Month: August 2009

A PRECAUTIONARY boil notice 1s set to remain in place on the Ennis water supply after further problems were encountered with the town’s new €8 million water treatment plant.

In statement released last week, Sean Ward, Senior Executive Engi- neer with Clare County Council, said “The new treatment plant has been in full production since August 7, but there is further work to be done before the 30-day commissioning period can recommence. A full 30 days without interruption must be completed before the plant can be deemed to be fully in operation. On completion of this, the council can have discussions with the Health Services Executive about possible removal of the current precautionary oe) 0m te) 8 (een

“The new plant started treating water on 2nd March 2009, and since that date it has treated all the water supplied to the consumers in Ennis town and the surrounding supply area. The quality of the treated wa- ter has been consistently high. Dur- ing times of heavy rainfall, in March and April, the plant experienced dif- ficulty in treating a sufficient quan- tity of water to meet the consumers’ needs. The contractor designing and operating the plant, EPS Ltd, made a number of alterations to overcome these problems, and the first speci- fied eight-day period of commission-

ing was successfully completed dur- ing June 2009,” Mr Ward explained.

“The second specified period of commissioning, for 30 days, started on Wednesday 22nd July 2009. How- ever due to a mechanical problem this had to be interrupted on 26th July. The problem was not related to the quality of the incoming raw water, but it affected the throughput of the plant. The interim treatment plant, located beside the Drumcliff spring, was used for 12 days (26th July to 6th August) to back up the new plant, and there was no effect at any time on either the quality or quantity of water being supplied to our consumers,” he added.

This is the second time in the space of four months that the plant has failed during the commissioning process. In May, problems emerged regarding the long-term capability of the plant to produce both the required quantity and quality of water.

A boil notice has been in place on the Ennis water supply since an out- break of cryptosporidium in 2005. The boil notice advises that for peo- ple regarded as immuno-compro- mised, infants, pre-school children and visitors, water should be boiled.

ANDREA Corr may be hosting the most expensive wedding of the year when she ties the knot with mil- lionaire boyfriend Brett Desmond in Doonbeg this weekend, but the award for the most unique wedding will be staying in north Clare.

North Clare couple Marianne Pot- terton and James Slevin celebrated their marriage last Friday with a pa- gan ceremony in Doolin, followed by a fancy dress reception in Ennisty- mon. The theme for the wedding was ‘kind people from history’, with each of the guests dressing up as a person like Gandhi or Mother Teresa.

“We do things a little bit different anyway so we decided to turn the whole thing into a very creative af- fair. The idea of the wedding was a bit of an art piece, to be honest with you,’ said Marianne.

“Art is very important to my part- ner and myself so we figured, why not bring it all together and have an extra special, crazy fun day? My dress is a kind of bridalwear but it is not conventional bridalwear.

“We had several different elements to the wedding itself. We got married at a registry office in the morning. After that, the ceremony took place in our garden. We had a man and a woman who performed a blessing for the wedding and James has written a lovely ceremony himself.

“We had a sword ceremony, a ring ceremony and a part where each

guest at the wedding brought up a stone to the front of the ceremony and said a few words about us.”

The entire wedding party also made their way into the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon where former Mayor of Clare, Madeleine Taylor- Quinn launched the ‘Merging 3’ exhibition, featuring a selection of Marianne’s paintings, along with works from Madeleine Irene Smyth and Mary Foudy O’Halloran.

“I decided to go back to painting about a year and a half ago or so and

it’s been very interesting so far. I end up using a lot of text in my work – words that I find interesting or that relate to the ideas that I have,’ she nee

‘We often see words in a very plain way. I like to make the words into the painting and make them more inter- esting in that way.”

Clare TDs fail to defend free education

BUSINESSES in Ennis and Clare are being urged to get behind Mu- hammad Ali’s visit to the county capital in an effort to ensure as many people as possible hit the streets to see the boxing great.

The call comes from Sports Acad- emy International, who are working with the local authority in hosting Ali’s visit to his ancestral home.

