Month: May 2009

THE availability of free legal aid for people with multiple previous convictions represents an “absolute abuse” to taxpayers and victims of crime, a meeting has heard.

Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) was com- menting at yesterday’s monthly meet- ing of Clare County Council, where he called for an urgent reform of the free legal aid system.

The Shannon councillor raised the matter in a motion calling for the Minister for Justice and all relevant ministers to review the possibility of removing the facility of free legal aid from serial criminal repeat offenders.

Cllr Mulcahy proposed that a limit be placed on the amount of times se- rial offenders be allowed to avail of free legal aid, possibly three times.

Cllr Mulcahy also said that these in- dividuals should be means-tested and asset-tested prior to be being granted full legal aid. Cllr Mulcahy told the TPaeceL BD OTSMNOT:LMOCOMWE RM ECU DOTSMO Sem NOreLAKo because of a “serious lift in the level of violent crime and assaults”.

He said that under the current sys- tem, taxpayers were underwriting the cost of violent crime. “As long as

we are going to continue to pay we are not going to get criminals behind bars and they are going to go on giv- ing the two fingers to justice,” said Cllr Mulcahy. He said the system was in need of urgent reform. “They (se- rial offenders) are not means tested or asset tested. We need to put a stop to this activity,’ said Cllr Mulcahy.

He added, “We have a duty to pro- tect people from this abuse. I believe this system is an absolute abuse. We have to put a stop to this”.

Cllr Pay Hayes (FF) said the cost of free legal aid was being picked up by taxpayers. He said the system had contributed to a “constant merry go- round of crime”.

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) said that while there were cases where people were genuinely entitled to free legal aid, the system was being abused by “thugs and gurriers and people with a catalogue of crime”.

“It’s hard to defend the indefensi- ble. I don’t see why taxpayers should have to pay for it.”

Cllr Mulcahy said he appreciated the views of the legal community on the matter and acknowledged that those charged with breaking the law were entitled to representation.

FRONT line road staff at Clare County Council could be just four months from being placed on a three-day week following a massive fall-off in the amount of money the local authority has to spend on the county’s roads.

Details of the revised Roads Pro- gramme for 2009 were presented at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council and show a further cut of €6 million in the money available to

spend on roads.

Along with the cancellation of a number of road projects and up- grades, the council confirmed yes- terday that they have been in contact with the unions responsible for local authority road staff to discuss ways in which they might manage the shortfall from September on.

“IT am very disappointed that we have another amendment to our roads programme for this year. Having al- ready had cuts earlier this year, now to lose out on a further €6 million is a

disaster,” said Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“IT think that it is a total disgrace. I don’t think the council realise how bad the roads are. It’s all that the peo- ple who we are meeting at the door- steps are talking about. I am totally opposing this today. We have had enough cuts since last September in our roads programme and we can’t take any more cuts.”

Concerns were raised that front line road staff could face cuts later this year.

“The worry is that further cuts

might come. There has to be a re- evaluation of the current situation,” said Cllr Pat Hayes (FF).

“If we lose our workers on the ground, it will cause more difficulty in the future. We need to ensure that we still have a workforce in the autumn. There are rumours out there that peo- ple will be on a three-day week in the autumn. There are some critical things that must be evaluated.”

A council spokesperson said that all avenues were being explored to ensure that local authority staff are

retained.

“We are engaged in constructive dialogue with the unions for the road workers and machinery operators staff. We are exploring every avenue for saving money before we look at the reduction in hours for the road maintenance staff,’ said a council spokesman.

‘As regards to further cuts later in the year, I have no idea. The funding agencies for this are Clare County Council, as well as the NRA and the Department of Transport.”

SHANNON Gaels were pointless going into this Monday afternoon encounter – an hour’s football later and they were clinging to the hope of a Houdini-like escape from a relega- tion that seemed inevitable.

All thanks to this convincing eight- point victory over an Eire Og team that were lamentable on the day – the concession of three second half goals putting them back into the relegation mire with only one game remaining.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Townies. Fresh from their morale boosting win over St Joseph’s Miltown the previous Saturday week they were confidently expected to turn over a Gaels team had had lost their opening five games.

