Month: June 2009

HIGH noon in the intermediate ver- sion of the “Group of Death’ as Kil- lanena began the campaign in positive fashion to take an early lead in the pool. It wasn’t exactly a performance that will send the rest of the cham- pionship into a frenzy but in such a competitive group, securing victory by whatever means necessary is the most important aspect that Killanena will take from this game.

Bogged down for the first 35 min- utes of this tie, Killanena finally came to life to brush aside Sixmilebridge’s challenge, hitting seven points in the remainder as the Bridge faded under the energy sapping sun.

With both centre-backs Enda Col- lins and Stiofan Fitzpatrick domi- nating throughout, it was only when Mark Flaherty was switched from corner-forward to centre-forward that Killanena found that extra gear and that was essentially the differ- ence as the Bridge had no such tar- getman in their front six.

This was a far different Bridge team from the one that had beaten Killanena at the same stage of last year’s championship on their way to contesting the intermediate decider, with only half the side still remain- ing. Instead, the Bridge’s second string had to rely on a new crop of young players to lead the way and along with the experience of Stiofan Fitzpatrick, David O’Meara, Keith Walker, Kevin Phelan, Christy Grif- fin, Declan Murphy, Joe and Mike O’Halloran and Tommy Liddy, they certainly matched Killanena for al- most forty minutes.

The scrapiness of the game suited the Bridge better and while Killanena hit 14 wides over the hour, the Bridge just kept plugging away before their challenge eventually faded.

The opening half went blow for blow, with the sides level on five oc- casions by the 24th minute before Killanena finally found some leeway with a three point unanswered burst through Alan McNamara, Mikey Noone and Liam McNamara to lead

by 0-8 to 0-6 at the break.

Incidentally, that first half was also noted for the surprising lapse in freetaking with Mark Flaherty and Tommy Liddy’s normally unerring accuracy from placed balls suffering under the midday sun.

Killanena almost caught the Bridge napping immediately after the re- start when Ronan Flaherty raided down the left flank before handpass- ing to Liam McNamara but his shot for goal to thunder off the crossbar to frustrate Killanena further. Two more wides followed for the north Clare side and the Bridge took ad- vantage of that lapse to level up the game for the sixth time by the 35th minute through Tommy Liddy and a great score from Ronan Mullane.

That was to be their last real say in the game as they opted to go for goals when picking off points would have been much more beneficial and once Killanena switched county sen- ior Flaherty out to the forty, they be- gan to regain control. Two Flaherty frees and an Alan McNamara point

in a four minute spell began the surge and while Liddy again con- verted a free in the 43rd to put just two between the sides, it was to be their final score of the game.

Instead, Killanena piled on the pressure and while the wides contin- ued to hamper them, their constant shooting eventually yielded further points from Fintan McNamara, Mark Flaherty and a superb long range ef- fort from Enda Collins to give them a five point cushion.

Sixmilebridge should have grabbed a lifeline when Declan Murphy picked out Joe O’ Halloran unmarked at the back post with five minutes remaining but the corner-forward struck his shot into the ground and Killanena cleared the danger, finally cementing the win with a Liam Mc- Namara 64th minute point.

Not only was it a great start to the championship for Killanena but as the sides were due to play in the Clare Cup this weekend, the game also doubled up as a league and championship game, with the victory

putting Killanena on top of both ta- bles.

PARTEEN may have beaten Broad- ford twice in last season’s champion- ship, but they’ll remember Broadford for a very different reason this term — Glenomora Park may well have sounded the death knell of their championship hopes as they were taken apart by a rampant Whitegate team on a balmy Saturday after- noon.

Both sides needed something from this game after first round losses, but it was Whitegate who steamed to victory to finally ignite their cham- pionship challenge after a shock first round exit to Ennistymon.

It was over at half-time really as Whitegate built up a 2-9 to 0-6 lead, having slipped into an early two- point deficit after Colm Quinn and Dara Yelverton found the range for Parteen.

However, Whitegate never really looked back once they settled with points from George Waterstone and Brendan Bugler by the sev- enth minute. Then goals from Pat Minogue and George Waterstone in the ninth and 22nd minutes effective- ly killed Parteen’s challenge.

Minogue profited from clever play by Terence Fahy to score the first, while Waterstone’s was a brilliant individual effort when he slalomed past three Parteen defenders to put Whitegate on the high road.

There was more to come from Wa- terstone and company in the second half, while before the break Terence Fahy, Eric Minogue and Stephen Malone extended their lead to nine points.

