Category: News

THE match may not live long in the memory but for members of the Tulla Pipe Band the meeting of Ireland and Slovakia in last Friday’s European Championship qualifier was certainly an unforgettable experience.

After years of performing at some of the country’s biggest sporting and cultural events, the band played for over 40,000 fans and an international television audience of millions when they performed the national anthems of the respective nations at the Aviva Stadium.

The band were invited to perform after impressing Football Association of Ireland (FAI) CEO John Delaney during a visit to Tulla in July. An invitation for a first ever performance at the old Lansdowne Road was extended to the band by the FAI through Tulla United.

Club players and officials accompanied the 26 band members and assistant treasurer Mary Boland to Dublin on Friday.

“We got there at 5pm on the button and the bus pulled into the tunnel in the stadium. I suppose it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get into the heart of the stadium,” recalled band Chairman Fintan Leamy.

The band ran through a 20-minute sound check and rehearsal before returning to their dressing room beside the Slovakian national team.

Fintan said, “They were right next door to us. They came out to try and warm up in the warm up area where we had left our equipment and instruments. I think it obstructed them. I don’t know if they were put there for tactical reasons!”

The band spent six weeks preparing for the event, making sure their performance conformed to the strict requirements of television schedules.

He continued, “We were back out on the pitch at exactly 7.29pm, that was our time slot to be out on the field. The playing of the two anthems came in at around 2mins 30secs and we had to shorten it by about 10-15 seconds…It was the most technically managed event we ever played at.”

Fintan added, “We had it all very well rehearsed. From the gate to the pitch in Tulla is almost the exact same length as the tunnel in the Aviva. We were 100 per cent prepared.”

While Slovak fans gave a rapturous response to the band’s version of ‘Lighting over the Tatras’, Fintan said the players weren’t sure what to make of it.

He explained, “The Slovak players were a little surprised on hearing their anthem played on pipe music. The fans were certainly rejoicing in it. It’s normally played in an orchestral band format. It was a totally new sound (for them).”

Band members were congratulated on their performance by John Delaney and former Republic of Ireland international Ray Houghton.

Fintan said he hopes the high profile association with the world of international soccer will help attract a new generation of musicians to the band who this year celebrate 75 years in existence.

He added, “Any band would love the exposure. It’s great advertising. Certainly we would love to do it again.”

A FORMER Mayor of Kilrush is to take the fight against the centralistation of local government services in Ennis to the floor of a public meeting of his local town council this week, in a move which is expected to receive the unanimous backing of fellow members of the council.

Cllr Tom Prendeville has lashed out at what he calls “the diminuition of services” in the west Clare capital, following the recent move that requires drivers wishing to renew their motor tax to do so by way of the internet only, rather than through a facility that was available to them in Kilrush.

Speaking ahead of his motion before the September meeting of Kilrush Town Council, the Fianna Fáil councillor blasted the decision to remove the motor tax renewal facility from the local Town Hall in Kilrush.

Cllr Prendeville has highlighted what he calls the “lack of consultation” with people in west Clare and its local representatives before the decision to remove the Kilrush facility was made, labelling it evidence of “the centralisation of services to Clare County Council headquarters in Ennis”.

Cllr Prendeville has called on Clare County Council “to restore the motor tax service which was available under the much-vaunted ‘one-stopshop initiative in the Town Hall until recent weeks.

“From now onwards, members of the public are being asked to renew their road tax online, even though a great majority of car-owners don’t have access to internet facilities.

“The removal of the service is an inconvenience to west Clare and is being seen as a further centralisation of services to Áras an Chontae and it is a source of regret that public consultation was not entered into before the service was withdrawn,” he added.

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Michael D Higgins made a return to the place he calls home when he visited Newmarket-on-Fergus on Friday.

The Labour party’s choice to contest the presidential election opened the Newmarket Village Carnival, which was headlined by Dublin band Republic of Loose.

Mr Higgins was raised by his uncle and aunt at their home in Ballycar and went to school in St Flannan’s College.

