Month: October 2008

THE spotlight falls on six of Clare’s brightest new bands at a concert in Glor on November 8. Six bands have been selected from the Clare Youth Service – Music Project Bands Com- petition, to perform at the Ennis venue.

The competition took place over two days in September will a strong line up of competition from fifteen bands throughout the county.

The music ranged from metal, rock, indie and rocktronica, after taking an hour to decide the judges finally

selected the winners from the com- petition to perform in Glor. Prizes awarded on the night were Joint Best Originals Marble Chips and Cities, Best Overall Band, Th’Rush and Runner-up Band, “Marble Chips” in addition to prizes on the night bands who won best originals will have their originals professionally recorded.

Youth Worker Jean Tierney said the concert in Glor provides a great opportunity for local talent to shine.

“The gig in Glor has always pro- vided something special and memo- rable for the audience, this is a fan-

tastic opportunity for people to get a taste of some of the exceptionally talented musicians in the county. It is obvious from the excitement and performances on the night how pas- sionate and dedicated the musicians are, this gig has always proven to be the highlight of the year and will be a night to be remembered.”

Doors open at 7.30pm on the night and tickets can be purchased from e1- ther Jean Tierney at the Youth Centre 065 6845356 or Gl6r box office, tick- ets are €15.

Meanwhile, CYS Music Project are running workshops for young mu-

sicians interested in working with other musicians who would like to develop new skills, improve their techniques, form a band and have the opportunity to take part in next year’s bands competitions to compete with other bands for a spot in glory 2009. Workshops are in drums, guitar, bass and singer-songwriting.

Introduction for the workshops is being held in Clare Youth Service Sunday 02nd Nov 2-4pm. Work- shops cost €30 and run each Sunday for four weeks.

To register or for further informa- tion contact Jean on 065 6845356

MEMBERS of the Ballyea Pastoral Council can reflect with a good de- gree of pride on a job well done at Killone Abbey.

The abbey and the surrounding grounds will hopefully provide the perfect setting for a mass to be cel- ebrated in the future by the local community.

A major clean-up opperation was undertaken by the pastoral council in cleaning up the site and improv- Tb NTear Neon

The restoration project was under- taken by a small group of local peo- ple who were keen to again make a place of holy and historical signifi- cance, a source of pride in the com-

munity.

Rosemary Meaney, Chairperson of the Ballyea Pastoral Council ex- plained that there was great support for the project.

“It has been years since there was a mass held in Killone. The work has been on-going there for many years, clearing it up and making sure ac- cess to the abbey was improved con- siderably. It is a beautiful place and it was very special to be able to hold a mass there.”

One of the key areas the council concentrated on was cleaning and cataloguing the headstones in the nearby graveyard.

For this, they received support from the Clare Roots Society. Thanks to that help, much of the informa-

tion gleamed from the headstones, will soon be available to access on the Clare library’s popular website. There is still some work to be done, though, and Rosemary is hoping that volunteers will come on board for the final push.

“Cleaning the headstones was a big part of the project. The Clare Roots Society are going to come down to record all the headstones and give all the information to the library.

“There is a lot of information there that people, particularly doing fam- ily history, things like that, would find very useful. There is still a lot of work to do.”

Rosemary said that the council has applied for a grant from the Heritage Ireland so the work at Killone Abbey

can continue.

Killone Abbey is located on the grounds of Newhall house. Among the other structures located nearby is St John’s well, once a place of pil- grimage for people in Clarecastle and Eire Og.

According to the Rocky Road, written by local man Paddy Brennan, The foundation of Killone Abbey is said to have been around 1189, but it may actually be older. Founded as a nunnery, the abbey provided many services to the surrounding commu- IATA

“It is a great thing to be able to see the abbey in good condition and to see people visiting. We want to keep the place alive. It’s a gorgeous place, very spiritual’, added Rosemary.

A CAMPAIGN launched in Ennis last week, aims to improve water safety measures for children.

