Month: February 2011

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News

Dead woman invited for breast check

A KILRUSH widower has told how his late wife received a “confidential” letter from Breastcheck last week, inviting her for screening, ten years to the day after her sudden death.

Nora Ann Comerford died in her sleep on February 17, 2001.

On February 17, 2011 a letter arrived addressed to the deceased mother and wife marked “Strictly Private and Confidential, Strictly Addressee Only”.

Her husband Brian said he was shocked to see any post arrive for his late wife, especially on her tenth anniversary.

“Naturally, I assumed, it was one of the Spanish Lottery Scams. I open it and it reads: “Dear Ms Comerford, I would like to welcome you to BreastCheck,” he said.

The letter was informing Ms Comerford that her appointment for breast cancer screening would arrive in the post.

It also explained that the national cancer screening service could have got her name, address and date of birth from several Government agencies and health insurance records including the Department of Social and Family Affairs (now called the Department of Social Protection), the General Medical Services and private health insurance companies.

“While we make every effort to en- sure that the Breastcheck population register is accurate, there are rare instances where errors may occur,” the letter said.

Mr Comerford, who once worked for the Department of Social Welfare, said that he found it amazing that his wife was still on any register at this time, as he had removed her name from the register of electors, had registered her death and a bereavement grant had been paid out on her death.

“If they can get this wrong after ten years there has to be a lot more,” he said.

A spokesperson from BreastCheck said she could appreciate how distressing this would be for any fam- ily, but added such occurrences are extremely rare.

She said as there is no national database of births and deaths, BreastCheck relies on data from other agencies.

“Unfortunately we can only confirm accuracy by sending a letter,” she said.

A national register of deaths was created in 2004, six years after Ms Comerford’s death.

BreastCheck finally began routinly screening women for breast cancer from September 27 last year, 12 years after it was first set up.

The National Cancer Screening Service provides women aged 50 to 64 with free mammograms.

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News

Elements threaten Medieval fishing weir

CLARE’S most important hidden architectural gem will soon be destroyed as a result of rising sea waters. A 700-year-old medieval fishing weir, located on Boarland Rock the estuary of the River Fergus, will be completely destroyed in just 10 years.

According to Dr Aidan O’Sullivan of the School of Archaeology at UCD, the weir is one of the best preserved medieval fishing sites in Europe.

The weir was protected for centu- ries by a large bank of mud at Fergus estuary but changes in the flow of the river in recent years has exposed the structure to the tidal water.

Dr O’Sullivan has been forced to abandon a programme of scientific research on the weir, conducted by a team of UCD experts and a number of local fishermen, because of recent funding cuts to the Irish Heritage Council.

“There is little we can do to preserve the medieval fishing structures because they are totally exposed to the forces of nature on the mudflats, after being buried for centuries be- neath the mud,” he said.

“They are likely to be entirely destroyed within the next ten years. We had hoped that by working with the local community we could record this significant archaeological site before it is destroyed.”

The structure itself is located almost two kilometres from dry land in the very middle of a large network of mudbanks and water channels. The site can only be accessed by boat for a few weeks each year when the water level on the Fergus is at its lowest.

“We can see wooden ropes with knots tying together the structure and most remarkably, we have even found woven, conical baskets intact in the clays at the ends of the weirs. It is almost as if someone had walked off and left these baskets there last year,” continued Dr O’Sullivan.

The team from UCD has been assisted in his research of the weir by local fishermen in the Clarecastle, including Flann Considine.

“Flann knows the Fergus like the back of his hand. He is very knowledgeable about the tides, the currents, submerged rocks and the likely impact of changing weather condi- tions on the boat,” said archaeologist Conor McDermott.

“It’s simple. We wouldn’t be able to investigate and record these archaeological sites without his help and that of his colleagues.”

Dr O’Sullivan will speak at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis on Tuesday, March 1, at 8.30pm.

Dr O’Sullivan has close family connections with Clare. His father John O’Sullivan (1938-2006) played hurling with Killaloe Smith O’Briens. He captained the Clare minor team in the 1950s and played senior hurling with Clare in 1957.

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News

Proposal could ensure council seat for Travellers

A MEMBER of the Clare Travelling community may soon be granted a guaranteed seat on Clare County Council, thanks to a new proposal from the chairperson of Clare County Council’s Traveller Accommodation Committee, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP).

At Friday’s Clare Active Citizenship Network debate for Clare’s General Election candidates, Cllr Meaney put forward the proposal that one seat should be temporally ring-fenced for a member of the Travelling community.

Speaking to The Clare People after the meeting, Cllr Meaney admitted that the Clare’s multi-million strategy for the Travelling community was a failure.