He recalled, “It was really where I was reared. My father, my grandfather and great grandfather are all from Ballycar. My sister lives in Shannon. My brother farms in Ballycar in the home place and his nephews are now building their houses there. It is where I have my roots. I was born in Limerick city because my father had his business there before his health broke but I was reared from the age of five in Ballycar. I went to St Flannan’s so my brother and myself went in and out every day. I was 19 when I left Clare. I worked for a few months in Progress International in Shannon and then I took the offer of a job with the ESB in Galway.”

He added, “So then I worked there for two years and then I went to England and went through university in America and then in England. Then I came back to teach and then I decid ed to give myself to the public world and stand for the Labour Party. But Clare is where my roots are.”

Mr Higgins was speaking in Ennis at the opening of the Ennis Guitar School, a new venture started by another Newmarket native, Mike Varden.

Former Horslips guitarist Johnny Fean was among the musicians who performed at the opening.

Mr Higgins, a former Minister for Culture, said “Clare has a rich tradition in traditional and contemporary music and this guitar school will help to develop and advance this. The Ennis Guitar School is an invaluable resource for the people of Ennis and the surrounding area, allowing its students, young and old, experienced and novice, to embrace the power of music and develop their talent.”

IT LOOKS certain that one of Ireland’s most controversial clerics, Bishop Eamon Casey, will never again say Mass in public after he was taken into a Clare nursing home last week because of ill health.

The former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora has been in a virtual limbo in the parish of Shanaglish on the Clare/Galway border since his return to Ireland in 2006.

Bishop Casey has been technically a practicing priests for the parish but has not been allowed to say Mass locally and has instead had to content himself by saying Mass for himself in his home.

Bishop Casey, who is a popular figure in the locality, was admitted to a Clare nursing home last week for a period of “respite”. One local man, who is a close neighbour of Bishop Casey, says that the disgraced bishop is “a proud man” and is hoping to return to his own home as quickly as possible.

“I was told that he would be making an appearance in the local pub this week, that he would be given a passout for the night, but we will have to wait and see,” said one neighbour.

“I know that the woman from the shop in Gort will be asking me when he [Bishop Casey] be back in to collect his daily paper again. But we don’t know. He is a proud man and I have no doubt that he will want to back to his house in Shanaglish again soon.”

A spokesperson from the Galway Diocese declined to make any statement of the health of Bishop Casey yesterday saying it was a personal matter but did confirm that there had been no change is Bishop Casey’s position regarding saying Mass again locally.

Bishop Casey was one of Ireland’s most popular religious figures before it was discovered that he had fathered a child with an Irish American woman, Annie Murphy, in 1974. This was one of the biggest scandals ever to hit the Irish Church when it came to light in 1992 and prompted Bishop Casey to tender his resignation and leave the country.

After 1992, Bishop Casey then chose to embrace the life of a foreign missionary in South America and worked with members of the Missionary Society of St James in a rural parish in Ecuador.

After a number of years in South America he moved to England before returning again to Shanaglish in 2006.

THE future of Shannon Airport should not be reliant on the activities of the United States military.

That’s according to the Labour Party’s presidential candidate Michael D Higgins who said last week that he thinks “it’s very wrong to be saying to the people of Clare that you approve war under conditions”.

New figures have shown that almost two million US military personnel have passed through Shannon since 2001.

The figures provided by the UD Department of Defence also suggested that the number of flights and personnel traveling through Shannon more than doubled in 2003 when America began its invasion of Iraq.

Asked on Friday for his views on the US military’s continued use of Shannon, Mr Higgins told The Clare People

FORMER Clare Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Daly was the unlikely name mentioned in the latest round of leaked cable released by the WikiLeaks organisation last week.

Mr Daly, who departed political life after the 2007 General Election, was mentioned in a communication between the US Embassy in Dublin and the American Government in Washington in relation to the “Shannon Five” who damaged an US plane parked in Shannon Airport.

The leaked top-secret document claimed that Mr Daly, who was a Senator at the time, contacted the Director of Public Prosecutions and requested an appeal against the notguilty verdict handed out to the protesters.