Speaking to

GARDAI in Ennis are continuing to search for a man who attempted to rob a post office in Quin at gunpoint on Saturday afternoon.

The daring would-be raider en- tered the premises in Quin village at around 12.30pm as guests were arriving for a wedding in the local church just 100 yards away.

The man is understood to have pro-

duced what is believed to have been a firearm. However, he left the post office empty-handed.

The man fled from the scene in a car. It is believed that a second per- son drove that vehicle. Nobody was injured in the incident and no cash was taken.

It is thought that the safe in the premises was time-locked.

The post office in Quin opens for a half-day on Saturdays and was due to

close at Ipm.

Dozens of wedding guests had been enjoying drinks outside a local pub as the attempted robbery was taking place.

Most were unaware of the drama. However, one guest did notice some- thing suspicious.

‘I was after parking up close to the Church and was putting on my jacket when a silver car drove past me.

“I didn’t pay much attention but

recognised it as an unmarked Garda car – my buddy 1s in the guards,’ he said.

“T saw it pull up outside the post office and remember walking away none the wiser. At the time I hadn’t a clue what was going on, but later | heard in the pub that someone tried to rob the place.”

Meanwhile, gardai in Ennisty- mon are investigating an incident where four men rammed a car in an

attempt to escape after they were found on a business premises near Fanore in the early hours of Friday morning.

A number of men confronted the trespassers and attempted to block their escape by pulling a car across a gateway.

The gang attacked the car with a crowbar before ramming the vehicle and pushing it out of their way.

MORE than construction jobs have been lost to Clare so far this year as a direct result of decisions made by An Bord Pleanala.

According to an investigation car- ried out by

CLARE’S Kieren Fallon has issued a challenge to Frankie Dettori ahead of his comeback from suspension in September — calling on the Italian to go head-to-head with himself and reigning champion Ryan Moore for the British jockeys title in 2010.

The six-times champion jockey and multiple Classic winner makes his eagerly-awaited return to the sad- dle next month following his well- publicised suspension for failing a drug test in France, and is intent on regaining his crown from Moore, but also wants his long-time rival Det- tori to be up for battle.

“Frankie and I have a good rela- tionship and a healthy rivalry in the saddle and | think it is sad that he doesn’t ride more than he does,” Fal- lon revealed.

“T will be going all out to win the jockeys’ championship off Ryan Moore in 2010, and it should be some battle. But the icing on the cake would be if Frankie set his stall out and took us on as well.

“IT remember that amazing battle between Steve Cauthen and Pat Ed- dery in 1987 when “The Kid’ (Cau- then) won on the final day of the season, and of course more recently when Jamie Spencer and Seb Sand- ers shared the title.

‘The public love to see these battles that go on over a whole season. What it needs is for someone to put up a really big pot and really promote the concept.

“T would love to take on Frankie and Ryan. It would be great for the three of us, and without sounding sentimental, it would be fantastic for Flat racing in Britain.

‘So come on you gents in authority, how about setting it up,” he added.

Fallon has kept active during his suspension by riding out horses for Sir Michael Stoute.

THEY certainly made hard work of it but Cratloe’s second win of the championship on Sunday puts them within touching distance of a place in the semi-finals. Leading for the majority, a nervy last quarter saw them ship four unanswered points to only lead by the minimum approach- ing the finish before a 54th minute Cathal McInerney goal sealed the win for the south east Clare side.

Cratloe, who had a sizeable repre- sentation from both their minor win- ning side of last year along with their current Under 21 side who are due to meet Ennistymon in the A decider in their side, were full of energy and running but found it difficult to keep the experience of Kilmurry Ibrick- ane at bay.

That was mainly due to their waste- ful shooting that saw them kick 13 wides over the hour in contrast to Kilmurry Ibrickane’s one miss but at the same time, the fact that they had so many opprortunities demon- strates the amount of possession they enjoyed.

A bright start saw Cratloe surge two points clear by the sixth minute through Cathal McInerney and Pad- raigh Chaplin as Kilmurry Ibrickane took time to adjust to Cratloe’s tactic of using Paudge Collins as an extra midfielder.