By this stage Parteen had lost their most potent forward Dara Yelverton

with a hand injury, while their last point of the first half came from Ivan Conway in the 17th minute.

It got no better for Parteen in the second half as Whitegate piled on the misery, outscoring their opponents by 2-11 to 1-1 over the half hour. The

first goal came five minutes in when Waterstone again sauntered through the Parteen defence and hammered to the net.

Ivan Conway hit back with a goal for Parteen inside 30 seconds, but any hopes that this strike might kickstart

a storming comeback were quickly extinguished inside another 30 sec- onds when Terence Fahy kicked to the net from close range.

From there on it was a canter, while Parteen’s misery was completed when sub Padraig O’Doherty was

red carded.

Whitegate reeled off seven unan- swered points from Terence Fahy, Pat Minogue, Brendan Bugler (2), Michael O’Brien (2) and Raymond CFT TIE

James Long registered Parteen’s last score in the 52nd minute but before the end Whitegate moved through the gears once more to score four more points before the end.

Whitegate’s championship 1s final- ly up and running, even though they now face an 11-week hibernation.

MANAGING Director of The Pallet Network (TPN), Seamus McGowan, today welcomed Eoin Gavin Trans- port as the Clare member of Ireland’s most innovative transport network. As the newest member of TPN, Eoin Gavin Transport will provide Clare area businesses with access to a high quality, reliable, fast and flexible service with same and next day na- tionwide, UK and European delivery services. The Pallet Network (TPN) is a Wholly owned Irish company and the leading distributor of palletised goods in Ireland. TPN recently an- nounced revenues of €9.2 million for 2008, up from €7.8 million for the previous year.

Mr. McGowan said, “Our vision is to offer local hauliers like Eoin Gavin Transport an opportunity to have a service to rival multinational transport operators. Despite the cur- rent economic situation, TPN’s busi- ness model is relatively recession proof. Eoin Gavin’s addition to our

network will develop and improve freight forwarding options for busi- nesses throughout Clare.”

Eoin Gavin Transport is a family owned business and they have been involved in the haulage industry for over 30 years. Now in 2009, they have a modern fleet of trucks serv- icing sectors such as agriculture, en- vironment, waste, food and the con- struction sector. “I am very pleased to be the latest member of The Pal-

let Network,’ said Mr Gavin. “I am confident that the services I provide to local area businesses in Clare will continue to improve in quality. As a member of the Pallet Network, my customers can now be provided with this additional service, thanks to the infrastructure provided through sere

Limerick Chamber unravels employment law

THE Shannon-based insurance arm of UK bank, HBOS plc last year re- corded a sustained £21 million (€24 million) pre-tax loss after record- ing pre-tax profits of £75 million in 2007.

According to returns lodged with the companies office by Halifax In- surance Ireland Ltd, the company se- cured a profit after tax of £8m after a tax credit in the accounts of £29m from the Irish tax authorities.

The accounts show that the compa- ny recorded a turnover of £205.2m — down three per cent on the £211 mil- lion in revenues generated through premiums in 2007.

The main business of the company — which employs 319 people in the Shannon Free Zone — is to underwrite general insurance elements of repay- ment insurance cover for HBOS plc customers and the repayment insur- ance 1s provided on mortgage, credit card and personal loan products.

The company’s ultimate parent is now Lloyds TSB after it completed its takeover of HBOS plc earlier this year in a move that created a banking giant of 145,000 staff.

The accounts for Halifax Insurance Ireland Ltd show that during 2008 the company paid dividends of £97m and this followed dividend payouts of £32.6m during 2007 and £130m in 2006. The accounts show that £49m was paid out last year in claims and benefits — down £5 million on the 2006 total of £54.8m.

The returns also confirm that the company’s retained earnings at the end of 2007 was £93 million, while the company has cash and cash equivalents of £149 million.

The accounts show that the compa- ny increased its workforce last year by 18 and its wages and salaries bill increased by 88 per cent from £5m to £6.7m. Total staff costs were £7.5m.

Directors’ remuneration increased from £395,000 to £462,000.

AN ESTIMATED 50 per cent of people living in Clare have access to broadband Internet services, accord- ing to figures put forward by Clare County Council.

The council’s Head of Information Systems, Urban McMahon has stated that people are receiving broadband through a “fixed or wireless service with the availability constantly in- creasing due to the continued suc- cess and extension of the previous group broadband scheme an also the continued rollout schedules to pri- vate service providers”.