The development of drowning prevention standards was discussed when the Examiners of Irish Water Safety held their Annual Confer- ence in Ennis. Over one hundred attendees from around the country reviewed current approaches and de- veloped new strategies to reduce this needless waste of life.

The conference opened as new fig- ures reveal that 16 children aged 14

and under have drowned in Ireland, in the last five years.

The conference discussed all spheres of water safety in a bid to re- duce the tragic fact that 156 drowned in Ireland in 2007. The conference also focused on the dangers present- ed by inland waterways, the most common location of drowning inci- (nls

That is an area of water safety that resonates particularly with Ennis in light of recent figures, which reveal that nine people have drowned on the River Fergus in the past four years.

The latest tragedy occurred last

week, when the body of a man was recovered from the river, near Knoxs Bridge, on Tuesday.

The man is thought to be in his ear- ly 40s and is believed to originally be of Eastern European descent.

Speaking recently, Liam Griffin, Water Safety Officer with Clare County Council, re-iterated calls for people to respect life rings placed on the Fergus, saying that abuse and vandalism was a bigger issue in En- nis than anywhere else in Clare.

Mr Griffin said he would also sup- port a review of the current plan outlining existing water safety pro-

cedures for Ennis.

The vast majority of drowning inci- dents – along with many other aquatic injuries – are preventable, according to Irish Water Safety council. Wa- ter safety plays a key role in signifi- cantly reducing aquatic injuries and drowning through its’ education and promotion programmes.

Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Heritage and Lo- cal Government, Michael Kitt T.D. launched “Aqua Attack”, a workbook awareness programme packed with water safety tips and exercises for children.

ENNIS Community College has launched an innovative teaching project that could have a major influ- ence on the Irish education system.

Outdoor Resources Brought into Teaching (ORBITAL) was adapted from a programme initiated by Kerry VEC but developed in Clare by the Ennis college in association with the Burren Outdoor Education Centre.

A pilot programme was tested in Ennis on just one class of the new student intake and so successful as to be broadened to the entire school enrolment this year.

Aine Meehan, co-ordinator of En- nis Schools Completion Programme operating from the Community Col- lege, said the project makes use of local resources to supplement what is going on in the classroom.

That way learning becomes more real, especially for students who have special needs or are second- language learners.

She gives the example of how his- tory is taught in the new scheme. Students learning about castles,

monks and knights are taken to the ancient buildings and the milieu of the people they are studying. Anoth- er instance is going to a goat cheese farm to mark Organic Food Week.

Doing time and distance on ULs running track back up maths studies. The completion programme aims to retain students at college through in- ter-agency working.

College principal Matt Power said students are offered the opportunity to experience the curriculum in ac- tion. Archaeological digs in the Bur- ren, visits to UL science week and to the flaggy shores of the Burren are other learning experiences through the academic year. He is so im- pressed by the project as to be hope- ful of expanding it to the rest of the college.

“A wonderful collaboration has emerged between the college and the outside agencies. Basically, it is an extension of the old idea of learning by doing. What may have seemed less interesting and abstract in the classroom becomes exciting and alive when experienced for real during the day trips.

FIVE Leaving Certificate students at St John Bosco Community Col- lege, Kildysart received their bronze Gaisce Awards and certificates on behalf of the President at an informal ceremony in the college last week. President McAleese was _ repre- sented by Clare hurler Tony Griffin

who said the recipients had achieved a lot to deserve the award and would be a great sample of more to come in their lives. He congratulated the students on taking on and complet- ing the challenges required to merit bronze and encouraged them to go on undertaking challenges through their lives.

College principal Marion Cough-

lan Flynn said she and all in the col- lege were very proud of the five for their achievements. Gaisce stood for heroism, courage, valour and great tribute was due to teachers Deirdre Convey, deputy principal, and Car- mel Moroney for their input.

Student spokesperson Laura Mc- Carthy explained how they attained GPT erom ir Abts

The President’s Award works on the basis of personal challenges in four activity areas.