Not to be thanks to a second half in which the Josie O’Shea managed side outscored their opponents by 3-3 to O-3 to turn a one-point deficit into a convincing eight point win.

There was nothing between them in the first half – early on they swapped point for point, with Brian Fitzpatrick and Stephen Hickey finding the range for the Townes, while Brian O’Shea, David Neylon, John Paul O’ Neill and Michael O’Donoghue were on the mark for the Gaels.

It was Eire Og who carved out an interval lead though, thanks to David Russell’s goal in the 24th minute. Russell burst forward with convic- tion from midfield and drove the ball beyond Michael O’Shea in the Gaels goal.

However, it was the Gaels’ goals

that turned this game on its head. The first came three minutes into the second half when David Neylon pun- ished poor Eire Og defending when rifling past Shane O’Connell – the Gaels never looked back while Eire

Og slowly capitulated to the fourth defeat from six outings.

Neylon struck again in the 45th minute, this time field a long delivery from Noel Kennedy, before turning and thumping an unstoppable drive

past the hapless O’Connell, while the final nail was driven into the Town- ies’ coffin with eight minutes to go when John Paul O’Neill intercepted a ball coming out of the Eire Og de- fence and put Declan Power through

for another soft goal.

All the Townies could muster in the second half were three points, a situation that puts them on the brink of dropping out of Cusack Cup foot- ball for the first time since being promoted to the top flight of league football in the county thanks to their Banner Cup final success, ironically over Shannon Gaels way back in Kildysart in 1993.

With high flying Doonbeg com- ing to Eire Og for the final round of the Cusack Cup in three weeks time, these are tough times for football in the county capital.

THE mist came down on Lisdoon- varna on Monday afternoon, making visibility something of a problem – maybe it was just as well because this was a dour low-scoring affair served up by two promotion candidates.

There was nothing between the sides before the ball was thrown in – each lumped on five points from five games – maked it six from six after a forgetable encounter that failed the set football pulses racing.

Not the St Breckan’s minded as Michael McGann’s final whistle drew

closer. A Pat Nagle free as the game entered injury time inched St Breck- an’s 1-4 to 1-3 ahead and looked like being the decisive score.

However, Clondegad were not to be denied and grabbed a levelling score to make the long journey home to the shores of the Shannon estuary more palatable, the score coming from the flying boot of full-forward Shane Brennan.

St Breckan’s had had the better of the first half, despite only registering two scores. They were playing with the slight wind advantage and hit the front in the fifth minute thanks to a

point from play by Denis O’Driscoll.

Gary Brennan, who turned out to be the game’s most influential per- former levelled matters in the eighth minute before the game descended into a foul-ridden affair.

At least one of the many did yield a score, albeit it came after a 14 minute lull in the scoring. Full forward Pat Nagle was fouled in the 22nd minute, but picked himself up off the floor and fired the penalty low to Kenneth Breen’s right for a goal. Kenneth Kelly pulled one back for Clondegad in the 24th minute to leave St Breck- an’s 1-1 to 0-2 ahead.

A point from play by Paudge Mc- Mahon edged Clondegad closer sev- en minutes after the resumption but Pat Nagle put St Breckan’s ahead by two once more with a point in the 40th minute.

However, the game turned in Clon- degad’s favour in the 44th minute when Gary Brennan’s long delivery was flicked to the net by Kenneth Kelly on the edge of the square.

Minutes earlier Eoin Griffin had crashed a pile-driver off the upright, but St Breckan’s recovered their composure and pointed frees from Pat Nagle in the 49th and 61st min- utes seemed to tip the scales in their ee aVolene

However, in the third minute of 1n- jury time as Clondegad chased down an equaliser, the ball broke outside the large square from where Shane Brennan first-timed the ball over the bar for the equaliser.

It means that both sides still have everything to play for, Clondegad starting on Wenesday night when they take on St Senan’s Kilkee.