Speaking to The Clare People last night Mr Daly said that it was no secret that he was in favour of the use of Shannon Airport by the US Military.

He also said that he had no direct contact with anyone from the US Embassy but did remember receiving a call from someone who identified themselves as being from US Homeland Security around the time of the trial but had assumed that it was a crank call from some of his “friends in Dublin”.

“I felt at the time the we were right to allow the US to use the airport and my opinion on that hasn’t changed. It is something that is creating jobs locally and if we said no to it then they would simply fly out through Amsterdam or some other airport instead,” he said.

“I do remember at the time getting a call from someone saying they were from Homeland Security in America but I assumed at the time that it was Dooley [Clare TD Timmy Dooley] or some of my friends up in Dublin making the call.”

The Shannon Watch Organisation have been critical of Mr Daly’s stance on the matter, saying that it showed a lack of respect for the Irish judicial process.

“This cable suggests that he was not satisfied to take the decision of an Irish court – he wanted to interfere and find some way that the decision could be overturned,” said John Lannon of Shannonwatch.

“We don’t know what contact Mr Daly may have made with the DPP – whether that it was official or non official contact – but we do know that it became known to the American Ambassador that Senator Daly wanted to overturn the decision of an Irish court.”

THE men and women of the Irish Coast Guard’s helicopter search and rescue service based in Shannon will be the subject of a major new RTÉ series that begins

RTÉ cameras have been given exclusive access into the Irish Coast Guard’s helicopter Search and Rescue service based in Shannon. Filmed over a number of months, the six-part series follows the rescue crews at Shannon helicopter base, otherwise known as RESCUE 115, as they battle to save lives in one of the most hostile environments in the world.

Highlights from the series include the rescue of a group of young chil- dren stranded on a boat on the Shannon mud flats, and the dramatic rescue of a crew from a British nuclear submarine.

Even in the darkest nights and roughest seas, the men and women of the Irish Coast Guard continue to do a courageous job. With no second chances this small and efficient band of professionals and volunteers often put themselves in danger for the lives of others. In this episode the crew of Rescue 115 are called when a boat full of young children face danger on the River Shannon.

In another area a man is dangerously close to falling into rough seas and clings to some rocks with the hope of being rescued. And an injured woman on the top of Mount Brandon needs Rescue 115’s assistance.

Members of the Shannon-based rescue service joined Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), at a special preview of the series in the Old Ground Hotel last week.

The Irish Coast Guard has contracted six medium-lift Sikorsky Search and Rescue helicopters deployed at bases in Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo. The helicopters are designated wheels up from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours and 45 at night. One aircraft is fitted and its crew trained for under slung cargo operations up to 3000kgs and is available on short notice based at Waterford.

GARDAI have outlined details of a number of recent burglaries that have taken place around Clare in recent weeks.

Gardai in Scariff are investigating a burglary that occurred at a house in Furnace, Whitegate, between 8.40am and 6pm on August 25.

Thieves gained access through a rear window. Items taken include a small amount of cash, two gold wedding rings, one diamond engagement ring (two small diamonds set beside a large diamond on a gold band), a gold wishbone ring, a thick gold chain with a weave design halfway round, a gold bracelet with red stone on the top, a gold chain and a gold ring with three red stones.

A burglary took place at a house in Lenabeg, Ennis, between 2.50pm on August 24 and 5.50pm and August 25. A 19-inch plasma television, an X-Box 360 console, a silver chain, a small sum of money and a black Nintendo DS.

A house in Tullagower, Kilrush, was ransacked between 8pm and 10pm on August 28. Burglars gained entry to the house by forcing open the rear door. A landline telephone and television were taken in the incident.

In Knockera, Kilrush, a quantity of diesel was stolen from two diggers parked in the area. The burglary occurred between 7pm on August 23 and 9am on August 24. Also stolen were two sets of sockets, tool box with tools inside, two large spanners and three ratchets.