“We are in a situation now where the Traveller way of life seems to be at odds with the rest of the community. The policies of the past have not worked and we can’t keep employing those policies and expect that they will work. One way that we can resolve this is to include the minority group in local government – this is done with the Inuit people in parts of Canada and the Maori people in New Zealand,” he said.

“Traveller-specific accommodation has not worked – that is saying something considering all the millions that have been spent on it – and I am not in the business of making mistakes. We have to make this work – there are responsibilities to make this work.

“This is something that is practiced in a lot of democracies to provide a seat in a local assembly for a minor- ity. This is not something that would be popular in local government, it wouldn’t be popular among elected people and I’m not sure that this would be a popular in the Green Party, this is something that I am putting forward.”

According to Cllr Meaney, his proposal should allow for member of the Travelling community to be elected without assistance in future local elections in Clare.

“This is something that would be introduced as a temporary measure during a period of transition – after that I would expect that people from the Travelling community could be elected on their own bat. This would be a temporary measure – maybe for the lifetime of one or two local elections in Clare,” he said. “It is necessary that we begin to approach the Traveller situation in a new way. We need to move away from a dependency situation – where Travelling people are treated as dependents – we need to ensure that all the people can participate in our entire society. This will require a change of attitudes from all sections of our society.”

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Sport

O’Grady espouses value of a hard working panel

LIMERICK manager Donal O’Grady returned to competitive action on Sunday with a huge weight of expectation on his shoulders but left Ennis free of any burden after comprehensively putting Clare to the sword.

After a tumultuous 2010 that saw up to 20 first choice panelists at odds with then manager Justin McCarthy, the siege was lifted by O’Grady’s men on Sunday to record the county’s first competitive victory in 19 months but true to form, the Cork man wasn’t getting excited just yet.

“The performance was all we were interested in really because the two points are handy but it’s the start of a long campaign.

“I suppose really it just comes down to work-rate and there is an awful lot of credit due to the lads themselves, they worked very hard. We are only training since January 2 so I wasn’t sure where we were at.

“Now I’m not sure where Clare are at either because you don’t know what the attitude of your opponents are as Clare were short a couple of players there.

“So we are happy with the win because it takes the pressure off. Two points is important in the first match if you can and it comes down to work-rate and Jerry Wallis has done great work with them since we came in in January so you would have to be pleased with the performance.”

“We reckoned that this would be a very difficult game for us and we were looking for a performance and you couldn’t fault the lads because everybody worked very hard.

“We made a couple of substitutions because with Andrew O’Shaughnessy and Niall Moran, tiredness just hit them and we felt that we would inject some fresh legs so you couldn’t fault us on work-rate and the win is pleasing.”

Asked about the lift that the win will give to the county as a whole, again O’Grady continued to play down what is essentially the first game in what could potentially be a long season for Limerick.

“I suppose anytime you win a match, you come back into the dressing room and you go back for the post-match meal and there is a bit more of a buzz there and there is bit more of a lift there than if you lose so all these things are important and confidence is important.

“I don’t know where we are going to end up this year but we are just going to take one game at a time.

“It was pleasing to come up to Ennis today as it was a tough one to start with. How intent Clare were on winning this match I’m not quite sure but we are pleased with it anyway.”

“Everybody who was going out on the field today were aware of what job they had to do and it worked for us today, it may not work next Saturday night against Westmeath and it may not work for the following mathc but it worked today and we have to be thankful for that.”

Categories
Sport

Clare take time for shooting practice

Clare 5-17 – Kilkenny 1-01 at Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay

WHERE there’s football there’s hope – that has to be the mission statement of Kilkenny teams whenever they take to the field for the big ball game, but such is life that being the whipping boys of the National League is their sad lot.

This fact of football life was never about to change in Miltown on Saturday afternoon as Clare got the disappointment of their opening round defeat out of their system with a facile 28-point win.

And, it was every bit as easy as the scoreline suggests, while the halftime cameo served up by the three Kilkenny subs that bothered to have a kick-around between themselves showing up the whole futility of this exercise.

They passed the ball between one another for ten minutes – on the ground, in the air with their heads. All soccer in other words – they might have been training for a Kilkenny Junior Soccer League game on Sunday morning.

By that stage Clare were home to the two league points, having built up an interval lead of 3-6 to 0-1. A goal inside a minute from full-forward Cathal O’Connor had them on their way and from there it was one-way traffic towards the dressing room end.

Kilkenny just rolled over as Clare scored at will for the rest of the half, even though they kicked seven wides. Indeed the opening goal was a portent of things to come when a mistake in the Kilkenny defence gifted the ball to Alan Clohessy, who then fed O’Connor before he blasted to the net.

O’Connor’s second bullet to the net came in the 19th minute to put Clare 2-3 to no score ahead, while the third on the stroke of half-time from Shane Brennan came after good work in the build-up from Gary Brennan and Alan Clohessy.