ANOTHER harsh lesson of life at the highest level on Friday evening as a powerful second half performance from defending champions Cork saw them cruise to another Munster fi- nal.

Having elected to play with the breeze in the first half, a spirited Clare could only get within two points of the All-Ireland champi- ons by the interval but the second half was a totally different story as Cork, now backed by the conditions hit seven unanswered points to finish in style. Only for a sterling perform- ance from Clare goalkeeper Denise Lynch, who repeatedly kept out a lively Cork forward line, it could

have been a lot worse for Clare in what was a real evaluation of their progress approaching the All-Ireland championship.

A Rachel Maloney free and an Eimear Dillon point settled Cork into their stride as early as the sec- ond minute before Clare got off the mark with a Roisin McMahon free after Ruth Kaiser was fouled.

McMahon had the home side level by the 6th minute but it was Cork who continued to dictate and they almost secured a goal when Eimear O’Sullivan burst through but Lynch was equal to the effort. That save seemed to inspire Clare who were now engaged in a real battle around the centre, with midfielders Brige Corkery and Deirdre Murphy in par-

ticular having a titanic personal bat- (or

After almost ten minutes of stale- mate, Cork finally shifted through the gears to grab five points in as many minutes to lead by O-7 to 0-2 by the 20th minute and although Clare did recover to score the final three points of the half through Roisin McMahon (2) and a great solo point from Laura /Diravat-batemmnssleaame-(eeemr-emmeye)epelmmoy-liale to try and hold Cork against the con- Ohta CeyIKy

In fact, for the opening ten minutes of the second half, Clare appeared to be coping admirably with a Shonagh Enright free canceling out Eimear Dillon’s earlier effort. However, once Cork opened up, they hit seven points without reply and even had a

number of shots on goal, only to find goakeeper Lynch in equally deter- mined mood.

In what was a tough and physi- cal tie, Clare will have learned a lot from their latest All-Ireland senior championship warm-up and with last year’s finalist Galway up first in six weeks time, Clare will now know the level they have to aspire to in order to make any inroads in this year’s championship.

IT just wasn’t meant to be for Clare last Friday. In the end, their constant waves of pressure could not yield the necessary goal to get something out of this tie and ultimately devoid of any luck in front of the posts, all of their hard work was eventually tinged with heartbreak.

In what was a throughly compel- ling and evenly matched affair, both sides poured out everything they had over the hour but it was Tipperary’s superior conversion rate that essen- tially edged it, especially against the strong wind that blew towards Thomond Park.

And that was the key really. Both sides played their best camogie when facing into the breeze with Clare’s sharpness shading the first half pos- session despite being 1-3 to O-1 in ar- rears by the interval while Tipperary upped their game considerably on the resumption and along with frus- trating Clare for long periods, Nicole Walsh’s unerring accuracy from frees meant that Clare had to eventu- ally resort to searching for a goal as the time ticked away.

Playing into the conditions and sun

in the opening period, for 20 minutes Clare’s policy of attack being the best form of defence worked to perfection as Chloe Morey, Niamh O’Dea, Or- laith Duggan and Katie Cahill were all to the fore in a dogged display.

With only a Nicole Walsh free to show for their efforts over that pe- riod, Tipperary surprisingly found themselves on the backfoot but some strong defensive performances from Sheila Ryan and Caoimhe Maher ensured that they only conceded a Chloe Morey free themselves.

However, Tipperary did finally make use of the conditions in the 20th minute, seizing on a Clare mis- take in midfield to work the ball to Claire Kennedy on the 20 metre line but although her shot was suberbly kept out by goalkeeper Suzie O’Shea, full-forward Michaela Graham was the first to react to pull to the net. That score appear to liberate Tip- perary and they added further points from Walsh and Graham to lead by five points at the break.