First, participants take on a per- sonal skill for an hour a week over 26 weeks. Next they select a commu- nity activity for an hour a week for RR (2

A TEN-YEAR-OLD girl has sus- tained severe brain injury after she was hit by a car while crossing the road in Ennis.

The grave extent of the girl’s in- juries emerged last week, when the driver involved in the accident ap- peared in court.

The young girl had just waved to her friends, whilst crossing the road, when she was struck. She was flipped into the air and landed at a back wheel of the car and lost consciousness.

She sustained serious injuries and continues to receive medical treat- ment.

Sharon Shanahan (33), of Killura, Ennistymon, pleaded not guilty to driving without due care and atten- tion and at the end of the contested case at Ennis District Court, she was found not guilty by the judge.

The accident occurred close to the intersection between Circular Road and Childers Road, Ennis, at 5.50pm on February 25 last.

The girl’s 10-year-old friend re- called, in court, spending time with the young girl immediately before the accident. She had called to his house in that area to collect a mobile je) ateyaten

He said he, the 10-year-old girl and another friend, aged 12, walked across the road. “We stopped half way and she went forward. We went back. She turned around and waved back. I saw a car coming,’ he re- or Naeem

He said the 12-year-old girl called out the 10-year-old’s name. “She got hit. I think it was her head that hit the window. She slid across the car. She landed a foot away from the path. She was saying Oww and all that,” said the boy.

“She just got hit and the phone was on the grass. My dad said not to move her in case she had broken her neck,” he added.

The boy said the car was going “very fast.” “It went too fast. All I could see was a red car and a woman with blonde hair in it. If the car was going a little slower, I don’t think she would have gone into the air so high,” he explained.

He said he felt the driver probably thought the little girl would move, “but she didn’t.”

Under cross-examination from de- fending solicitor Stephen Nicholas, the boy said he was certain that the girl was waving at him. “She must have been on the footpath?” asked

Mr Nicholas, to which the boy re- plied, “No.”

“Why would she stand on the road and turn around and wave’? It is very dangerous to stop on the road and wave, said the solicitor. The boy said, “There were no cars coming.”

Mr Nicholas noted that the boy had said in court that the car had been travelling at speed. “It is a very 1m- portant fact but you never said to the guards anything about the car going fast,” he said. The boy replied, “But it did go fast.”

The 12-year-old girl who was also there that evening told the court the 10-year-old was about a step or two away from the edge of the footpath when she was hit. “She waved before she got to the footpath,” she said.

Lisa Russell (25) told the court she was driving behind Ms Shanahan’s

car that evening. Asked to recall the accident, she said, “There were two kids on the right hand side and as I looked at the left, I couldn’t see the child’s head. I could see her body. She was hovering as such. She was flung around. She ended up in a ball at the back tyre.”

Asked about the manner of driving, she said, “I didn’t take any notice to be honest.”

The court heard that Ms Shana- han’s Ford Focus car was damaged in the impact – the front bonnet was dented, while the lower part of the windscreen was cracked.

Garda Joseph Ryan, who attended the scene of the accident, said the little girl was unconscious. She was immediately taken to Ennis General eevee

A statement made by the driver,

Ms Shanahan, was read to the court. In it, she said she was driving to the Adult Education Centre on the Kil- rush Road, when she took a wrong turn and ended up in the Cloughleigh area. She said she was unfamiliar with the area. She saw children and the next thing she could recall was a child hitting her windscreen. She stopped and got out of her car. The girl was lying on the ground at the back passenger wheel. Ms Shanahan was in deep shock and started to col- lapse.

“T do not know how the girl came in contact with my car. I was driving normally and concentrating at the time,” she said.

Garda Ryan said that with her consent, he checked Ms Shanahan’s mobile phone and it showed that no phone calls had been made and no

text messages had been sent at the time of the accident.

Mr Nicholas put it to him that the public service vehicle (PSV) inspec- tor’s report would suggest the impact was at low speed and the garda ac- cepted this.

