Month: August 2014

BOTH the Department of the Arts and the Office of Public Works are passing the buck when it comes to claiming responsibility and authority over any potential purchase of the childhood home of Edna O’Brien for the State.

The plan for State to purchase Drewsboro House in Tuamgraney was launched last month by Labour TD, Michael McNamara, after the property together with nine acres was withdrawn from auction when failing to realise a bid in excess of € 200,000.

The Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht has said that Minister Heather Humphries or her department has the remit to purchase the property and has deferred the matter to the Office of Public Works.

However, OPW says its a matter for the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as it hold the purse strings for any potential purchase.

“Since 2011 I have been trying to find ways in which Drewsboro House might be purchased and conserved,” revealed Deputy Michael McNamara when calling on Minister Heather Humphries’ department to buy the property.

“There is now an opportunity for the State to acquire the house for a sum that represents good value for the State and turned into a writers’ retreat and museum, with the Kate O’Brien House in Limerick and the Heinrick Boll Cottage on Achill Island serving as examples of what might be achieved.

“Any community proposal for the future of Drewsboro House could only succeed with the support and blessing of Edna O’Brien.

“I have spoken to her on the future of the house some time ago and I believe that it is her dearest wish to have the house acquired and restored for a suitable purpose,” he added.

In 2007, a plaque extolling Edna O’Brien was unveiled near the entrance to Drewsboro, forty five years after copies of her second novel The Lonely Girl were ceremonially burnt in the church grounds of O’Brien’s home village of Tuamgraney.

The Clare author, famous for her Country Girls trilogy has sold millions of books throughout the world, a number of which have been made into movies.

Edna O’Brien was born in Tuamgraney on December 15th, 1930.

PLANS have announced for a major face-lift of Clare’s largest business and industrial park.

Shannon Development is proposing upgrades to both buildings and public lighting at the Shannon Free Zone – a multi-sectoral business park that is home to over 100 manufacturing and international service companies, employing 6500 people.

The planned series of upgrades include work on Airport House – “a signature building” in the Shannon Free Zone.

Shannon Development is inviting tenders for work on Airport House – a large four-storey multi let office building.

The tender notice states, “The building was originally constructed in the 1960s and is a signature building within Shannon Free Zone and is adjacent to Shannon Airport.

“The Company now wishes to commence major upgrade works to certain elements of the building namely upgrade of the front entrance lobby/ reception area and upgrade to the fit out on the first floor. Works will be completed in Q3 2014”.

Shannon Development is currently in transition to become part of Shannon Group plc – an umbrella group comprising Shannon Airport, Shan- non Development, Shannon Heritage and the International Aviation Services Centre (IASC).

The plans to revamp the Free Zone form part of the Shannon Group’s aim to “to emphasise a more commercially focused property remit” for Shannon Development, which will be renamed Shannon Commercial Enterprises Ltd, trading as Shannon Enterprises.

The company is also inviting tenders for upgrades to the public lighting system in the Shannon Free Zone,

“Shannon Development has decided to commence major upgrade works to the existing public lighting infrastructure for the entire Shannon Free Zone area.

“The initial phase of upgrade works will including new ducting, power distribution and cables, lighting columns and light fittings to replace existing light fittings in Shannon Free Zone West”, the tender notice states.

Shannon Development is also inviting expressions of interest for a “complete overhaul” of the company’s largest building, Block B in the Shannon Free Zone.

The Block B building is located in Shannon Free Zone West and was constructed in the 1960’s and modified/upgraded in the intervening years since then.

The tender notice states, “The building is presently designed as large scale high bay warehousing and distribution.

“Block B is the largest Company owned building in the SFZ (both in terms of floor plate and internal height) with over 100,000 sq ft of floor area. In 2012 part of the building (44,755 sq ft) was refurbished and leased.

“The remainder of the building (56,300 sq ft) also requires refurbishment and it is proposed to undertake this refurbishment work in 2014 with a view to leasing the building on a phased basis.