Aidan Moloney opened Kilmurry Ibrickane’s account a minute later before the game had to be stopped for five minutes after a nasty clash of heads between Wesley Deloughery and Martin O’Connor that saw both players replaced.

That stoppage seemed to disrupt Cratloe’s flow and Kilmurry Ibrick- ane took full advantage when they produced a goal at the turn of the Opening quarter. It came after Sea- mus Lynch played an inch perfect crossfield pass into the path of Paul O’ Dwyer who found the net and they

could have grabbed a second only seconds later when Barry Lynch weaved his way along the left endline but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Jamie Joyce.

A relieved Cratloe did recover though and after Joseph O’Connor’s free had reduced the deficit to the minimum in the 21st minute, Cratloe manufactured a goal of their own ina

superb counter-attack move. Break- ing down a Kilmurry I[brickane at- tack, the ball was moved upfield where Padriagh Chaplin did well to keep the ball in play by the right touchline and it was his pass to the overlapping Martin ‘Oige’ Murphy that attracted the defence before the wing-back passed across the square for the waiting Cathal McInerney to

finish. By the break, Cratloe enjoyed a two point advantage at 1-4 to 1-2 and they built on that on the restart to push five clear with further points from minors Paudge Collins (2) and Conor Ryan by the 38th minute.

It should have cemented the win but perhaps it was their lack of experi- ence that saw them take their foot off the gas and Kilmurry Ibrickane, led

by Aidan Moloney almost grabbed something out of the game. With Cratloe misfiring, Kilmurry Ibrick- ane kicked four unanswered points, three from Moloney to slash the ad- vatage to only a point by the 52nd minute.

Cratloe’s nerves were finally eased when Conor Ryan found Cathal McInerney for his second goal in the 54th minute, a score that finally killed off Kilmurry Ibrickane’s chal- lenge.

While Cratloe have one foot in the semi-finals, Kilmurry Ibrickane’s campaign isn’t over yet either. How- ever, if they are to force a play-off, they will need to beat O’Callaghan’s Mills and hope that Cratloe maintain their perfect start against St Breck- an’s.

THERE are two ways of looking at this minor final that saw Kilkenny complete a unique four-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles.

Either you can take the positive approach and promote the fact that Clare underage camogie are bridg- ing the gap at national level in reach- ing their second successive minor fi- nal and closing the margin from last year’s decider or alternatively you can despair at the fact that realistical- ly Clare never looked like capturing a historic first title after Kilkenny’s superior movement and ruthlessness up front produced five first half goals to lead by 13 points at the break.

Either way it’s difficult to grumble with the result that re-enforces Kil- kenny’s hold at underage level. They thoroughly deserved their victory and ultimately revelled in the wide open space of Semple Stadium.

Clare, for their part, never dropped their heads at any stage and should be commended for taking the game to their opponents in the second pe- riod, outscoring Kilkenny by 2-4 to O-5. However, the nightmare of the first half left them with far too much to do after Kilkenny had hit them for five goals.

Clare will point to a luckless first period when Shonagh Enright twice hit the woodwork with goal efforts and they also had two half chances in the second half, both of which were denied by the Kilkenny full-back line. In addition, the refereeing was erratic at times but in truth, Clare got the rub of those decisions as much as Kilkenny over the hour.

Clare started with seven of last year’s side while the defending champions had six survivors but in order to break their Kilkenny hoo- doo, Clare craved a good start.

Instead, however, it was Kilkenny who took the initiative from the out- set with full-forward Denise Gaule converting a 50 metre free after only 40 seconds before adding a goal in the third minute. The decision for the goal was harsh in the extreme as Anne Marie McMahon was pulled up for over-carrying when the ma- jority of the crowd assumed she had earned the free herself.

It came after Karen Duggan passed to Gaule close to goal and when her shot was batted clear by goalkeeper Ailish Considine, McMahon caught the ball but was adjudged to have over-carried and Gaule crashed the resultant 20 metre free to the net.