Graham Lawlor did land a point from a free in the 32nd minute, but it was Kilkenny’s only reprieve as Clare racked up plenty of point-taking practice in the half, with Alan Clohessy helping himself to three and Enda Lyons, Gary Brennan and John Hayes also hitting the mark.

There was much more to come in the second half even if Kilkenny scored a goal three minutes in when Michael Duggan toe-poked to the net past Joe Hayes after latching onto a long free from Graham Lawlor.

Alas, it was as good as it got for the hapless Kilkenny outfit. Hayes had absolutely nothing to contend with for the rest of the hour while down the other end Clare piled on the mis- ery, scoring 2-11 in the second half of what was a forgettable game of football.

Alan Clohessy, who was top-scorer with 1-7, goaled in the 47th minute after taking a pass from Adrian Cahill, while sub David O’Brien staked a claim for a starting berth with three good points from play in the half.

It was a procession, corner-back Michael O’Regan even raided up the field for a point while the rout was completed with Shane Brennan’s second goal in the 63rd minute and other late scores from Cathal O’Connor, Alan Clohessy and David O’Brien.

Mercifully, referee Richard Moloney blew his final whistle only 30 seconds into injury time to put this game out of its misery.

Clare
Joe Hayes (Lissycasey), Niall White (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield), Lawrence Healy (Ennistymon), Martin McMahon (Kilmurry Ibrickane), Kevin Hartnett (Meelick) Shane McNeilus (Kildysart), John Hayes (Kilrush Shamrocks) (0-2), Gary Brennan (Clondegad) (0-1),Timmy Ryan (Kilmihil), Niall Browne (Two Mile House, Kildare), Michael Foran (O’Curry’s), Shane Brennan (Clondegad) (2-0), Enda Lyons (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield) (0-1f), Cathal O’Connor (Coolmeen) (2-2),Alan Clohessy (Liscannor) (1-7, 6f).

Subs
Michael O’Regan (Éire Óg) (0-1) for White, David O’Brien (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield) (0-3) for Foran [Half-Time],Aidrian Cahill (Celbridge, Kildare) for Browne [Half-Time], David O’Connor (St Brigid’s, Dublin) for Lyons [57 Mins], Conor Ryan (Cratloe) for Clohessy [64 Mins]

Kilkenny
JJ O’Sullivan, David Grennan, Richard O’Hara, John Sheehan, James Mackey, Michael Malone, John Cullinane, Emmet Vereker, Ciaran Foran, Thomas Kehoe, David Garvey, Paddy Raftice, David Prendergast, GrahamLawlor (0-1f), Sean Mooney. Subs Michael Duggan (1-0) for Malone [Half-Time), James Culleton for Lawlor [45 Mins], Michael Sanders for Prendergast [59 Mins], Stephen Connolly for Garvey [62 Mins],

Man of the Match
Cathal O’Connor (Coolmeen)

Referee
Richard Moloney (Limerick)

Categories
Sport

Clare panels face off in Miltown

MILTOWN Malbay GAA Grounds played host to a series of challenge games last Saturday between the Clare Ladies Football U16 and Minor panels.

As both teams prepare for their respective Munster A competitions against Cork and Kerry, (the Minors additionally have Tipperary in their group), it was clear both grades were eager to compete after four weeks of trials.

With some clever selection by Managers Kieran Harvey U16 and James Lafferty Minor both grades got an opportunity to display some very fast paced football over the three challenge games.

The well attended event showed the commitment and effort being poured into juvenile Ladies Football in Clare by players and mentors alike.

The Minors continue their training with a session in Quilty next Friday 18th February at 8pm.

The U16s will assemble again this Saturday, February 19, players will be notified of details by text, and they will then travel to Tipperary on February 26 to compete in a one day blitz against Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Galway in prepara tion for their opening Munster A Championship game against Cork on March 26.

The 2011 U16 panel will be selected after the blitz on the 26th February.

Categories
Sport

U14 exhibition Tulla GAA AGM

THE CLARE U14 Ladies Football panel provided the half-time entertainment last Saturday in Miltown Malbay when they gave an exhibition of football at the men’s Senior League meeting between Clare and Kilkenny. With less than three weeks until their Munster Championship first round meeting away to Waterford, the girls have been putting in the time and effort, meeting twice weekly to work on fitness and skills. Training continues this Tuesday, February 15 in Kilrush GAA Grounds and all players are asked to be in the dressing rooms at 5:50pm sharp. The following players have been selected for the 2011 Clare U14 Ladies Football Panel.