“Block B Unit 2 has a covered floor area of 56,300 sq ft, is currently unoccupied and now requires a complete upgrade to return the building to good lettable condition.

“The roof covering of the entire 100,000 sq ft Block B building is at the end of its serviceable life and needs to be recovered. Internally, the fabric of the building needs a complete overhaul while elements of the external of the building also need to be upgraded”.

Construction of the Shannon Free Zone commenced in 1959. It currently encompasses 600 acres of land and four million square foot of buildings adjacent to Shannon International Airport.

IT MAY have all appeared spontaneously instinctive but arguably Clare’s most complete Munster Final display stemmed from a much more meticulous and regimented foundation.

You see, the finished product was based on a gameplan that was practised to near monotony since the semi-finals over a fortnight previously, and while there was inevitably a degree of ad-libbing from the ‘golden generation’, joint manager Gerry O’Connor was the first to admit that their persistence and homework paid off.

“We spoke at the start of the game about delivering a performance based on our strengths. Our strengths have been focus, running off the shoulder, decision making, all the thing we have been trying to implement in training over the past five years, they all came together tonight in that first half.

“We probably gave the best 30 minute display of hurling that we have ever given as a group, everything went according to the plan.

“The guys in midfield and the half-back line were clinical in their pinpoint accuracy of the deliveries into the full-forward line and by doing that and by being aware that the sweeper was there.

“And I have to say this, that Paul Kinnerk designed all the training sessions based on his reading of the DVD of the Cork v Waterford game and he completely negated the sweeper as a result of the training he did over the past two weeks. I really want to put that on record because you can’t take away from the mathematical ability and genius of the guy to digest and devour the DVD and then come back in and put a series of training sessions in place over a two week period that was completely structured with a view to guys making the right decision when they had the ball which would ultimately negate the sweeper.

“And we felt that if we were patient, disrupted their supply and kept picking off our points, it would drag them into a situation that they would be forced to release the sweeper back up the field. That’s what we were trying to achieve and it worked to a tee.

“Up the other end, our fullback line were really on top, seriously on top. We had spoken about playing from the front, particularly on Cadogan and Spillane and we got our match-ups right. We had a lot of debate and disagreements and we changed our minds several times but that just shows that we have several strong personalities in the management team.

“Our full-back line and defence in general were brilliant, and Jamie Shanahan as well man marking their target from puck-outs Shane O’Keeffe, he was outstanding as well so really the plan went to perfection and it doesn’t often happen like that.”

It couldn’t have worked out any better on Wednesday as Clare thrilled the home support from the outset as they soaked up the gameplan in a mature, commanding display.

“In 2011, Donal, myself, Jimmy and Paul were never as gutted as we were after losing to Galway because we felt that we had the best prepared and most skilful group of minors that ever left the county. But when push

came to shove and when the pres

sure came on from Galway, we

had the skill but we just didn’t

appear to have the resilience

and the leaders throughout the

group.

“And that was the challenge

that we laid down to these guys

at the start of the year, ‘we

know for sure that you

are the most skilful bunch of hurlers to ever come out of Clare b u t y o u ’ v e got to b a c k that up w i t h r e a l leade r – ship, real resilience and real mental toughness’.

“And we knew that it was delivered on in the Tipperary so coming into tonight, we knew that if Cork came at us, that our leaders would stand up because they were really, really asked serious questions against Tipperary. I mean it’s all well and good celebrating the win tonight but the real leadership was shown when we went four points down against Tipperary in the semi-final, that’s how you define leadership.

“Donal put a challenge to those guys tonight as well that we need to see all the guys that didn’t make the match day 24 or didn’t come on a substitute tonight to be the leaders now for their clubs overt the next few weeks because we will be there looking at them and expecting them to give a leadership performance of skill and pace.”