Clare would have been satisfied with their overall first half perform- ance. After all, their first touch and intensity had improved considerably from the Galway game and with the

wind to come, their first half display would have only fueled their confi- dence. However, what they didn’t bank on was a stark improvement in Tipperary’s work-rate and just like their opponents in the opening pe- riod, Tipperary weren’t about to lie down and let the wind dictate the play. Using corner-forward Nicole Walsh as a third midfielder, Tipper- ary came out fighting in the second half and it took Clare five minutes before the first point arrived through Sinead Tuohy.

Substitute Niki Kaiser reduced the deficit to three two minutes later with a point from a narrow angle on the right but instead of wilting, Tipper- ary went on the offensive and by the 48th minute, they had restored that five point advantage through another Walsh free and a point from Aoife Ryan.

With time rapidly running out, all appeared lost for Clare as their forwards were unable to get clear possession. However, out of sheer persistence from Sinead Tuohy and Katie Cahill, Clare earned a reprieve when they smothered a Tipperary clearance and Niki Kaiser was on hand to pull to the net.

By the 53rd minute, there was only the minimum between the sides when Chloe Morey stepped forward to take a free from 30 metres on the left. Momentum seemed to be firmly with Clare but that was to prove as close as Clare would get as a reis- lient Tipperary tacked on two further Walsh frees.

In between, Clare simply peppered the Tipperary goal but shots from Sinead Tuohy and Rachel O’ Halloran was excellently batted clear by goal- keeper Orla MclInery. Tipperarys’ back were to the wall but they never allowed Clare any clearcut chances and as the game moved into injury- time, Clare were to have one final attack. Helen Hehir won possession around the centre and offloaded to Sinead Tuohy who set off on a mazy run through the heart of the Tipper- ary defence before being clothlined A NITCO CONE TREE

It earned Clare a 20 metre free that Chloe Morey took repsonsibility for but her effort was blocked out of play and the resultant 45 just went over the bar. Clare’s golden touch in front of goal that had secured an average of three goals per game up to this point had finally deserted them, just

when they needed it most. Judging by the amount of chances, sometimes you jusy have to concede that it just wasn’t going to be their day.

EAST Clare went down to Rathkeale in hope but came back with sil- verware as two immense displays against Seanduin and Mid Tipperary earned them the Munster Under 16 inter-divisional championship title on Monday. Winners of the compe- tition as recent as 2006, East Clare qualified for the knock-out stages off the back of group game wins over Avondhu and North Tipperary in Cappawhite at the beginning of April and continued that good form with a O-16 to 2-04 semi-final victory over Cork side Seandtn early on Monday with Clonlara’s Cathal O’Connell leading the way on the scoreboard with seven points, with Alan Mul- ready (4), Colm Galvin (3), Sean

O’Connor and Shane McGrath also getting in on the action in an impres- sive team display. The only downside for East Clare was a leg injury sus- tained by Clooney/Quin’s Eoin Mee- han who had to miss the final which was played soon afterwards.

Their opponents in that decider were Mid Tipperary, who had already beaten fellow Clare side Mid Clare in the group stages by 2-9 to 0-8 on their way to topping their group and after seeing off fellow Premier side North Tipperary in the other semi-fi- nal, they would have been confident of going all the way.

However, East Clare were in defi- ant mood and although they found themselves 1-3 to O-4 in arrears by the interval, a superb second half performance in which they outscored

their opponents by 2-9 to 0-2 saw them reclaim the coveted title. Goals from Colm Galvin and _ substitute Oisin Hickey set them on their way with Cathal O’Connell again to the fore with six points and Sixmilebri- dge pair Alan Mulready and captain Seadna Morey (through placed balls) chipping in with a brace of points each as East Clare eventually ran out 2-13 to 1-05 winners.

MISSION accomplished for Rock Rovers in the end, but to say that they made very hard work of it is the understatement of the Clare soccer year.

The maths beforehand were sim- ple really – Rock had to win this lo- cal derby to claim the title, while a draw would have plunged them into a play-off decider against Shannon Olympic, provided the latter got the better of Kilrush Rangers at home.