Clare’s response was swift and just as effective as Shonagh Enright dis- possessed full-back Alison Walsh and offloaded to the unmarked Rot- sin O’Brien who found the net but crucially Kilkenny cancelled it out in the next passage of play through Michelle Farrell to lead by 2-1 to 1-0 by the seventh minute.

Three Shonagh Enright frees were equally matched by Gaule (2) and Michelle Farrell by the 22nd minute before Kilkenny upped the ante again with well-worked goals from Gaule and Claire Phelan.

By now, Kilkenny’s full-forward line had totted up the entire 4-5 total between them and it forced Clare to

alter their last line by moving Chloe Morey to her more natural position of centre-back in a switch with sub- stitute Carol Kaiser.

With Morey now influencing great- ly, Clare began to open up and play and it was one of those clearances that sent Shonagh Enright through on goal, only to see her shot some- how kept out by a combination of goalkeeper Emma Staunton and the post in the 28th minute.

That miss was magnified only sec- onds later when Gaule handpassed to Aisling Phelan for her second goal of the game but it didn’t derail a resur-

gent Clare who created another goal chance soon afterwards but this time, Enright was denied by the crossbar as a luckless Clare went in trailing by 5-5 to 1-4 at the interval.

Three further points had Kilkenny 16 points clear by the 36th minute but credit Clare for their response as they stopped the supply to the Kilkenny full-forward line and proceeded to outscore Kilkenny by 2-4 to O-2 for the remainder.

Shonagh Enright finally got her just reward in the 38th minute when she received a pass from Katie Cahill to flick past goalkeeper Staunton and

after two more points, Roisin McMa- hon cut the deficit to nine when she gathered a break to rifle a ball to the net via the stick of the goalkeeper by the 54th minute.

Despite the brave fightback how- ever, time was ultimately against them as Kilkenny emptied the bench to hang on for the remaining minutes to claim their fourth All-Ireland title in a row and condemn Clare to their second successive final defeat.

Whether you took the positive or negative viewpoint of this final, mor- al victories are of scant consolation to this group of players.

CLARECASTLE and _ Kilmaley joined Sixmilebridge and Newmar- ket in the Minor A semi-finals at the weekend when they accounted for Eire Og and Inagh/Kilnamona respectively in their quarter-final clashes. Clarecastle had five points to spare in their local derby with the Ennis side, with Clare minor Aaron Considine grabbing 1-10 in the 1-17 to 2-09 victory.

Leading from the outset, Clarecas- tle got an early boost when Consid- ine soloed through for a goal in the Sth minute to lead by I-2 to 0-1. He followed up with a free but Eire Og grabbed a lifeline in the 12th minute when goalkeeper Philly Walsh’s long free ended up in the Clarecastle net.

The Magpies reocvered well from that setback to pull four points clear once more but Eire Og refused to lie down and in the 27th minute, claimed a second major when a goamouth scramble was finished to the net.

Again Clarecastle responded im- mediately though with late points from Niall Quinn and Considine to lead by 1-10 to 2-04 at the break.

The second period was a seesaw af- fair with both sides going point for point for the majority as Clarecastle held a five point lead approaching the finish.

They still had to endure a nervy final few minutes before finally se- curing victory and had goalkeeper Jamie Coughlan to thank for an ex- cellent point blank save in the 56th minute.

Meanwhile, in Monday evening’s quarter-final, a Daire Keane goal in the 28th minute proved the dif- ference as Kilmaley knocked out defending champions Inagh/Kilna- mona on a scoreline of 1-15 to 0-14. That goal turned the game on it’s head as Kilmaley took a 1-5 to 0-6 lead into the interval and they held that slender advantage until the final minutes when a brace of points en- sured victory.

Kilmaley will now meet Newmar- ket-on-Fergus in the last four while last year’s finalists Sixmilebridge renew acquaintances with Clarecas- tle in the other semi-final in what is a repeat of last year’s minor league nue