In addition, O’Connor refused to entertain the accolades of winning three successive Munster Under 21’s or their five-in-a-row in Munster. The Éire Óg clubman was more concerned with the next generation and utilising the feel-good factor that surrounds Clare hurling at the moment.

“There was a huge crowd there and tonight was all about the kids. We’ve got our core support and we know who they are and it started off here when there was 400 of them there in 2010 and that core support has been building for the past four or five years.

“But ultimately tonight is about club coaches, parents and players taking inspiration from what these guys have done over the past few years because that’s what it’s about. Imagine a guy playing for an Under 12 team in his club, he can aspire to being on the Under 13 development squad in his area and it’s about inspiring those guys.

“These Under 21s are a serious marketing tool now for the rest of the clubs in Clare. Donal [Moloney], myself, Jimmy [Browne] and Paul [Kinnerk] get all the kudos on nights like tonight but Tony Kelly, Colm Galvin and all the squad that turned out to be unbelievable athletes and ambassadors for Clare hurling, somebody in their club or teacher influenced, inspired and coached them to be the players they turned out to be. So that’s all vitally important and if we can help to sell it easier, then we are delighted to do so.

“I would look at us [management] as the marketing department for future players and coaches in Clare. The summer camp numbers have gone off the richter scale in relation to their popularity and that’s what it’s about. It’s important to win but we always focus on the performance, developing the individual and making sure that he fits in to our system.”

And that development is still ongoing as they prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final against Antrim in less than three week’s time.

“We set ourselves very ambitious goals at the start of the year and we are only halfway there now.”

TENDERS are being invited for a planned € 4m upgrade of flood defences in Ennis and Clarecastle.

Last March, An Bord Pleanála approved an application from Clare County Council to construct the Ennis South Flood Relief Scheme which when completed will deliver flood defences in Clonroadmore, Ballybeg and Clareabbey.

The works include a flood overflow culvert from St Flannan’s Stream to the Clareabbey flood plain, a flood overflow culvert from Ballybeg Stream to the Clareabbey flood plain, and an upgrade of the existing flood defence embankment between the Quin Road and the Clarecastle tidal barrage. The estimated cost of the project is € 4 million.

Details of the project are contained in a notice posted by Clare County Council on the e-tenders public sector procurement site.

The project involves the c construction of 2 No. flood alleviation culverts (1,200mm diameter, 1,120m and 520m in length in congested ur- ban environment), along with service diversions.

The development will see the upgrade of 2.7km of existing flood defence embankment (50,000 – 100,000 cubic meters of imported material) with associated works to back drain, sluice valves and construction of a new pumping station, located in Ennis and Clarecastle.

According to the notice, works will be required within the Lower River Shannon SAC Natura 2000 Site. Following a short-listing process, 5-7 candidates will be invited to tender, provided that there is a sufficient number of suitably qualified applicants. Work on phase two of the Ennis Flood Relief Scheme between Bank Place Bridge and Doora Bridge is ongoing at locations around Ennis. On completion, it is hoped the project will lead to the protection of 849 residential and 425 non-residential properties on completion.

Defences including enhanced river walls, pumping stations and new drainage systems are included in the project, which is aimed at protecting Ennis against a 100-year flood event.

