Month: May 2008

THERE seems to be a magnetic draw between Tommy Leahy and the Clare Cup. A winner as a player with Corofin Harps a few seasons back, it wasn’t long before he got back to the final of Clare’s premier cup competi- tion, now as manager and sometimes player of his adopted Rock Rovers. They may be a First Division side but Rovers played like the Premier team on Saturday, remaining com- posed throughout and demonstrating to all that they were worthy champi-

ont

Leahy, the orchestrator, remained positive on the touchline even in that nervous finish and as his side entered the dressing room after the game, he attempted to express his thoughts beneath the cries of “Champione, Champione”’

“Tam absolutely delighted. In fair- ness to the lads, they totally deserved it on the day. I thought for the whole 90 minutes, the heart they showed was unbelieveable and they showed that they can certainly play football because this was a very good Bun-

ratty side.”

The key to this hard earned victory for Leahy was workrate, something he asked for before the game and his players didn’t disappoint.

“The defence was outstanding and the lads worked hard and from one to eleven, they really worked their asses off.

‘In fairness, everyone worked tire- lessly, the backs were solid and they didn’t shirk away from anything. It’s a credit to all of them really.”

Nevertheless, besides their obvious hunger, they needed a bit of luck to

settle them by means of a Bunratty own goal in the 18th minute which had a double impact on the game. After that, Rock settled and gained confidence while Bunratty became more desperate and anxious on the ball.

“The first goal kind of took the nerves off it and we knew then that we just had to push on. In fairness, we hit the crossbar twice and we just kept pushing them and pushing them. All credit to them though, they are a good side.

“They are big and physical but they

are well able to play football. In the last ten minutes, they really had us under the kosh but again our defence stayed solid and we held on for the win.”

Leahy’s ambitions don’t end there. Rock’s league form suffered as a re- sult of their various cup exploits this season and the First Division title is top of the list of priorities for next season. For the moment though, he is just happy to saviour the moment. Being a cup winner as a player and now as a manager doesn’t happen too aK

FOR Bunratty, this defeat was dilf- ficult to swallow. Normally accus- tomed to the big occasion with four cup titles in nine years, they never really exhibited the desire shown in previous rounds and nervously ap- peared more like the team who were participating in their first ever final. That was the most disappointing aspect for manager James Carrig and his team, the fact that they didn’t play to their potential. Had they played to

their maximum and still lost, then defeat wouldn’t have tasted as sour but despite being visibly disappoint- ed, Carrig was gracious in defeat, admitting that the best side won on the day.

“It is bitterly disappointing but Rock wanted it more on the day. They battled hard, they are a big physical team and we knew they could play football and for the neutral, I’d say it was a good game to watch. But they just wanted it more on the day, fair play to them and they took their

chances and the best team won. The own goal was a big boost to them. It put heart into them and they kept on playing. Fair play to Tommy and the boys, I hope they enjoy it but as I say, we are gutted.”

Bunratty are normally a good pass- ing side but even that aspect of their play deserted them on Saturday. The own goal was certainly a major set- tling point for Rock but Carrig felt that Bunratty panicked a bit after that and played into Rock Rovers’ hands.

“We never really got going. We

knew they were big and strong up the centre but we just launched balls at them instead of keeping it on the deck.

“When we did bring it down, we did get a bit of joy but we had to give them a two goal lead before we started to play. When we did eventually start to play, we grinded them down but we still never threatened the goalkeeper. Their defence was excellent tonight. They were well organised and they deserved it on the day.”

Bunratty know what it is like to

upset the odds and win the cup as underdogs.

They were a First Division side when they claimed their first title back in 1999, before going on to add three further cup titles this decade.

Considering their pedigree in the competition, they will certainly be amongst the challengers for next year’s Clare Cup.

But that’s of no consolation now as they have the summer to reflect on this missed opportunity and what might have been.