Olympic got their win – Rovers did too, but it was nailbiting stuff at the end of this Ennis derby as the ‘Pike chased down an equaliser that would have seen the Clare League’s assist- ant secretary Oliver Fitzpatrick keep the First Division trophy under lock and key in his car.

Seven minutes from time it looked as 1f that equaliser had arrived – a diving header from substitute Shane Moroney looked destined for the bot- tom left-hand corner of the net until Leonard Keane somehow got a hand to it to turn it the other side of the post.

Then two minutes from time Brian Shannon got past Rovers’ defensive wall, but from 10 yards shot straight at Keane.

Thing is, if the ‘Pike had managed to breach Leonard Keane’s goal in this desperate onslaught that saw keeper Dermot Gannon move for- ward into the opposition half, Rovers would only have had themselves to blame.

They dominated this game in the first half – the bumpy pitch failing to upset their attempts to play a slick passing game – and were rewarded with a 2-0 by half-time.

Stephen Hickey was the man. Go- ing into the game he had 18 goals to his name this season – 25 minutes into the final game of the season he reached the landmark figure of 20.

The first after ten minutes was a goal worthy of winning the league t1- tle. David Considine whipped a cor- ner towards the penalty spot; Marty McLoughlin belied his lack of inches to nod the ball towards Hickey and the hottest striker in Clare soccer found the net with an audacious over- head kick.

Hickey doubled Rock’s advantage 15 minutes later – this time it was a more conventional strike as the league leaders cut through the brittle looking ‘Pike defence.

Marty McLoughlin put Niall Mc- Niven through and after his shot was saved by Dermot Gannon, Hickey pounced to pick up the scraps and rolled home the rebound from eight yards.

It looked as if Rovers would have a comfortable afternoon of it – they were dominating in most sectors of the field, while the ‘Pike had nothing

to play for.

Their season was effectively ended on Wednesday night when their 1-1 draw away to Mountshannon Celtic ended their hopes getting third place in the division and thereby playing third from bottom of the Premier Division in the promotion/relegation play-off.

However, the ‘Pike were never about to roll over for Rovers and their battling qualities emerged in the sec- ond half, once they were gifted a goal eight minutes into proceedings.

It was a calamity from Rovers point

of view – Jason Hayes’ shot from just outside the area shouldn’t have trou- bled Keane, but somehow the ball re- bounded off him before being turned into his own net by Greg Howard.

Suddenly the “Pike had a cause – this was a local derby after all and for the rest of the half they had the definite edge.

And as the minutes dragged on Rovers seemed to getting more nerv- ous as their finishing line jitters near- ly came between them and going up to the Premier Division for the first time as champions.

In the 78th minute Stephen Hickey did have a chance for his hat-trick that would have killed the game, but scuffed his shot, while Niall Mc- Niven balooned over the bar from 12 yards in the 82nd minute.

All the while the ‘Pike never stopped pressed forward in search of an equaliser – their persistence seemed to have paid off when Shane Moroney’s header looked all over a goal, while Brian Shannon with that booming left foot of his would al- ways fancy his chances in a one-on- one with a keeper.

Not to be however for both Moro- ney and Shannon as Leonard Keane, a former Turnpike Rovers stalwart, emerged as a hero to rival player of the year Stephen Hickey.

AVENUE’S fate wasn’t in their own hands going into this Sunday morn- ing showdown in Liscannot.

In a way Moher Celtic were partly to blame for that because it was the north Clare side’s sensational 4-3 victory over the Avenue in Lees Road in early April that looked like being the hammer blow to their league chances.

Not so thanks to a storming finish to their campaign, while their title rivals around them spluttered as the finishing line drew nearer. And, while Bunratty’s 18-match programme fi- nally spluttered to a disappointing end in Cassidy Park, Avenue were whipping up their biggest storm yet.

This was revenge for their 4-3 de- feat five weeks previously as the mercurial Mikey Mahony led a rout against a hapless Moher Celtic team that sadly lacked the menacing pres- ence of Dessie Molohan up front.