GARTH BROOKS for Ennis? That just might be a possibility as Clare County Council has been urged to investigate the potential of holding music festivals at the home of Clare GAA, Cusack Park. The Clare GAA owned grounds in the centre of Ennis emerged as one potential venue for large-scale music or community events in a submission on recreations and sports to the Ennis and Environs Development draft local area Plan. Clare County Council is currently drawing up the plan, which will guide the development of Ennis from 2015 to 2021. In his submission, Chair of the Ennis Municipal District Committee (MDC), Johnny Flynn, proposes the “development potential of Cusack Park music festivals” be examined under the plan. The submission states that Cusack Park could be the venue for a revived version of the “Lisdoonvarna Festival” – the iconic music event previously staged in North Clare. The development of ‘Spoiti Ceol’ (music public performance locations) and the drafting of a busking code are also contained in the submission. Cllr Flynn proposes that the Fair Green or Tim Smythe Park, be designated as a public events centre. The submission proposes the development of an international artist workshop at the old Garda barracks buildings and the “development of large arts spaces for Macnas type works over winter preparing for St Patrick’s Day and other parades”. The submission also contains proposed changes and improvements along the River Fergus, Ballyalla Lake and the Lees Road sports and recreation facility. Cllr Flynn has suggested the “creation of recreational boating in Ennis from Post Office field to Knox’s Bridge to maintain minimum boating depth of water during Summer and to deal with flow issues”. For Ballyalla Lake, the submission proposes the designation of a physical connection from Lees Road to Ballyalla; the potential development of a European standard campervan site near Ballyalla Lake; playground and public toilet facilities; the repair of the old Pier and the installation of a zip wire and a general physical activity centre at Ballyalla. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has previously warned that there is limited scope for development at Ballyalla due it’s designation as a wildlife sanctuary, special area of conservation and special protection area. Cllr Flynn suggests that buoys be provided across the middle of the lake to protect the designation of the Western side as an overwintering bird and wildlife sanctuary. He has also proposed the banning of outboard engines other than for approved public safety boats at particular events.

SEANIE McMahon take a bow.

Your influence stretches long beyond your status as one of the greatest hurling men to ever have the number six on your back.

“Has there ever been a better centre-back in the world” thundered Michéal Ó Muircheartaigh in one of his commentaries on Clare back in the day.

It was rhetorical, of course. And it was preaching to the Clare converted, even all the way out Miltown Malbay way, deep in football country.

Yes, there was always a bit of a hurling enclave here thanks to Tom Malone’s Clonbony, while there was a county hurling final played there in ’99. And, it’s there that Conor Cleary would have seen Seanie McMahon in hurling flesh.

“It was Seanie, Seanie McMahon,” he says minutes after becoming a Munster championship winning centre-back like his hero. “I took to him as a young lad and it was the team he was a part of and the success that they had that got me interested in hurling.

“To be part of a Munster championship winning team! Growing up seeing the likes of Seanie McMahon and the lads doing it in the late 1990s, it’s just a dream come through. Little did I think when I started hurling that I’d end up here. To win a Munster title on the field of play – it’s incredible, it means so much,” he adds.

The first Miltown man to win a Munster hurling medal on the field; Martin Flynn and Karl Walsh were part of the football win in 1992; Clare is the latest in a long line of Munster champions from Miltown that includes famous names like Eddie Carroll and PJ Killeen, who were on the 1917 football team and Georgie Comerford was the hero of the 1929 minor football team.

“It’s all the people who have helped me down through the years,” says Cleary. “It was my father, the people in Kilmaley and there’s great thanks to Davy (Fitzgerald) for bringing me into the seniors this year. For a while I didn’t know where I was going with my hurling and being in the senior panel really brought me on a lot.

“Paul Kinnerk always says to us, ‘at the start of every game, get your hands on the ball as early as you can’. That happened for me and we tried to set down a marker, not to let any ball pass the half-back line. Nine times out of ten it worked. It’s incredible to be part of this.”

Incredible too that Clare’s hurling revolution is now touching the west Clare coast.

Thanks to Conor Cleary, who can take a bow with Seanie McMahon.

THIS was the night that the Munster cup was handed over to Clare for the third successive year. As such it was a coronation, with a party atmosphere wrapping around Cusack Park when provincial chairman Robert Frost handed the silverware over to Tony Kelly.

But in real time out on the field and amid all the hoopla that’s building up all around him, joint-manager Dónal Moloney seems able to take a few steps back. Steps back two weeks to the day in fact.

He defaults to the Tipperary game.