THE romance of the cup — it’s cer- tainly alive and well and kicking in Clare. Rock Rovers are the living and footballing embodiment of this sporting cliché that’s been kicked around for as long as cup football has eo EAL oee

To look at them on the field on Saturday, they smacked of a mixem gatherem crew that could have been rounded up for action that very after- noon. Their jerseys were old, so old that some of the numbers had faded away 1n washing machines down the years. As for the togs — there were many different shades of navy on pa- rade. Some had white stripes, others had logos, more had not.

Maybe the status of being under- dogs and underlings of Clare club soccer allowed them such latitude with their attire. More importantly,

maybe it lulled cup specialists Bun- ratty into some false sense of secu- wie

After all, Bunratty had every right to be supremely confident. They’d played in four cup finals since °99, winning them all. They fully ex- pected it to be five, having accounted for champions Avenue United, last year’s runners-up Moher Celtic and emerging Lifford along the way.

Thing is, Rock Rovers were reading from a different script. In the huddle beforehand captain Francis Daniels barked his final few words, before deferring to his younger brother S)ateb ales

The younger Daniels didn’t say much, but what he said hit home straight away. To grunts and bellows of approval he roared: “We’re not leaving here without a medal”.

Rock didn’t. Everyone lived up to Daniels’ battlecry, from keeper

Eric Murphy to 12

AFTER a quick turnaround summer soccer is up and running again. The schoolboys/girls leagues kicked off last Wednesday in excitng fashion.

Avenue got a glimpse of how tough it will be to re-capture the under 15 league when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Bridge United.

There was a goals aplenty when En- nis Town took on Newmarket Celtic with the sides playing out a thrilling CEO mele-Nis

The other tie from that evening was a far more comprehinsive af- fair. New kids on the block, Sporting Ennistymon, endured a tough trip to Kilrush where they were beaten 3-0 by a strong Moneypoint side.

Another new side B/C United, made a similarly difficult debut in the under 13 division one when they went down 7-0 to Avenue United. Elsewhere in that division Newmar- ket Celtic served notice of their in- tent with a 2-0 victory over Lifford in McDonagh Park.

The under 12 league kicked off on Saturday with some of the establsi- hed names flexing their muscles.

Avenue United stormed to an 8-0 win away to Corofin Harps and En- nis Town serving up a 5-1 win over Moneypoint.

There was disappointment for Av- enue in the under 14 league however when they lost 3-2 to Newmarket Celtic. Connolly Celtic caused a stir in division two by beating Burren United 5-0. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for north Clare clubs on SE TMUD KO rR

Sporting Ennistymon showed great character when they edged past K1- lysart Celtic, in an almighty tussle that ended 3-2 in Sporting’s favour.

CLARE golf clubs confirmed their quality yesterday when four of the county’s courses were chosen among Ireland’s top 100 courses.

The now established list was com- piled for the latest edition of Golf Digest Ireland and was chosen by a panel of experts.

Lahinch was deemed the leading Clare course and moved up the lad- der from eleventh position to eight due mainly to the growing impact of a major re-modelling by English golf-course architect, Martin Haw- Kron

Shannon Golf Club also received a confidence boost when it made the list for the first time, coming in at number 67. The other two golf courses in Clare to make the list were Doonbeg, which took the 29th spot, and Dromoland Castle, further lo: 1el tres) ROe

For a second-year running, the number one course was listed as

Royal County Down and Portmar- nock’s position of number two 1s also the same as last year.

Further down the order, however, there is some interesting movement in the top ten in which Ballybunion (Old) has climbed from fourth to third.

This means that Adare Manor goes down to number four, but it remains the top-ranked parkland course in the country, by a significant margin. The European Club remains fifth; Waterville remains sixth but the Co Louth links at Baltray has moved up one, to seventh place. Royal Portrush comes in at ninth with tenth place being awarded to the K Club Palmer Course, venue for the 2006 Ryder Cup.