Elaine Casey, Laura Chesser, Eve Copley, Aoibheann Malone, Aoife Keane, Grainne Nolan, Eva O’Dea, Emma Neylon (Banner Ladies); Blainead Sheedy (Burren Gaels); Chloe Normoyle, Gillian Finucane (Coolmeen); Nicole Downes, Aine Looney (Cooraclare); Nicole Golden (Doonbeg); Michaela Fitzpatrick, Sara Jane O’Connell, Aisling McMahon (Doorabarefield); Elana Bradley, Amy Hayes (Eire Og); Lauren Griffin, Shauna Hill (Fergus Rovers); Chloe Moloney (Kilmurry Ibrickane); Kate Coughlan, Rebecca Mahon, Ciara Coughlan (Kilmihil); Aoife Carraig, Kayla Crowley, Jessica Gilligan, Michelle Downes (Kilrush); Clionadh Egan (Liscannor); Megan Maguire, Ann Marie Hayes (Newmarket on Fergus); Ronya Baumann (Shannon Gaels); Amy Keane, Rachel Muldoon (West Clare Gaels), Danah King (Wolfe Tones).

Categories
Sport

Young guns get medals

ON Saturday evening medals were presented to the winning Corofin GAA teams in different grades in 2010. Following with the success of the camogie team, 2010 was a wonderful sporting year for Corofin.

Categories
Sport

Manus win battle of the Celtics after penalties

Kilkishen Celtic 1 – Manus Celtic A 1 (AET) Manus won 4-3 on penalties at Kilkishen

A JUICY TIE against first division promotion hopefuls Burren Utd is Manus Celtic’s reward for the slenderest of victories over Kilkishen Celtic on Sunday.

There is never much between the teams when they clash as can be seen from their 1-1 league draw earlier in the season and true to form, this encounter went all the way to penalties before substitute John Molloy squeezed the Clarecastle side through to the next round.

Kilkishen dominated the opening 20 minutes of the game and Manus can thank goalkeeper Jeff Healy for keeping them in the tie after two point blank saves.

However, Manus eventually found their feet and after Adrian McDonagh had two opportunities denied, he finally opened his Manus Celtic account in the 38th minute when put through by a combination of brothers Mikey and Stephen Geragthy.

Mattie Holmes should have equalised only seconds later but blazed over from close range but equally, Mikey Geragthy should have doubled Manus’ advantage only seconds after the restart when his shot rebounded off the post.

Similarly, a Mikey McDonagh lob was repelled for Manus as was Fer- gus Donovan’s point blank shot that was also saved by goalkeeper Healy.

However, with time running out, Kilkishen finally breached Manus’ goalline through Derek Canny who masterfully executed a freekick from the edge of the box into the corner of the net.

Extra-time drew a further stalemate but with the sides at three apiece, it was subsitute John Molloy who became the hero when he converted Manus’ final penalty to book their second round place.

Kilkishen Celtic
Damian O’Connell, Flan McMahon, James Hook, Derek Canny, Mattie Holmes, Shane McInerney, Steve Donnellan, Eoin Pewter, Fergus Donovan,Alan McInerney, Paul Hogan (Brian Culbert)

Manus Celtic A
Jeff Healy,Aidan McCarthy, Ian Considine, Kevin Clohessy, Barry Guinnane, SeanieTravers,AdamHealy (Tola Crowe), Stevie Geragthy,Adrian McDonagh (Mikey McDonagh), Mikey Geragthy (John Molloy), Pa Casey

Categories
Sport

Rovers scrape into round two

Rineanna Rovers A 3 – Ruan United 2 (AET) at Rineanna

SECOND Division side Ruan gave a heroic performance against Premier side Rineanna but after losing the lead twice and being forced to extra time they were knocked out with a very late winner which ended their cup hopes for the year.

Ruan looked in control and went ahead after a Gavin Dinan free kick found the top corner just eight minutes in. Rineanna created very few chances early on until they headed in a free kick in the 32nd minute leaving it 1-1 at the break with Ruan still dominating.

The second half saw more of a competitive edge, but it was Ruan who struck once more in the 65th as Paul Dinan slotted the ball home and they swung the game back in their favor.

Rineanna began to put the pressure on as Ruan sat back on their lead. Then with a stroke of luck, a free kick from Niall Mills, intended as a cross, lobbed the Ruan ‘keeper and found the back of the net to put the game into extra-time.

Ruan then went in search of another but it was Rineanna who stole it with a goal right at the end as John Okuro found the net and with only three minutes remaining.

Ruan went all out for an equalising goal and had a great chance in the last minute but were denied and lost on a final scoreline of 3-2 after extra-time.

Despite an outstanding display from Johnathan Clohessey they were unable to topple the premier side and with good performances from Rineanna’s Enda Kelly, Sean O’Connor and John Okuro they now progress to the next round of the cup.