“Tipperary nearly put paid to this,” he says, “and when we reflect back on that night, that was the night the Munster Championship was won. We displayed enormous courage when we were flat. When we weren’t playing well we displayed enormous courage and that was the night the championship was won.”

But what about this night? The shock and awe of that first 30 minutes!

“These guys have created certain standards over the last few years,” begins Moloney. “In the first half they surpassed all of that. We knew there was a huge performance in them, but they really expressed themselves in the first half and it was a joy to watch them. We are so fortunate to have such talented guys available to us, players with the capability and the capacity to do that. “It’s not easy to come out when you’re red hot favourites. There’s a lot of talk about three-in-a-row, you’re playing Cork who have just dumped Waterford out and for those guys to get their focus exactly right to turn in a performance like that – there’s some credit due to them. “Right from the full-back line, the way they were creating space and moving the ball. Cork were struggling and gaps just opened up. We hit a purple patch for seven or eight minutes and the game finished as a con- test at that point in time,” he adds.

With that it was just about holding firm – a case of enjoying the journey, without doubt the easiest of Clare’s five provincial titles over the past five years at both minor and under 21 level.

Mention of those five provincial titles, not to mind the two All-Irelands, and it’s no wonder that Moloney et al are nearly at a loss for words to explain it all – but not quite.

“It’s been an incredible journey and to be quite honest with you, it’s been a fairytale,” he says. “We never thought any of this would happen to us. The reality is that we’ve been very fortunate to come across not just some of the most talented players that the county has ever seen, but also guys who had a massive desire.

“It isn’t always that you find the two in the one package, but we have a whole bunch of guys who have both. We should really cherish that because it won’t last. It won’t last, we won’t have underage teams turning out that kind of performance. They’ll be very competitive, but we won’t have them turning out that kind of performance every year,” he adds.

Two more will do for this year as Clare now home in on more glory.

The Munster three-in-a-row bagged; now to repeat the dose at All-Ireland level.

AS A member in the prestigious ‘five-in-a-row’ club that carved out their own piece of history with successive provincial crowns at minor (2) and Under 21 (3) levels, Aaron Cunningham was inevitably one of Clare’s leading lights in their latest triumph on Wednesday.

Described as a ‘savage outlet’ by joint-manager Gerry O’Connor af- terwards, chief targetman Cunningham raided for four points as Clare blitzed the Rebels on home soil.

“It’s a brilliant achievement for everyone and for a few of us, that is our fifth Munster title back-to-back so that’s kind of unheard of in Clare and we’re delighted with that.

“And definitely doing it in Cusack Park in front of a home crowd is what we’ve always wanted to do and I’m sure if it was on down in Cork, they would love to be playing in front of their home crowd.

“In fairness, the last couple of occasions when we’ve been playing here, the crowd have been the 16th man for us and have really got behind us.”

The crowd didn’t have to be as influential as the Tipperary match as Clare led with a degree of comfort from start to finish in another consummate display.

“We were always confident but I would never say we were cocky. We always know we have more in the tank but we never took Cork for granted at any stage there, even with ten minutes to go.

“The supply to us in the forwards was excellent. In fairness to the lads out the field, they’re unbelievable at picking out the pass inside and I suppose when Cork took their sweeper out midway through the first half, it opened up a lot more for us inside so the ball coming in was of a higher standard.”

However, their unprecedented suc- cess in recent years has also provided a large dollop of experience not to take any team for granted in their pursuit of a three-in-a-row of AllIreland titles.

“It is the ultimate goal but we aren’t even thinking about a third All-Ireland because we know the upset that Antrim caused in semi-final against Wexford last year and we certainly won’t be taking them for granted at all. So we will be only focusing on that game in the next few weeks.”

SHANE O’Donnell is one of the last to make his way the dressing room – even with his right hand bandaged, bloodied and broken he’s still out on the field for over half and hour after the game.