“Movement is evident on this year’s list, due to a massive investment which has seen significant upgrading of a number of courses,’ explained Linton Walsh, managing director, Golf Digest Ireland. “After the pub- lication of last year’s list, the maga-

Zine contacted all of the courses on this island, requesting information on any work that was being under- taken. Replies were received from 53 of these clubs. A member of the panel or a PGA member inspected each of these courses and the im- provements were duly noted during voting on this year’s list.”

The top 100 were selected in groups of ten, which meant, that any course which went close to making the top ten, automatically came into consid- eration for the second ten, and so on down the list.

After a discussion on each group of courses, an individual, written vote was taken, with points being awarded to each course in order of preference, from 10 down to one. The counted votes then determined the order of preference.

THE final of the St Josephs School Spanish Point A2 575 was the fea- ture event of the eleven on Saturday nigh’ts Galway Card. Favourite for the €1,200 to the winner contest was the Noel Mullins of Gort trained Miss Fabulous (T6) and the daughter of World Class and Legal Moment was very smartly away out wide and she led by two lengths from Phillip- specialone (T3) on the long run to the bend.

Turning down the back Miss Fabu- lous extended her advantage to four lengths over her rivals and although Ballingown Boy (T2) made _ late headway Miss Fabulous was always in total command as she took the prize for owners Paul Curley and Michael Regan by a length in a time

of 31.79

The second contest was an A5 af- fair in which the Pat Hogan of Ennis owned Aulton George landed some nice wagers as he made virtually all to defeat Paradise Alana (T5) by three lengths in 29.54.

The Seamus Fahy trained son of Droopys Scholes and Dalcash Veva just shaded O’Garney Flo (T3) on the run to the opening bend and as they raced past halfway the gap was half a length.

Rounding the third bend Aulton George railed well and cut of the challenge of O’Garney Flo before pulling clear up the straight for his maiden success.

The third contest was an A3 graded 525 and here the Mrs Marie Browne of Cree owned Burnpark Dame showed both early pace and stam-

ina as she romped home over eight lengths to spare over Stanton (T6) in 29.01.

The daughter of Honcho Clas- sic and Burnpark Circle led by two lengths from Stanton on the run to the opening bend and with trouble among the backmarkers the front two drew clear.

Racing out of the back though Burnpark Dame began to draw clear of Stanton as she opened her account at the fifth attempt.

In the Al graded sixth contest over 525 yards the blue jacketed Tyrur Kerril was smartly away along the inside and although he moved slight- ly wide at the opening corner he still led Flandy (T4) by two length rac- ing towards halfway with Corpo- rate Legend(T6) in third place three lengths further adrift.

As the leader approached the third bend the distress signals were out and the Conor Flanagan of Ennisty- mon owned Flandy (Fortune

Mike-Mythical Cracker) swept past on the rail before he raced clear to win by over five lengths in 29.08

The concluding race of the night went to the Colm and Oran Fitzger- ald of Kilrush owned Fitzler Joker a son of Barnane Bit and Black Show who was smartly away from his trap six berth as he led Corrib Star (T5) bytwo lengths rounding the opening two bends. Racing down the back the sextet were in Indian file as Fitzler Joker set sail for the judge chased all the way by Corib Star but at the line the advantage was still over two lengths in favour of Fitzler Joker in SYA Le

Friday night’s card was an all grad-

ed 11 race programme with the con- cluding three 575 yard contests being the three heats of the Tully National School A4 Stake..In the opening heat the Johnny Burke of Tubber trained Drumline Tom topped the market but he was moderately enough away as Rob The Five (T2) and Bold Ted- dy (T6) led the field to the opening corner.

Racing down the back Rob The Five led by two lengths from the wide running Bold Teddy with Ca- poola Savings (T4) improving from rear.

