Month: November 2009

CLARE GAA chairman Miuichael

O’Neill has resolved to have the 1m-

passe between county senior hurlers

and their manager Mike McNamara

sorted out by next week at the latest. Speaking to

“ANOTHER one bites the dust.” One of Queen’s signature tunes that could easily describe the significant number of teams who have fallen on Cratloe’s powerful sword. Despite the hurling season coming to an eventual end last weekend in Waterford the footballers have at least one more big day out after this stirring victory. “Tt’s absolutely wonderful,’ ex- claimed jubilant selector Ger Lawlor afterwards. “We showed great char- acter and heart out there. We fought hard and gave them nothing easy. I’m so pleased with this fantastic result.” And who would blame him? Crat- loe’s achievement of taking another scalp along their road to success can’t be underestimated. They were the better side overall and only for a brief period of wind aided domi-

nance for Rovers this game would have been long wrapped up before the final whistle.

“The start of the second-half saw them take some control and they started getting on top,’ admitted Lawlor, “however we responded per- fectly. We didn’t lie down and then Padraig Chaplin came on and took his goal well. Then a few minutes later and McGrath got our third. They say goals win matches and they certainly helped us today. They re- ally killed off their challenge in the end.”

His post match analysis was very accurate indeed. Chaplin’s and Mc- Grath’s goals in the final quarter se- cured progression into next week’s Munster final against Kerry champi- ons Spa. What an amazing bonus for the Munster Club of the Year. They were so close in reaching a similar

position with the hurlers but now the footballers have dealt with this sem1- final hurdle and only one more game stands in the way of yet another his- toric final success for Cratloe.

“What a great year we have had? And now we have a Munster final to look forward to next week. Hope- fully our much congested year will be rewarded then. It’s not going to be anyway easy of course. I don’t think a bad football team has ever come out of Kerry and I don’t next weekend we will come up against the first. With a bit of luck we will be cel- ebrating again this time next Sunday as well.”

That would definitely be the icing on the cake. For their efforts alone this year in both codes they deserve another piece of silverware. It could happen, because this Cratloe team doesn’t seem to entertain defeat.

THE biggest and most important day in the history of Spa GAA Club is about to dawn.

With the days, minutes and hours to Sunday’s Munster intermedi- ate football final in Mallow ticking away, it’s almost show-time for Sean Moynihan’s men who are now just 60 minutes away from their place in lo- cal football folklore.

Not only is this the first time that a team from the club has contested a provincial football final, but Spa are also the first East Kerry club to compete in a Munster intermediate decider.

Having watched Cratloe at first hand, Moynihan is aware of the task I OT-LMrEhY ECDL ACM OD CHESS LO (OR

“They looked impressive. They are a small bit like ourselves — a young team, lively, extremely fit and they wouldn’t have any stars but have a massive work-rate,’ says Moynihan.

“Cratloe look like a really good side. They use the ball very well. They actually seemed to play better against the wind than with it and, overall, I was impressed with what Sa

With no injury worries to report, Spa will look to their star duo of Mike ‘Stam’ O’Donoghue and Niall

O’ Mahony for scores, with the former being the main source of scores.

“The likes of Mike O’Donoghue and Niall O’ Mahony have got us over the line on numerous occasions but I have always stressed that we are very much a team effort,’ he adds.

‘There have been days when the two boys might have an off-day and that’s when Tomas Lynch could step up, or if he had an off-day, Conor Glesson or Cian Tobin or Pa Murphy or one of the other lads could step up to the plate.

“We will need an unbelievable ef- fort from all the lads on Sunday if we want to win the Munster title. It’s what we want. We know how close we are but there is a seriously hard game of football ahead of us. We have to match their intensity other- wise we will be in trouble.”

His team is on a high at the moment and the spirit is great, as Moynihan explains.

“There is a serious belief in our squad at the moment. The work-rate is there, the determination and a de- sire to achieve something special. There is a special spirit there.

“Even away from the football, they are all good friends. They head off out on the town together and just get os aer VORA oll E

“The camp is buzzing and I think

that will stand to us on Sunday. When you are representing your county wearing the Spa jersey, well, that’s the ultimate for these players. Focussing on the game is not a prob- one

“We are up against a team that put out the favourites so we have it all to do. This is very much like the Cur- row game (the county intermediate final) when we both went in with ht- tle to choose between us. Whoever performs on the day will take the trophy and that’s going to lend itself to a fantastic game.”

Interestingly, under Moynihan, Spa have never lost a final. A lucky omen ahead of Sunday, perhaps.

