Month: May 2011

THE THEFT of a boat engine, valued at € 15,000, in Mountshannon has prompted gardaí to plead with boat owners to protect their properties.

An engine was stolen from a boat at the pier in Mountshannon harbour last Monday. The boat was found floating without its engine about a mile from the harbour. The engine was just two years old and was worth around € 15,000.

Gardaí are urging boat owners to be vigilant and ensure they take precautions to protect their properties.

Crime Prevention Officer in the Clare Garda Division, Sergeant Joe Downey said that valuable properties should be well protected.

While the theft of boats is not a common occurence, he said that thefts of engines have become prevalent in Clare in recent years.

“We seem to have had a huge increase in thefts (of engines) in East Clare, on Loug Derg and Mountshannon. A lot have been stolen in those areas,” said Sgt Downey.

“In the past, we intercepted people who were stealing them to export them and sell them. The advice is if you are leaving your boat for a week, take the engine off.

“When they are of high value, put in a tracking device and then when stolen they can be tracked. A tracking device is hidden in the engine and if it is stolen, the device is activated and it can be located,” said Sgt Downey.

Tracking devices cost in the region of € 1,000 and ideally should only be used on valuable properties.

Meanwhile, gardaí in West Clare are investigating damage caused to a car at the weekend.

A substance, believed to be acid, was thrown on a car parked at Cappa Drive in Kilrush between 2am and 7am last Wednesday.

Also in Kilrush, the library on O’Gorman Street was targeted by vandals overnight on Thursday. A back window was broken on the premises, but nothing was stolen.

THE SEAT vacated by newly-elected Senator Tony Mulcahy on Clare County Council is likely to be contested by two candidates.

Town Councillor Seán McLoughlin and Bunratty teacher Marinella Raftery are expected to go head to head in a contest for the Fine Gael seat in the Shannon electoral area.

A decision on who will take the seat will be made when the Shannon District of the Fine Gael party meets on June 2.

The Shannon branch has selected Seán McLoughlin, a cab driver, while the members of the other sections of the Shannon area – Sixmilebridge, Cratloe, Newmarket-on-Fergus and Bunratty – will also cast their votes on that date.

Sources within the party have told The Clare People that Ms Raftery is likely to contest the seat. She narrowly missed out on a seat on Clare County Council when she polled an impressive 766 first preferences in 2009.

She comes from a family with strong political roots.

A lot will be decided on how the party members from the Sixmilebridge area vote.

There are almost 90 party members in the Shannon electoral area; more than 40 of which are in the Sixmilebridge area.

Meanwhile, the Shannon branch of Fine Gael has selected Vincent Coleman to take Tony Mulcahy’s seat on Shannon Town Council. 33-year-old Mr Coleman, who works in Servisair in Shannon, has been the branch chairman for the past year and has been strongly involved in the party in recent years. His selection will be rubber-stamped on May 26.

Secretary of the Shannon branch, Cliona Curley, said Mr Coleman is the best candidate for the vacant position on the town council.

“He is the only one going for that. Vinny (Vincent) has put a lot of time into the party and we feel he is the best person for the job,” said Ms Curley.

FR MARTIN Keane from Cranny takes a close interest in everything that goes on in his Kenyan parish but the organisers of a special fundraiser for the Building of Hope are a tad relieved that the latest project there does not directly involve him. “I’m not sure how appropriate it would be to hold a Vicars and Tarts night for a project Fr Martin is closely involved with,” said Cree volunteer, Marion O’Malley.

When Gerry O’Malley came back from the last Building of Hope project in Kenya, his wife Marion and their friends didn’t expect that he would be so moved by the plight of children he saw at another school there.

“People would ask him how he got on, probably expecting him to say ‘grand’ but instead it would become an hour-long conversation. I’ve never seen him so affected by anything.” said Marion.

After returning from Kenya and seeing conditions in the nearby School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Migombani, Gerry from Cree and two other volunteers, Michael Lillis, also from Cree, and Michael Haugh from Doonbeg had all become firm friends. The three were determined to go back and make life better for the blind children. They teamed up with Gerry’s friend, Paul Rees from Kilnaboy and pal Tina Fitzgerald from Ennis involved and the gang of six decided they would club together in their efforts at fundraising to reach the ambitious target of € 18,000 between them and so began a series of Thursday night planning meetings.

Their first fundraiser was a golf clasic held in Ennis Golf Course on May 14, and a night of fantastic music and dance was held with the Kilfenora Ceili Band and friends at the weekend in the Auburn Lodge. Both events were a great success.