Racing around the home turn the Ollie Burke trained Rob The Five (Droopys Vieri-Iwotensfive) railed well and although Capoola Savings was closing with every stride the line came in time for Rob The Five by three quarters of a length in 32.27.

AN Ennis man sought more than €500,000 for his objection against a €40 million residential development to be withdrawn.

Last week, An Bord Pleandala re- fused planning permission to Joe Mc- Namara to develop 147 homes on the Golf Links Road. The appeals board upheld the appeal by John Madden of Glencairn House, Hermitage, against Clare County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the proposal.

However, in documentation now released by An Bord Pleanala, it has emerged that Mr Madden sought €550,000 for himself to construct a flood defence system on his lands near the development site and a sepa-

rate payment of €50,000 for Caher- calla Community Hospice to with- draw his appeal.

A series of eight meetings were held between the two sides – all at the instigation of the developers – but no money was handed over and, as a result, the appeal was not withdrawn. Mr Madden stated last week that he felt vindicated it had been upheld.

In a letter to the board on behalf of the developers, Joe McNamara and Paul O’Brien, solicitors McMahon O’Brien and Downes stated that the demand for €550,000 for the with- drawal of the appeal was the second time that such a demand was made by Mr Madden.

They claimed he sought €170,000 for the withdrawal of an objection against a previous housing applica-

tion on the same site by the same developers.

The legal firm said this was to be used to construct a barrier against flooding if planning was obtained, but if planning was not obtained, the money was to be retained personally by Mr Madden.

In relation to the €50,000 sought for Cahercalla Hospice, the legal firm states, “The seeking to justify a pay- ment request for a hospice because of the appellant’s admiration of the Trojan work they do there is another example of the appellant’s misguided purpose of the planning process. It is not there to facilitate the extraction of funds from developers to make payments to charities.”

The documentation also shows that Ennis builder, Liam O’Doherty

agreed to purchase the lands from McNamara and O’Brien in 2006 sub- ject to planning.

A letter from John Casey & Co so- licitors shows that Mr O’Doherty met with Mr Madden where he confirmed the requirement of a €585,000 pay- ment to him and a €50,000 to Caher- calla hospice.

The submissions by the developers was aimed at having Mr Madden’s appeal dismissed on the grounds that the appeal was being brought solely for the purpose of securing the pay- ment of money and gifts – a claim firmly rejected by Mr Madden.

However, the appeals board judged the appeal on its merits and found in favour of Mr Madden, though none of the reasons to refuse planning re- lated to flooding.

THE Ennis man who sought more than €500,000 from developers to withdraw his objection to a large- scale housing development had no desire to profit from the matter and was not motivated by the desire for personal gain.

That’s the view of Callinan & Co solicitors on behalf of Ennis man John Madden, of Glencairn House, Hermitage, in response to claims that he sought over €500,000 for the con- struction of flood defences at his land in return for withdrawing an objec- tion against the development.

In a rebuttal submission on behalf of John Madden, Callinan & Co say the proposed agreement to withdraw the appeal in return for payment was not “evidence of blackmail or extor- wloyn ae

The legal firm stated the proposed agreement was “no more than an

ordinary example of bona fides and reasonable negotiations as between adjoining landowners in matters of this nature”.

The legal firm continued, “Mr Mad- den takes grave exception to the ap- plicants’ submission that this appeal is motivated by a desire for personal gain. This is an insidious allegation made without foundation and it is re- jected in the strongest terms by Mr Madden.

“Mr Madden has at no stage sought to obstruct the planning process and in fact has agreed on several occa- sions to meet with the applicants with a view to reaching agreement.

‘Mr Madden wishes to point out that the circumstance that he was prepared to accept payment of a quite substantial sum in compensation for the interference with his property so as, in particular to enable him to carry out works to protect his prop- erty against flooding, was a measure of both the strength of his objection and his insistence that the works be carried out on his lands.