“We have played four finals since we took over as a management team and we haven’t lost one yet. Touch wood,” he says.

“We won back-to-back East Kerry leagues, we won the county interme- diate and we won Division Two (of the county football league) outright as well so that’s four trophies.

“We know how to win together and that will be invaluable in a big exh on

COLM Honan’s reaction to Clon- lara’s shock county final defeat to Cratloe was to let his players go. His reckoning was that the mileage in their legs to reach county final day would have to do, because the stom- ach for getting back to the grind just wouldn’t be there.

However, lack of appetite for train- ing could in no way be construed as being equal to lack of interest — Ho- nan wanted this and so did his play- ers, simply out of a fear of the dam- age a second big-game defeat could do.

“Tt would have been very very hard to take another loss. Playing in two county finals and to lose both would have been a disaster for us,” admits Honan.

“We didn’t really drive them on for this game. We didn’t make a huge

deal of it beforehand but at the same time once we were out on the field we were very anxious to win it. I thought that they played fairly well at times.

“We hadn’t met at all after the county final, apart from meeting on Friday night for a chat. There are a lot of leaders on that team and it showed at various times during the game when we wanted it most.

“We won the last three puck-outs having conceded the goal. They were puck-outs that were hard to win against the wind but we won them. They got a few chances but our workrate put them under savage pressure. We finished out the game strongly.

“The pitch was in beautiful condi- tion, but conditions were very diffi- cult. Fellas found it very hard to turn, Sometimes the ball would bounce, other times to would just go plop. First touch was difficult, passing was

difficult. It was hard to judge where it was going to end up so it was a bit of a lottery at times.”

Clonlara won that lottery and so in part exorcised some of their county final demons — of course they will never fully go away until Canon Hamilton is back where they feel it belongs, but Honan for one is look- ing forward to trying to meet that challenge.

“You don’t get too many chances to win county finals,’ he admits, “but having said that this Clonlara side are young enough. There’s a young enough squad there and they’ll come back strong again. I know they’ll come back again in the champion- ship. It’s onwards and upwards, go for a few pints and winter well and come back again next year”’.

FLOODING may have postponed the visit of two of the biggest names in Irish soccer to Clare this week but one World Cup hero 1s expected to be in the county on Friday.

Football Association of Ireland (FAT) chief John Delaney along with the Technical Director Packie Bon- ner were due to attend a workshop in Ennis tomorrow to launch Clare’s hosting of the 2011 FAI Annual Gen- eral Meeting.

However in an email last night Clare District Soccer League secre- tary, Oliver Fitzpatrick, stated that the event has been postponed due to bad weather.

The occasion would have marked one of the first public appearances

for Delaney since the FAI’s request to have the controversial World Cup play-off between Ireland and France replayed was knocked back by FIFA.

One man on his way to Clare is Ray Houghton. The hero of Giants stad1- um in 1994 will at the Clare Inn to officially launch the new website of Ennis Town football club.

Houghton will also present players with the club’s new jersey. The man who famously ‘put the ball in the English net’ visited Ennis last year.

“IT just think its great in counties like Clare; so many youngsters are given the opportunity to play soccer, which wouldn’t have been the case quite a few years ago. It’s changed dramatically”, he said at the time.

DOONBEG, the five star golf resort in West Clare, has been selected as the European Golf Resort of the Year for its “exceptional contribution to the world of golf travel’. The prestigious award was made by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (LAGTO) whose more than 300 golf tour operators cast votes for this an- nual award. Doonbeg’s sister proper- ty on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, won the North American Golf Resort of the Year Award. The awards were presented at the [AGTO awards gala dinner which was held in Malaga last night (19 November 2009).

Previous winners of the European Golf Resort of the Year include Turnberry (Scotland), Druid’s Glen (Ireland), Praia D’El Rey (Portugal), Dona Filipa & San Lorenzo (Por- tugal) and Carton House (Ireland). The awards scheme was inaugurated by IAGTO in 2000.

[AGTO’s 300+ golf tour operators, representing 49 different countries, cast their votes prior to the awards dinner. Each operator was asked to nominate what they consider to be the best performing golf resorts of the year enjoyed by their golf trav- elling clients. There are over 1,000 golf resorts in the USA alone and an estimated 2,000 in total worldwide. The golf resort in each of the three- categories — Europe, North America and the Rest of the World — with the

most number of votes receives the 2010 Golf Resort of the Year acco- lades.