It was Molohan’s hat-trick that un- did Avenue at Lees Road — Mahony hit a double hat-trick in a remarkable display of finishing that helped him to top scorer in the league for the sec- ond successive season.

There was little to suggest in the early exchanges that it would be so easy — Moher, who needed a win to

have any chance of avoiding relega- tion, were competitive in the first 20 HOD USLULKoISE

However, despite great displays from Dara Blake and Alan Clohessy, a severly depleted Moher side, who

only had nine out of 26 first team players to call on due to injuries and GAA commitments, were eventu- ally steamrolled when the Avenue machine cranked to life midway through the first half.

Soon after Gary Flynn’s opener from a penalty in the 21st minute the competitive element drained from the game. The penalty came after David Herlihy’s cross from the right was handled in the area.

Five minutes later Avenue started putting daylight between the sides — this time a Sweeping move in which they broke from defence was finished to the net by Davide Ghilard1.

From there it was a stroll, some- thing that was really hammered home in the 35th minute when ‘keep- er Simon Donnell through to Eamon O’Reilly, Gary Flynn, David Smyth and Davide Ghilardi were involved in a brilliant passing move down the field — the final pass went to Mikey Mahony who fired to the net from 12 NETKORSE

From there on it was the Mikey Mahony show.

A minute before half-time he cut in from the left and drove home his sec- ond via Craig Flanagan’s right hand post. His hat-trick was up five min- utes after the re-start, albeit that Mo- her hit back for a goal of their own via a Dara Blake penalty.

However, by this stage word had filtered through to Liscannor that Lifford were 2-O up on Bunratty — it gave cause for further celebration and the real bluebloods over the last

25 years did that in style.

Bratislav’s flick put Mahony in for his fourth in the 64th minutes while Richie O’Grady was the provider for the fifth in the 77th. Number six ar- rived in the 85th minute when Maho- ny snapped up a rebound from Craig Flanagan and thumped to the net.

So ended one of the great one-man- shows in Clare soccer history. So begins the rebuilding process for the Moher boys.

WITH exactly one month until the European Elections, Fianna Fail has just one candidate in the race for Ire- EE TteM Condom one

Party members in Clare now be- lieve that it is not possible to find a candidate to replace outgoing MEP and formerly declared candidate, Sean O’Neachtain.

Geographically, the party’s only candidate, Paschal Mooney, is in Leitrim and miles from the Banner County, and many in Clare feel he is unlikely to have any significant im- pact here.

While Fianna Fail has just one can- didate named, Fine Gael launched all of its European candidates, including two for Ireland North West, on Sun- day.

Eleven counties in total make up the Ireland North West Constituency – Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscom- mon, Sligo, Clare, Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan Longford and _ West- meath.

None of the eight candidates de- clared are from Clare, however, with the nearest candidate hailing from Galway in the form of the Libertas founder and party leader.

Sitting MEPs Marian Harkin (Ind) and Jim Higgins (FG) are now the

only two MEPs hoping to retain their seats in this three-seater con- stituency.

Other candidates seeking election include Senator Joe O’Reilly for Fine Gael, Padraig Mac Lochlainn for Sinn Fein, Fiachra O Luain will run as an Independent and Susan O’Keefe has declared for Labour.

Ms O’Keefe is the journalist who exposed malpractice in the beef in- dustry that led to the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry in the 1990s.

In 1995, she was threatened with prison for refusing to reveal her sources on the beef industry story.

Senator O’Reilly, from Cavan will join Jim Higgins on the Fine Gael ticket.

A former schoolteacher, Sena- tor O’Reilly was elected to Seanad Eireann (Industrial and Commercial Panel) in July 2007 and polled al- most 10,000 first-preference votes in General Election, 2007.

Sinn Fein’s Cllr Mac Lochlainn is from Donegal, as is Independ- ent candidate Fiachra O Luain. Mr O’Luan, who is the founder of the website www.dearmrpresident.eu, has invited European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and all of the candidates from the North West to a debate in Donegal on the eve of the election.