“We’de really like to thank everyone who helped or supported us. It was a great night and people were so generous,” Marion said.

But the push dosn’t stop there and now the six amigos are planning two golf Four-Ball outings, one in Spanish Point and one in Kilrush, on June 18 and July 16 respectively. And going from sport to having great sport, they are also planning a Vicars and Tarts night in the Claremont Disco in Lahinch on July 29.

“Tina’s husband, Ger Fitzgerald, is giving us the disco and there will be music in the front bar as well on the night. We asked all the younger crew what sort of theme we could have for the night to make it a bit of fun. We got a lot of suggestions like a beach party, then one of the young ones suggested Vicars and Tarts and everyone thought it would be great fun.”

Willow in Ennis have kindly sponsored a Guess designer handbag for the tartiest tart and Ennis Fuji Center are sponsoring a digital camera for the vicar with the shiniest halo.

Tickets for the disco and registration for the Four Ball are available from McCarthy’s Garage, Miltown, from Marion at 086 2600844, Tina at 085 7645910, or by contacting any of the volunteers. Fu n d r a is in g e v e n t s gu id e

THE family behind one of Ennis’ landmark pubs, the Diamond Bar, will celebrate 30 years in business next month. The Kelly family have been pulling pints at the O’Connell street premises since it opened in 1981.

Dad Gerry had been involved in the bar trade nearly all his life, working in pubs in O’Callaghan’s Mills, Clonmel and Portlaoise prior to working in Ennis. He said, “I worked in the Cloister in 1977. I took over the Diamond Bar in 1981. There have been a lot of changes up and down the years.”

Those changes have included renovations to the building, which were first carried out in 1987 and again in 2003. The Diamond may have changed since those early days but the one constant has been the presence behind the counter of the Kelly family – Gerry, wife Theresa, and children Claire, Ursula and Mark.

The family has many fond memories from over the years but for Gerry, Clare’s unforgettable All-Ireland hurling triumphs in 1995 and 1997 really stand out.

“1995 was the highlight. ‘95 and ‘97. The night Clare came back from Dublin with the Liam McCarthy cup, on the Monday night, the like of it will never be seen in the town again. The biggest problem that night was trying to keep people out of the place,” he recalled.

Indeed, the Diamond was the place to be on Monday nights after a big championship game when musician Kieran McDermott could often be heard belting out ‘The Banner Roar’.

Gerry himself was no stranger to sporting success due to his involvement in a number of horse racing syndicates. He said, “We did a lot of syndicates down the years – Gold Anchor was our first success, trained by Liam Brown. Then we had Wimbledon with Dermot Weld. Then we had the ‘God of Love’ with Ger Lyons. Now we have Steele’s Rock with Kieran Purcell. It has been a lucky pub for syndicates and long may it continue.”

Of the changes he has observed in the pub trade over the years, Gerry said that the combined effect of the smoking ban, tighter drink driving laws and the low-cost selling of alcohol in supermarkets have made it a difficult time for publicans.

Mark worked alongside his father in the bar after returning from college in 2003. He now runs two bars in Ennis, Faffa’s and Johnnos.

Like his father, Mark says it is a difficult time for the pub industry. But like all the family he is looking forward to next Friday when the Diamond’s 30-year anniversary will be marked with a series of celebrations at the pub from June 3-6.

THE former Two Mile Inn in Meelick, which closed in September of last year, has been bought with a view to re-opening it as a nursing home, The Clare People has learned.

The move would bring a substantial number of new jobs to the area.

Those directly involved with the sale were remaining tight-lipped about the detail, but sources in Meelick have confirmed that the plans are to have a state-of-the-art nursing home development on the site.

Tom Crosse of GVM autioneers in Limerick, who handled the sale, would say only that the property had been bought in trust by a firm of so- licitors, and that he understands there possibly may be plans to look at reopening as a nursing home.

The auctioneer would not comment on the purchase price but other sources have put the sale price in the region of € 1.25 million.

It’s not known when work might start on the new home. However, the property would be an ideal location for such a venture, with ample accomodation possibilities and car parking facilities.

The price tag on the value of the once popular hotel plummeted by € 6 million, from more than € 7 million, in the 12 months before it closed. There had ben interest previously but no deal emerged.

When the Two Mile Inn finally shut its doors, 15 full-time staff lost their jobs but many more than that would have been employed when the hotel was at its peak.

