and Merrick Pinny.

THERE was good news for the Irish beef sector last week with the news that the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, Lulama Xingwana, had lift the ban on the importation of Irish beef. The ban, which has been in place since 2001, was lifted as a result of recommendation by South African experts who visited Ireland ETI ayeele

Commenting on the news, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, said that the positive news was the result of intensive efforts at political, diplomatic and technical Aon

She said that the Department of

Agriculture and the Irish Embassy in Pretoria have been working very closely on this issue for a number of years. During November 2006 the minister and her experts had a number of high-level meetings with South African cabinet members and their officials.

‘This is a very welcome decision as South Africa has been a traditional market for Irish beef. The decision by the competent authorities in the Republic of South Africa to re-open their market to Irish beef was taken following a detailed examination of the rigorous controls applied and reflects the high standards of food safety controls in place in Ireland,” she said.

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counterparts in South Africa had worked intensively on the technical documentation to facilitate trade and the necessary veterinary certificate had also been agreed.

Minister Coughlan also noted that senior veterinary officials from both sides have discussed detailed pro- posals for exchanges of skills and personnel to share best practice and experience in facing common chal- lenges in the food industry. Both Governments see the agri-food sec- tor as an important area with signifi- cant potential for trade growth and the creation of quality employment.

Senior experts will meet shortly to discuss an action plan on skills de- velopment.

Meanwhile, Minister Coughlan last

week welcomed the publication by the EU Commission of the Food and Veterinary Office mission to Brazil.

Coughlan said that this report will be very helpful in the overall process of ensuring equivalence. The minis- ter added that she was now calling for a discussion on the report within the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health.

A further FVO mission is taking place this month and Commissioner Kyprianou, who is responsible for health and consumer protection, has stated publicly that he will not hesi- tate to take appropriate protection measures if a product imported from a third country represents a risk for the health of EU consumers, live- stock or plants.