‘Mr Madden submits that the ex- istence of open negotiations in rela- tion to the sum properly payable by way of compensation is a matter that evidences the seriousness of his con- cerns and the fairness and reasonable

of his claim to compensation.”

‘The engineer for the developers claimed that proposal to run a foul water pipeline through the Madden lands was prepared as a response to a direct request from the Council. If that was so, why did the developers request in relation the previous appli-

cation that any issues with third party lands in relation to cross connection could be resolved by the Council un- der their compulsory wayleave/com- pulsory purchase powers’.

CLARE people with a desire to work on the International Space Station and explore the solar system have just a few weeks to apply for a place on the European Space Agency’s new astronaut training programme. Recruitment opened yesterday May 19, and candidates from Ireland are welcome to apply.

Candidates need a relevant degree or equivalent, and/or be a pilot or engineer. They will have to provide the same medical examination cer- tificate as private pilots do.

The first step in the application process takes place online at www. esa.int/astronautselection. There will also be two stages of psychological and professional aptitude evaluation.

“The ideal European candidate should be competent in relevant sci- entific disciplines, including but not restricted to life sciences, physics, chemistry and medicine and/or be an engineer or pilot, and should have demonstrated outstanding abilities in research, applications or the educa- tional field, preferably including op- erational skills,’ explained Gerhard Thiele, former astronaut and Head of the European Astronaut Division.

“In addition, characteristics expect- ed of all applicants include a good memory and reasoning ability, con-

centration, aptitude for spatial orien- tation, and manual dexterity.”

Applicants should be fluent in Eng- lish (Russian is also an asset) and should exhibit personality traits such as high motivation, flexibility, team competence, empathy with others and emotional stability. The final appointments will be officially an- nounced in 2009.

Encouragement for people from the region to apply came from a NASA astronaut last Friday last. Speaking at his talk on the NASA space pro- gramme, Captain Jon McBride said it was time for the first Irish astronaut to go into space with ESA. Looking beyond that to NASA’s planned mis- sion to Mars, he said that the likely candidates for this were at school now, and the first step for them was to study hard and go to college.

McBride was the pilot on the first shuttle mission to carry a crew of seven astronauts. He has also held many other senior positions within the NASA organisation. Although now retired from active service, he still works for NASA to raise aware- ness of its work.

Dr Moore also announced that, for the first time, the society will be run- ning evening classes on astronomy for beginners this autumn at the University of Limerick. Register at www.astronomy.ie.

DECLAN O’Loughlin, a_ student at the Christian Brothers Commu- nity School, Ennistymon, has been named ‘Senior Academic Student of

the Year 2008’ at the Bank of Ireland National Student Awards — a nation- al awards scheme for second level students that recognises exemplary performance in five unique catego- ries. His prize included a cheque for

€1,500 and another cash award of €3,000 for his school.

The judges selected Declan as the national winner for his outstanding and consistent academic excellence having achieved 10 A’s and one B in

higher level papers in the 2007 Jun- ior Certificate and was nominated for the Irish EU Science Olympiad, the mathematical enrichment pro- gramme in NUIG and the transition year physics programme in Trinity College.

The Bank of Ireland Student Awards is a national awards scheme for second level students and these winners have won at both local and regional level before going on to win these national awards.

Now in it’s third year, Bank of Ire- land has already committed a total of €180,000 in cash prizes to re- ward the efforts and talents of sec- ondary school students across the country. With a prize fund of over €60,000, the annual awards scheme recognises exemplary student per- formance in five categories – art, sport, entrepreneurial spirit, aca- demic achievement and community spirit.

Speaking at the awards, Richie Boucher, Chief Executive, Retail Financial Services Ireland, Bank of Ireland said the winning students had shown exemplary performance and outstanding achievement in their category.

Bank of Ireland is proud to provide a forum where exceptional students are recognised and rewarded on a lo- cal, regional and national level. This is a fantastic accolade for Declan and I wish him every success for the fu- ture,” Mr Boucher concluded.