A series of efforts were made to find a buyer before Price Waterhouse Coopers put it on the market through GVM at a reduced price tag last November and invited tenders.

It is understood that the sale attracted considerable interest when the lower price tag was revealed.

One of Limerick’s longest-established hotels, the Two Mile Inn was built by Tom Ryan and later taken over by local hotelier Brendan Dunne in the mid-1970s.

In October 2008, Billy O’Riordan of PriceWaterhouseCoopers was appointed as receiver and he placed the hotel on the market as a going concern.

At the time, the price being sought was in the region of € 7 million. However, two years later, when a buyer could not be found, the asking price was slashed to € 1.2 million.

At the time, Mr Crosse described this as a “giveaway price” for such a substantial, high-profile property.

The property features 123 bedrooms, a bar/restaurant area and conferencing facilities as well as extensive car parking space. It occupies an 11-acre site on the Ennis dual carriageway, with easy access to Ennis, Shannon and Limerick city.

SIXMILBRIDGE is awash with comhrá this week, with everyone sporting badges that announce they have ‘cúpla focal’. This pride in the Irish language comes after the village became the only one in Clare to get through to the next round of the TG4 ‘G-Team’ competition.

Now, the village is in with a strong chance of winning the prize – € 40,000 to spend in promoting their area.

The badges – which declare ‘Tá cupla focal agam’ – have been distributed in shops; a trad music session ‘as Gaeilge’ has been organised; and the local bistro, The Miller’s Loft, is even changing its name to an Irish version in honour of the event.

‘The G-Team’ is a new 10-part television series on TG4 that will feature non-Irish speaking communities from all over the country. The challenge is for these communities to begin using their native tongue in their daily routines.

Film crews descended on the East Clare village a week ago and filmed local people doing their shopping, ordering pints and having business meetings in Irish. Diners in the bistro were filmed enjoying their meals, having ordered them as Gaeilge.

The G-Team winners 2011 win a € 40,000 prize, sponsored by Foras na Gaeilge, to use in promoting their local area.

There was absolute delight at a meeting to announce that Sixmilebridge has become the only village in Clare to qualify.

Speaking at the Irish-speaking trad session and the launch of the badge at the weekend, Brendan Walsh of the Sixmilebrideg Folk Club said, “There is fantastic excitement in the village about the whole thing. They’re really grabbing this and running with.

“There are all kinds of plans coming up. The aim is to involve every organisation in the village, and there are plenty of them.”

TG4 has appointed a mentor to help the Sixmilebridge residents to co-ordinate their next steps in the competition.

Film crews will be arriving to film at intervals and watch the progress of expanding the amount of Irish that people in the community use in their everyday lives.

TRADERS and local food producers have given the thumbs up to a new market bazaar, which opened in Ennis earlier this month.

Local craft makers, growers, artists and musicians have been making use of Ennis’ newest trading area, which operates on Fridays and Saturdays at Cronin’s yard in the town centre.

Speaking at the market’s opening day, organiser Ann Cronin said the venture is aimed at supporting small local businesses. She explained that 60 per cent of the goods sold by traders must be made in Clare.

She said, “It’s been good fun. We have a nice mix of things, a nice mix of people. There are crafty, creative types. We’re looking at about 16 a day. So we’re trying to get the full compliment. We’ve had lots of people in, people coming in having a gawk and wondering what it is. It’s great that people are curious about new things still”.

She continued, “Traders book beforehand, that way we can guarantee them a space. Sixty per cent of the stuff has to be made in Clare so we try and support indigenous and small companies rather than having an extension of the outside market.”

One of those happy to take a stall in the bazaar is baker Tess Jones. Tess, who runs Perfection Bakery from her home in Morrissey Avenue, Cloughleigh, said markets are a cost-effective way for small businesses to get their product to consumers.

She said, “I think it’s absolutely fantastic. The town is dying a death. Landlords are charging too much rent. Businesses are closing down all over the place. This is the opportunity for someone with a good idea to get it out there with a minimum outlay. So it’s a really good idea.”

She added, “We’re all very enthusiastic. We seem to be getting a lot of interest. Not that many people know about it. Ennis is small town so its very much world of mouth, which obviously will come into play as the weeks go on”

She said, “I’m just baking from home at the moment. This is my first ever market. It’s going pretty well. There seems to be a lot of interest. Everyone likes my product and that’s the main thing.”

A NEW initiative aimed at creating links between new Clare businesses and some of the country’s top research and development centres has gotten underway in Ennis.