Signing autographs. Standing in for selfies. On and on it goes. There’s no orderly queue – more like mayhem as they swarm around and look for a piece of him. Look for a drop of his royal hurling blood even.

Eventually, all the demands of the teeming crowds of kids and teenagers are met – all that’s missing is the Garda escort like the one he needed to escape from Sixmilebridge after last year’s Goal Challenge.

He’s glad to get away, elated, but slightly deflated.

Elated to get game time after all his injury woes since April.

“It’s been a long time,” he says. “Almost four months since my last competitive game. It was great to be back out on the pitch, but that’s why you’re training and doing all the re- hab for.

“I never envisioned that it would be that long before I got back playing, but things like that happened and I’m just delighted to be here and part of this out on the field,” he adds.

Elated to rattle the net once more.

“It was on a plate,” he says of his latest flash of the ash. “I called for the ball, but Reidy has unbelievable vision anyway and playing with him at club level we have a decent enough idea of where each other is most of the time. He’s a fantastic player and it was a great ball into me and I couldn’t miss it from there.”

It came at a time when Clare couldn’t miss, racking up a 1-15 to 0-5 interval lead, with O’Donnell’s goal being the decisive blow that finally turned this Munster final into a procession.

“It clicked for us,” says O’Donnell. “We seemed to have our touch right for the first half. We gave Cork every respect as they deserved – if we didn’t they would have been all over us, so we played our game and it seemed to work.

“The message at half time was just to drive on – if we switched off they would be on top of us and they did for a while. For a couple of minutes there it looked as if they might storm into the game but we held them off and played out the last minutes of the game.”

The only downside was O’Donnell’s injury, later confirmed as a hand fracture that consigns him to another stint on the sidelines. A huge loss to his club Éire Óg, but there’s the AllIreland to aim for in the distance.

“We’d love to win the All-Ireland and there are a couple of games to go before that will be in our minds. We have the All-Ireland semi-final and without the seniors that’s all we have in our heads now, apart from the club. Hopefully we can get over the semi-final and then we can deal with all the three-in-a-row stuff after that.”

By which time O’Donnell will be fit and raring to go once more.

ON ANOTHER day David Reidy would have been man of the match with 2-3 to his name from play.

There was that time in the first half when Shane O’Donnell returned the compliment paid to him a few minutes earlier, by putting a goal on a plate for his fellow Éire Óg Townie.

“I think the ref blew the whistle a small bit too early,” laughs Reidy at the memory of his own flash of the ash with a goal at his mercy only for the referee to call a foul on O’Donnell. “It doesn’t matter. The win was the main thing – it was a very good team performance,” he adds.

But it didn’t end there for Reidy – in the 59th minute he snaps a great ball on the shed side of the field and turns for the town goal with the net on his mind, breaking the tackle he’s in the clear and about to pull the trigger when the whistle sounds again for a jersey tug.

“A bit too early again,” he laughs, “but again it doesn’t matter. For me it was about winning and playing my part and to be part of it. It’s been unbelievable – just look at the crowd out there on the field. They’re fantastic, all of this is fantastic and it’s something that I wouldn’t have imagined at the start of the year.

“I was number 37 or 38 last year on the squad, trying to burst in and get into this team. It just wasn’t happening and didn’t happen for me, but I made it onto the senior squad and the extra training that I did pushed me

and I got the break. I think

I’ve taken that chance now.”

What about the goal? Your

part in Shane O’Donnell’s lat

est salvo against the Rebels?

“Once Shane is inside you

know there’s only going to

be one finish,” he says.

“It was an outstanding fin

ish, he took is few steps and

finished it into the back of the

net. You expect nothing else

from Shane. I knew if I could

get the ball into him he’d do

it. I knew we had the game

then. It was brilliant.”

As was David Reidy on his

first Munster final day out

– the three points, the cou

ple of goals that could have

been, his workrate around

the field. Everything, on a

perfect day for the under 21

class of 2014.