A burglary took place at a house in Clarehill, Clarecastle, between 11.45pm on August 28 and 3.30am on August 29. Items stolen were a Dell laptop, a house key and a lady’s purse.

Also in Clarecastle, an incident of criminal damage occurred when two back passenger windows were smashed in a car parked outside a house at St Joseph’s Terrace.

In Kilnamona, the front bumper, front grill, front headlights and two wing mirrors were stolen from a Grey Isuzu jeep that was parked in a field. The incident occurred between 6pm on August 25 and 8am on August 26. Gardaí in Ennistymon are investigating.

AN ENNIS company has manufactured a new fish pass which could save a number of endangered species of fish from the threat of extinction.

Enform Plastics Limited, which is based in the Doora Industrial Estate, has played a major role in the development of Ireland’s first ever plastic fish pass. The company, which was selected by the MulkearLIFE, helped design and manufacture a series of hardened ABS plastic sheets, each containing of pegs, which would aid the passage of fish upstream.

The project is focussed on helping to preserve the stock of Sea Lamprey in the Shannon but the design could have far-reaching implications for other rivers and other breeds of fish.

“This is a revolutionary design – it is the first time that a plastic fish pass has been designed which can be easily attached to barriers to allow fish like these massive Sea Lamprey to pass successfully upstream,” said Ruairí Ó Conchúir, Project manager with the MulkearLIFE Project.

“Sea Lamprey are under serious threat at the moment and the River Shannon as well as rivers like the Fergus are very important for them. They have suffered a 50 per cent decline in their population numbers and one of the reason for this is man-made barriers which have prevented them from accessing their traditional spawning grounds.”

MulkearLIFE is a new € 1.75 million European Commission funded project which is focussed on the Lower Shannon Special Area of Conservation. An initial instalment of the passes has proved to be a great success in recent months.

“We have worked with researchers in America, Canada and France to develop the design that would work best for the Sea Lamprey. The easiest way of describing the design is like an inverted egg-box made out of a special type of plastic. Enform Plastic worked with us on the design and manufactured the sheets for us and so far it has proved to be a great success,” continued Ruairí.

“This is a unique design and the first time anything like this has been used in Ireland. We have been making night-time and early morning observations of weirs and that is what proved to us that the design have been very successful. On one of the most recent counts we recorded 170 fish used the wire itself and 140 of them used the fish passes. We are confident that this is proving to be a big success. We know that we can easily adapt this to other rivers.”

ENNIS took another large step towards hosting the All-Ireland Fleadh in 2012 this weekend when it hosted a delegation from the National Standing Committee of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

With just 10 days to go until the announcement of who will host next years All-Ireland Fleadh, this was the local committees last change to influence the destination of valuable votes on the National Committee.

Ennis is currently in a three way competition to secure the Fleadh with Sligo and Cavan Town all bidding to host the event. Hosting the All-Ireland Fleadh is worth an estimated € 35 million to the locality which hosts it – and it could be worth a multiple of that in spin off tourism opportunities around the county.

“They seemed very pleased by what they saw in Ennis and we got a very positive response from them. There was a very impressive presentation for them, not just from he local branch but from the entire community here in Ennis,” said Rory Casey of the Local Steering Group.

“We took the delegation on a tour of all the prospective around the town and they were very pleased with what they saw.

“It was a really good presentation and we think that nothing more could really have been done to try and sway them. Whatever way things turn out we can look back at this and know that we did everything we could possible have done to bring the Fleadh to Ennis for next year.

“We have been so impressed by the amount of local support that we have received. Everyone has gotten together behind the bid. It hasn’t just been the local Comhaltas, all of the state agencies, the business and tourism communities – everyone has pulled together to try and make this a reality. What was really great about the presentation is the sheer amount of other interested bodies who took part.

“This could be the making of the summer for Ennis. You are talking in the region of € 35 million and in the current climate that will be a major boost not just for Ennis but for all of County Clare. That is one of the main things that we are pushing – that this will be not just an Ennis event but something that can be spread out to all of the county and something that can benefit all of Clare.”