Operators were asked to consider the resorts under the following cri- teria: Customer satisfaction, quality of golf course/s and accommodation, value for money, accessibility to tee times, speed of communication and quality of service of the golf resort sales, marketing, reservation, admin- istration and management staff

Speaking of the award Mr Joe Rus- sell, general manager, Doonbeg, said that they were delighted to win such a prestigious award. “We rely on the Golf Tour Operators to provide us

with a great deal of business and the award is acknowledgement that we are providing the kind of service that they and their clients require. In ac- cepting the award I do so on behalf of all of the staff at Doonbeg. We pride ourselves on our attention to detail and the service we give and I believe this award is an endorsement of both.”

Doonbeg, in County Clare Ireland, is a luxury resort destination featur- ing five star accommodations, a Greg Norman-designed championship links golf course, restaurants, pubs and a state-of-the-art spa. Overlook- ing the Atlantic Ocean on the mag-

nificent crescent-shaped Doughmore Bay, Doonbeg allows for whole-own- ership cottages and suites as well as a private residence club managed by Timbers Resorts, the word’s leading creator of deeded property interests. For all other inquiries, contact Mike Touhill, Doonbeg Director of Pub- lic Relations, 843 768-6529, Mike _ Touhill@KiawahIsland.com.

ENNIS native Anita Lyons is the toast of London town as the fashion1- sta takes the world of clothes and de- sign by storm.

The 31-year-old is the internation- al business manager for Arcadia, a company that is better known to Irish shoppers as the mammy of Top Shop, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, Burtons, Evans and Outfit.

This week, the Irish community in London paid tribute to the hardwork- ing and successful businesswoman

through one of its publications, highlighting her as one of the most powerful Irish businesswomen in the English capital.

Anita is no stranger to the world of retail and some would say her role within the retail clothing company was even pre-destination.

Her mother is the proprietor of Eileen’s boutique in Ennis, while her father owns Kelly’s corner shop.

As a child she was taken to trade shows and quickly became familiar with the business.

She was determined, however, that

she would never end up in the busi- ness and studied for an arts degree and a business post-grad at the Na- tional University of Ireland, Galway.

However, an open day held by Ar- cadia in Dublin changed her mind and she began work there as a gradu- ate trainee. She soon became a vital part of the company and became brand manager in the Oxford Circus branch. From there she was promot- ed to her current position, with inter- national responsibilities.

She was quickly given the major undertaking of setting up the Rus-

sian and Eastern European market.

Her glamorous lifestyle has also seen her shop with Beyonce and sit beside top models at world movie asi Rene

Although she thrives in the com- mercial corporate world and has no plans to leave the job anytime soon, the Ennis woman hopes to one day open her own business. What that business would be is still a mystery.

For now, she works hard to stay ahead of trends and remain one of the most fashionable Irish women in London.

THERE was a time when Anne Moloney was content to frame her talented husband’s works of art and the prints of those works on the kitchen table of their home outside Feakle. But thanks to the success of their business, Glendara Art, Anne and ‘Tim have had to think again.

“Tt got to the stage that I wondered, where can I work from that won’t involve me having to move stuff off the table to serve family dinners or go crawling under the bed to find a particular kind of mounting board,” said Anne.

For a time, the couple had space in the Tulla Stables community arts centre and having had that experi- ence, Anne said they wanted to have somewhere that “people can come and relax to look at the paintings and the prints. I think there’s terri- ble pressure on people if they come to your family home, they feel they have to buy something”’.

On the land where the Moloney’s made their home, there was an old building which was once used to house cattle. “It’s right beside the riv- er and I always loved to walk down there. It was ideal for a studio but needed a lot of work,” said Anne.

One restoration later, the Molo- ney’s have made the Glendara studio and exhibition space a reality.

Anne is based at the studio dealing with orders for prints and mounting prints and paintings for customers as well as showing people around.

“We want people to come at their own pace so they can ring anytime, weekends or evenings, but we are having a special open week from No- vember 23 to 28 and we would love for people just to come and have a look around.”

Time finds inspiration for his col- ourful works in the countryside and

the people around him.

“Born to a farming family in Clare, I grew up with a deep respect and love for my rural setting. I experi- enced all the old ways, cutting the turf, saving the hay, tilling the land and selling the cattle at the fair day. These experiences have influenced

my painting. In recalling times past, I hope that my use of colour and tex- ture leave people with the good feel- ing of romanticism and nostalgia. “If you are searching for spiritual- ity, there is nothing more awesome than a glimpse of nature, and if I was painting for a thousand years, I would

have but a cameo of that beauty.”