Mr McMahon was responding to a motion submitted by Cllr Sonny Scanlan at the May meeting of Clare County Council.

Cllr Scanlan had sought informa- tion on what areas of Clare are cur- rently covered by broadband. Cllr Scanlan also queried how long it would take all before all areas, par- ticularly Quin, will have access to broadband.

He said that it had been 15 years since Ennis had been designated as an information town and claimed that people living three miles outside of the town did not have Internet cov- eben

Responding, Mr McMahon said that the Minster for Communica- tions, Energy and Natural Resourc- es has entered into a contract with the broadband service provider, Hutchison 3G Ireland, (trading as 3) for the implementation of the nation-

al broadband scheme.

He said that the objective of the scheme is to provide access to af- fordable, scaleable broadband serv- ices to rural areas, many of which do not have any broadband services.

Mr McMahon continued, “The scheme will be rolled out on an elec- toral division basis and currently 49 electoral are divisions in County Clare have been identified under the scheme. It is expected that al residences and business premises lo- cated within the national broadband scheme coverage area and will be able to avail of broadband services by the end of the September.

Cllr Scanlan has welcomed Mr Mc- Mahon’s response but he added that more needs to be done to ensure the delivery of high-speed broadband services to rural communities in Clare. Cllr Scanlan described it as a priority issue.

THE BOOKIE and the pollster both predict very little change when it comes to the Members of the Euro- pean Parliament representing Ireland North West.

Both predict that Pat ‘the Cope” Gallagher will replace his party col- league Sean O Neachtain in Brus- sels, while Fine Gael’s Jim Higgins and Independent Marian Harkin are likely to be returned.

The latest TNSmrbi poll has shown a grow in support of one per cent for Deputy Gallagher, indicting a 20 per cent of first preference votes and likely to top the poll.

Bookie Paddy Power is putting is money on Fine Gael’s MEP Higgins to come in first, while the polls have him in third place behind MEP Har- ene

While Harkins’s odds have re- mained the same at 4/9 on, Gallagh- er’s odds have shortened to bring him from 8/11 to 1/9 on.

Higgins odds of winning at seat has also shortened from 1/12 on to 1/16 on.

Saturday’s poll however has seen a three per cent drop in support for the sitting Fine Gael MEP, who now has 17 per cent of the vote.

MEP Harkin’s vote has increased by one per cent to 19 per cent.

While Libertas leader Declan Ganley has moved up the board in the bookies, he remains in fourth place in Saturday’s

Candidates under the radar

It could have been last chance saloon

for these two but when the dust set- tled — and it took a while following a stormy enough few minutes after the final whistle in an incident that included a red card for Tulla’s Eanna Torpey — both had somehow man- aged to keep their season alive.

It was a free from distance, executed by the accurate Alan Duggan, close to three minutes into injury time that sealed the draw and it was the free that was at the heart of the debate afterwards. Torpey himself was pre- viously adjudged to have fouled the ball, which led to Duggan’s free and subsequent point.

Into the last quarter of the game, the specatacle improved and it looked at times like Tulla might just sneak away with the points. Padraic McKeogh had goaled for the Mills in the 42nd minute, following a pass from Fergus Donovan that left Dug- gan one on one with Philip Brennan. When his shot rattled the net, it gave the Mills and four-point lead but it was Tulla who managed to react the stronger.

They replied with six unanswered points in the space of five minutes — two frees from Andy Quinn and points from Brian Lynch, Aidan Lynch and Kieran Brennan.

Now, Tulla were hurling with pur-

pose and intensity, qualities they had lacked up to that point of the game. When Andy Quinn blasted over an- other free eight minutes from time, Tulla led by two and the Mills had only scored twice in the sceond half. Then Conor Cooney — who had been substituted with an injury only to re- turn with a few minutes left and in a

more advanced position — fired over a point for the Mills.

Time wasn’t on their side but they stuck to their task. They pushed for- ward with every opportunity and eventually they did get the break- through with that late, late free from Duggan.

And to be fair, they deserved to get

something out of the game. When they slipped ahead before the break, thanks to two fine points from Fer- gus Donovan, they had set them- selves up to battle hard in the second half. That McKeogh goal arrived at just the right time but they failed to follow through and steer themselves to victory.

Tulla didn’t win a championship title two years back without picking up some knowledge on the way and they eked out their own lead impres- sively but with two games left to play for both sides, they’Il know equally well that a full 60 minutes will be re- quired from here on in.

Ennis Anna Prior-itises Galway