Gda Ryan said that the girl received serious injuries as a result of the ac- cident. A medical report said she has suffered severe brain injury.

She is alert, but disorientated and is currently undergoing physiotherapy and speech therapy.

Sharon Shanahan told the court she has been driving for nine years and was never in court before.

Asked did she see the little girl, she replied, “No.”

“T was going pretty slow. I wasn’t sure where I was,” she said. She said she could not explain how the acci- dent had happened.

Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecut- ing, put it to her if she was taking ad- equate care and attention, she would have seen the girl. She replied, “I was driving with care and attention. I’ve no idea where she came from.”

Mr Nicholas noted that the girl sus- tained “horrific injuries, but that is not what the case is about. It’s about Whether the accused was driving without due care and attention.”

He said the boy was mistaken in saying there was speed involved, adding, “Maybe the children are mistaken when they say where she was on the road.”

Judge Joseph Mangan said the ac- cident was “very unfortunate” and he sympathised with the little girl’s family. He said that Ms Russell was to be commended, but “nothing she has said will enlighten us to the de- fendant’s manner of driving.”

He said that while the boy suggest- ed the car was moving fast, he had not referred to this in his statement at the time of the accident. “It’s too vague,’ Said the judge.

He said, crucially, the little girl was not in court “for obvious rea- sons” and said her injuries were not relevant as to whether the defendant was culpable.

“In all the circumstances, I have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt before I convict somebody. On no ac- count can I say I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt,’ he said and dis- missed the charge.

THERE were no winners and for the family of the young girl and the driver of the car, the pain will never go away.

A drive to Ennis for Sharon Shana- han was brought to a sudden halt, af- ter her car struck a 10-year-old girl, who had been crossing the road.

While Ms Shanahan, a special needs assistant in a north Clare school, was cleared of a charge in connection

with the accident, the tragic crash has undoubtedly changed her life.

She cannot explain how the accident occurred, but is acutely aware that what happened that fateful evening led to a little girl receiving horrific injuries. The girl’s family are forced to contend with her injuries. The lit- tle girl left her home that evening to go to her friend’s house to collect a mobile phone, but tragically ended up in hospital.

It is every parent’s worst nightmare.

The girl’s distraught mother heard details of the accident in court last week, where the extent of her injuries were revealed.

The girl was unable to be in court, but her friends were there to tell what happened. She had been crossing the road and waved to two of her friends, when she was struck. They watched in shock and called for help as the little girl was propelled into the air before landing behind the car.

Rarely do children of that tender

age give evidence in a court case and their evidence was compelling. Both the little boy and girl – friends of the girl at the centre of the case – put their emotions to one side as they recalled the evening of the accident.

Both witnesses were categoric in their evidence and recalled it as they had remembered. Their honesty stood out as neither was overawed by the occasion. Prior to taking the oath, the little girl was asked if she understood the consequences of not

telling the truth. She explained that she did; that failing to tell the truth in the witness box with result in her get- ting into “big trouble.” She, and the boy, confidently described in court their recollections of the accident; both unfazed by the occasion in the courtroom.

Like the little girl’s family and the driver of the car, these two children were also deeply affected by the ac- cident. A stark reminder of the trau- matic effects of road accidents.

IN the end, it came down to fresh- ness. The ability for Kilmurry Ibrickane’s management to be able to look up at their thirty plus panel in the stand and carefully choose the right player to instill some new life into the team’s tired limbs while Lis- cannor only had the bare bones.

But it wasn’t just a wealth of tal- ent in the squad that saw Kilmurry Ibrickane complete the perfect do- mestic year, it was also a freshness of ideas and drive that came from their new manager Micheal McDermott. Kilmurry Ibrickane always had the talent, it was just knitting that ability together that had been noticeably ab- sent in recent years so McDermott’s introduction was certainly a breath of fresh air.