Glendara Art can be found on line at www.glendaraart.com or contact Anne on 087 2204635.

SPANISHPOINT was the scene of two daring rescues in the past year, and the heroics of the people in- volved was recognised by the Irish Water Safety last week.

In total six lives were saved due to the bravery of four people, among them a ten-year-old girl from Quilty.

Courageous Emily Luff received a SEIKO Certificate of Courage for saving her little sister Isabelle’s life.

In September 2008, the sisters had been bathing at knee depth when they got caught in a rip current, which pulled them out to sea beyond the surf break.

Despite the frightening ordeal, Emily had the presence of mind to hold her sister up while they waited

for help.

Those that came to the young girls assistance were also praised for their eae

Thomas Thompson and Peter Brad- bury who received a Rescue Appre- ciation Award heard calls for help from the beach. They ran onto the beach to assist the two girls. Upon as- sessing the situation, Peter Bradbury called the coast guard while Tho- mas Thompson paddled out to reach them on his surfboard. Meanwhile Peter stayed with the mother of the children. Due to poor light Thomas could not see the children however he heard their shouts for help and went to their assistance. Upon reach- ing them he reassured them and with the use of his surfboard he brought them safely to back to shore.

Surfers also played a major role in the second rescue in July this year.

Four swimmers became caught in a rip current and were carried out from shore and beyond their depth.

Miltown Malbay man Mark Flynn borrowed a surfboard and entered the water. He then took two casual- ties to shore. With the help of a pass- ing surfer the third person was en- couraged back to shore safely.

Then Clarecastleman and off duty lifeguard Norman Cleary reached the scene and with Mark Flynn entered the water and continued to search for the fourth person. Mark felt him un- Clan d eToys No me-DIO MY BINOMCeuert-TImcwIlote they placed him onto a surfboard and took him back to shore where he re- gained consciousness.

Minister of State at the Department

of Environment, Heritage and Local Government Michael Finneran (FF), presented the SEIKO Just In Time Rescue Award to these rescuers.

“Tragically 158 drowning occurred in Ireland last year,” he said. “One reaches for the word tragic, but it doesn’t seem adequate when the most heartbreaking aspect of drown- ing deaths is that they are prevent- able. This high figure would be even higher but for the dramatic efforts of these individuals who saved oth- ers from drowning and the ongoing work of volunteers teaching swim- TPODN Orca Dele mush YOU ome

NEXT Thursday, students from the Ennistymon CBS will ‘Go hungry for Gloria’ as they take part in this year’s annual Concern Fast.

Two fifth years from the school, Daniel McInerney and David Car- roll, were chosen to visit Kenya last year in recognition of the schools long history of supporting Concern.

The students were joined by teacher Gerry Sexton on the trip, which took them to see the good work being done on the ground by Concern in aviulere

A host of students from the school will join more than 250,000 young

people from secondary schools all over Ireland on December 3.

Last year, the school raised more than €5,000 through their participa- tion in the fast.

Liam Slattery, Cathal McMahon and Thomas Nagle were the top col- lectors for last year’s fast.

This year’s trip to Kenya saw the students and teachers in Ennistymon join the Irish National Debate Cham- pions in their visit to Concern com- plexes in Kenya.

The trip allowed Concern the op- portunity to thank schools for their JON KG MAY LO)e QUE MBAUUNCCDU-HKSDOTcMmClUDUDO roam Nels ele

“Kenya spans an area about 50

times the size of Ireland and the pop- ulation has grown rapidly in recent decades to nearly 38 million,” said Gerry Sexton.

“IT feel that Kenya is at a crossroads. Almost every sphere and sector of life is in crisis. Over 10 million peo- ple face hunger and starvation. That number is set to increase as the cur- rent crop season has failed.

“Urban life is facing imminent dan- ger. Water shortages have persisted. We saw hundreds of water tank- ers bringing water to every part of the city; to those who could pay of course,” he said.

“In the slums of Mukuru and Ko- rogocho, we saw long queues of poor

people waiting with large containers to get water. Even this water is often contaminated and water related dis- eases are areal problem.

‘Most poor people survive on less than a euro a day with the average wage being €7 or €8 a day for those fortunate enough to have a job. HIV and TB have become huge problems for the population.

“Commodity prices are at an all time high. Most basic goods, such as food are beyond the reach of many. Agriculture faces collapse. Tea farm- ers are uprooting their crop,” added Mr Sexton.

The Concern Fast takes place on Dien lelo wer