Local authorities in Clare, Shannon Development and the west of Ireland’s two largest universities have teamed up to found the Ennis Inno- vation Centre.

Speaking last Thursday, Majella McNamara of Clare County Council’s Economic Development Unit said the centre had been set up to “help Clare-based businesses to access support in universities”.

She told a meeting of the Clare branch of Network Ireland that the centre has been opened to fill the gap created by the absence of a major third-level institution in Clare. She said that small businesses are often unsure how to avail of expertise offered by third-level institutions.

Modeled on the system of university transfer technology offices, the centre will help commercialise businesses ideas and encourage innovation, Ms McNamara said. She explained that the regional innovation centre offers start-up companies training and mentoring, expertise in business areas, linkages to academic institutions, technology transfer expertise and supported applications to development bodies. Ms McNamara said that while it isn’t the role of local authorities to directly create employment, it is their role to “facilitate job creation in Clare”.

The Innovation Centre is based at the Ennis Information Age Park on the Gort road and is overseen by recently appointed director, Gert O’Rourke. Ms O’Rourke has a background in training and consultancy and is the founder of Gert O’Rourke training and development. The centre is a joint initiative between Shannon Development, Clare County Council, Ennis Town Council, National University of Ireland, Galway and University of Limerick.

THE SHANNON chess club will represent the county in the All-Ireland championships in Athlone this weekend.

The club sealed entry to the finals in both the under-12 and under-16 events, having won the Munster finals. The under-12s defeated Ahane from Limerick in their final, while the under-16 team overcome Crecora from Limerick in their decider. A panel of 14 players will visit Athlone to take part in the finals.

Last year, the club finished in third place in the All-Ireland under-16 final and hopes to add to the success this year.

“We are hoping to do a bit better this year,” said coach Stephen Danagher.

There is a huge interest in chess in the Shannon area and the club has won dozens of competitions in recent years.

There are almost 30 members of the club in Shannon and they play at the library every Friday evening.

“There is a great interest in it and there is a great facility in the Shannon library. They enjoy it. Success breeds success. We have won quite a bit every year. When the children get a few medals and trophies, they are thrilled with it,” said Stephen, who set up the club more than 12 years ago.

“We are lucky in Shannon to have such a diverse population. Our culture doesn’t promote chess as much as the Indians and the Eastern Europeans and there is an influx of both in Shannon,” he added. The Danagher name will be prominent over the weekend. Stephen’s son James is the captain of the under-16 team, while his daughter Jessica is on the under12 team. Stephen has been interested in chess for many years.

“I played it going to school and I played it in the army. It is very addictive,” he said.

The local community in Shannon has been hugely supportive of the team’s efforts. They helped out with a fundraising flag day, while the local community games club has also contributed to the fund. The town council has also supported the club over the years.

“We are grateful to the people of Shannon for their support. The money raised from a flag day two weeks ago helped to buy t-shirts for the AllIreland,” added Stephen.

GARDAI are investigating vandalism which involved gravestones at an historic cemetery in East Clare being smashed.

Three headstones at Kilquane Cemetery in Parteen have been smashed and toppled over.

Previously, gravestones had pieces chipped away but the fresh vandalism is described as being of a much more serious nature

Locals are outraged at what they see as “wanton vandalism and sacrilege” after a committee formed locally put in trojan work to make the graveyard accessible for visitors and tourists.

The Kilquane Cemetery Committee have held meetings with local representatives and gardai have confirmed they are taking the destruction very seriously.

The historic cemetery, which is final resting place to a host of colourful characters, was made accessible last year thanks to a community effort and the generosity of a local business.

The Parteen resting place dates back to the seventh century. Local historian, Donal Ó Riain was closely involved in the project to create access to the overgrown and rubblestrewn area.

“The ruins of the church are from the 7th century and the first recorded burial there was in 1700. That was Phillip McAdams, the man who was said to be a traitor because he showed the Williamites a safe way across the river to attack Sarsfiled’s Jacobites.”

Also buried in the cemetary is the last man to say Mass in the Protestant Cathedral of St Mary’s.

Padraig O’Brian, the noted Úileann piper has also found a place of rest there.

“For years, there was a problem for people getting into the cemetary because you had to cross a field to get to it but then we got permission from the new landowners to make a pathway across the field and Bobby O’Connell quarries in Ballycar got involved and they gave us the materials to put in a path. Frank Sweeney, a local man came along with his truck and his JCB and laid it out,” he said.