And as the final whistle blew on an- other successful final, he took a sec- ond to reflect on their latest achieve- ment.

“It was extremely hard on the heart, there is no doubt about that. It went really down to the last five minutes to win that game and we said that at half-time. We knew they would come back strongly like they did against Doonbeg and you know, probably what won it for us at the end of the day was the freshness of the panel we had. The ground was a little bit heavy and sticky but the lads gave everything and the last five minutes

is when games have been won and lost, the All-Ireland was won and lost in that five minutes this year and it was no different there today.

‘The most important thing we said before the game was that on a day like today, you do not concede a goal because if we had done in that sec- ond half, I said that the roof would lift off that stand and give them the incentive they needed to go on and win. That’s why guys threw bodies in the way and there are a lot of sore bodies in that dressing room. Small men stood up to be big men today and we couldn’t have asked for a more wholehearted performance. It wasn’t a day for great football but it was a day of effort and heart to win a county title.”

Unbeaten domestically, McDer-

mott’s next challenge is for a provin- cial title but while he admits it has crossed his mind during the year, he won’t be planning anything immed1- ately.

“It definitely won’t be talked about for a few days but in the back of my own mind, I knew that we have a bunch of guys who are extremely talented here and if we won a county title today, we would give them a few days to celebrate but there 1s a mun- ster championship there to be won and we are going to give it every- thing and represent Clare as best we can. And maybe bring home one.”

With his track record so far, you wouldn’t doubt him for a second.

THEY stood together in Cusack Park and looked on. Kilmurry had it all. Another County title, a night of long celebration and a season that stretch- es into the provincial championships. Everything. Liscannor had tears, re- egret and the rain.

So they stood and watched. A group and a world of emotion away from the tightly packed circle of red and green jerseys, ever expanding on the muddied surface of Cusack Park.

They listened to Shane Hickey, Kil- murry Ibrickane’s winning captain, as he collected Jack Daly. Hickey spoke fiercely about the honesty and integrity of Liscannor football. It was a nice touch but Liscannor looked lost and utterly disconnected from the joy exploding around them.

They will know and reflect in the years to come that this was a game there for the taking. One kick. One lousy kick could have made all the difference as the gap between the teams, in an increasingly tense sec- ond half, narrowed.

Liscannor couldn’t find a way. Kil- murry did. Looking suddenly un- burdened, they rattled off three late points in the closing stages and the margin widened to double scores.

“That’s football’, said Liscannor manager Tommy Curtain at the end of Hickey’s speech and as the teams started to file towards the dressing room.

He added, “The final scoreline is not an indication of how the game went. We were in better scoring position than they were in on a cou- ple of occasions. There was there

when were on the left hand side of the square. So we had the chances. I think at one stage there, we had a wide and we were only two points down. Had we got the point we could have driven on”.

The knee injury suffered by Niall Considine in the 4th minute made tatters of Liscannor’s game plan. Considine had to come off and Cur- tain was forced to deploy one of his team’s most potent attacking threats, Alan Clohessy, to wing back, to cur- tail the influence of Stephen Molo- eae

The loss of Considine was a devas- tating one, according to Curtain.

“We were right in the game we fairly gave it our all. But the loss, I thought of Niall Considine, in the first few minutes was a telling factor. What happened was we had to de- ploy our wing forward to a wing back position and I think that took away a lot of the fire from our bellies. Even at that, we were well in the game. We

had some very good chances in front of goal and didn’t take them. But fair play to Kilmurry. We congratulate them. We were beaten by the better team”.

Curtain said Liscannor were ill equipped to absorb the loss of such an influential player.

“It’s ok for Kilmurry to lose a play- er but for us in Liscannor to lose a county player, especially when it was Niall, it was a huge loss to us. I feel if we had Niall we would have driven on and we’d probably have won the eee

Fireworks thrown from the stand fizzled out on the grass. Smoke drifted and the rain continued to fall. Curtain left with his players as the evening sky grew dark. The wait for Liscannor goes on.

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