The Clare People Archive

CLARE’S bid to overturn last year’s controversial decision to end the Open Draw in the Munster Senior Football Championship was quashed at the Munster Council convention last Friday night, but it didn’t stop Noel Walsh from venting his views on the subject.

The former Munster Council chair- man and GAA presidential candidate, who has been an Open Draw loyalist over the past 40 years, launched a

broadside against Munster Council rulers over the decision to seed Kerry and Cork to meet in the 2008 provin- cial decider.

“In the interests of fairness there should be an Open Draw,” Walsh told delegates to the annual conven- tion in the West County Hotel in En- nis. “In every other province there is an Open Draw. It would give players from the four weaker counties an opportunity of playing in a Munster football final.

‘There was great finance taken in

by the council when the Open Draw was there from 1991. Under the seed- ed draw, there was only one gate and that was the Munster final between Kerry and Cork,” he added.

Walsh made his comments, despite the fact that a Clare motion calling for “the Senior Football Champion- ship in Munster in 2009 to be run on the basis of an Open Draw” was ruled out of order.

“We wont have any discussion because the motion is out of order,” confirmed secretary, Simon Moro-

ney to delegates.

“This decision was arrived demo- cratically and on the night the vote was taken the counties voted the way they were instructed to,’ added chairman Jimmy O’Gorman from Waterford.

However, Walsh countered by say- ing “while democracy is important, justice 1s more important”’.

FRANK Doherty answered some questions outside the Clare dressing room shortly after the game on Sun- day, standing on the same spot that Paidi O Sé occupied when Waterford knocked Clare out of the champion- ship last May.

Same result for Clare and though the questions haven’t changed for the entirety of this league — essentially it’s been: Where was the game lost, Frank? — Doherty at least saw some progress in the performance.

“I think there was improvement, in fairness. There was a bit more bite and character. At the start of the game we went four one up playing competitive football, and that was pleasing to see. The movement was good, the forwards were good. The younger lads are kind of stepping up to a degree and it’s the older lads who have to step up now. I’ve seen it in some games obviously. But today was an improvement from the An- trim game.”

That’s where the good news story ends, though. Shortly after Clare scored four, Waterford slowly crept back into the game and the manager recognised a handful of key episodes that led to the demise. The missed opportunity before the break and the penalty at the end contributed, he said, but Doherty believed the inju- ries picked up by Gordon Kelly and Daragh Kelly were crucial.

“At the end of the day we have a small pool of players and to lose

Daragh Kelly and Gordon Kelly was a big blow.

You’re talking about two key play- ers. When Daragh was in the team for the McGrath Cup, we didn’t lose a game. When he went out of the team we haven’t won a game.

“And Gordon, of course, is a fine bit of stuff. His loss took two big players out of six in our back line. It was a big turning point in the game.

“T’ve been hoping to move Gordon out to centre back for most of the year and unfortunately I can’t because my hands are tied to a degree in relation to where I can play lads. Daragh was doing reasonably well at centre back until he received that injured and Gordon obviously is himself. He’ll always give you everything.”

The missed goal opportunity?

“Stephen Hickey’s goal chance was like Rory Donnelly’s against An- trim. How many chances do you get in a game? How many times do you need these chance to put them away? You’ve got to take them when the goal is in front of you and that was there again today.

“I don’t know if Stephen tried to take the net out with that shot. It would have been better to side foot it into the back of the net and a goal then would have put us in the as- cendency. We would have been in the driving seat. It was a game that would have taken a different aspect in the second half.”

The penalty?

“I think Joe jumped into the for- ward more than he tried to claim the

ball. Then [just before the penalty] David Connole was unlucky. He ran into the back of a player and that was a silly free to give away in a danger- ous position. For a while we were in the game and the lads that came onto the team tried their best, but we are where we are.’

Again, Doherty came back to the positives of the performance and with Kilkenny on the horizon, the first two points of the season are surely within grasp.

“There was more determination overall. Still, the cuteness that will win you games wasn’t there and some of the lads took the wrong de- cisions at times.

“Sean Collins drove on and hit men twice his size and he was a contender for man of the match. There’s still a lot of work to do and hopefully we’ ll get guys back off the treatment table and we’ll be that bit stronger and that bit more street-wise the next time.”

THE Enterprise Acceleration Centre at Limerick Institute of Technology is looking for Clare participants in its second intake for its Limerick Enter- prise Acceleration Platform (LEAP) joyueycau-ueavsaten

There are three Clare-based par- ticipants among the eleven people in the first programme, and the wel-

come mat is out for more applicants from the county.

The closing date for applications is this Monday, March 10. The ap- plication form is on www.lit.ie/leap, which also has further information. The programme starts on April 14.

“After a very successful first year, the LEAP programme is gearing up for its second intake of entrepre- neurs,’ said Graham Royce, who

manages the programme at EAC.”

LEAP is a tailor-made programme designed to support entrepreneurs in their quest to establish growth-ori- ented companies that deliver inno- vative products and services to the market.

Speaking of the first programme, Mr Royce explained that the start- ing point in February last year was to recruit eleven individuals that had

the ambition and drive to set up their own business.

“In April 2007, the LEAP par- ticipants took up residence (free of charge) in the Enterprise Accelera- tion Centre,’ he said. “They began a full time 12 month programme that integrated a range of supports fo- cused on strategic planning and prac- tical business set-up including man- agement training, business coaching, mentoring and consultancy.

“A year later it is fantastic to see the progress that these early stage entrepreneurs have made with their respective businesses. Without doubt, LEAP offers 12 months of unparalleled supports for entrepre- neurs at such a critical stage. We are anticipating strong demand for the programme this year and we are de- lighted to have Tipperary, Limerick and Clare based role models for the 2008 group.’

Mr Royce and Donncha Hughes, EAC Manager are available to meet with prospective candidates for a confidential chat prior to the closing date for applications.

WITH 556 people seeking the help of Clare County Council’s Homeless Unit last year both the council and the local health service have been accused of turning their backs on the homeless and making it difficult for them to get accommodation.

A recently established voluntary eroup, Homeless Education Learn- ing Project (HELP), has already helped find accommodation for five homeless men.

However, they say their task is be- ing made difficult because of all the bureaucracy they have to deal with.

HELP was set up last month by lo-

cal women Josephine O’Brien and Ann Quinn and two others to provide support to the homeless in Ennis. To date the service has helped at least three Polish men and two members of the Travelling community find ac- commodation.

“We are trying to take them off the street if we have the money. Some- times this means paying for B&B. We are out all day chatting and listening to them and they are very angry with the system,” said Ms O”’ Brien.

“We have been trailing around the town from the county council to the health board since before Christmas and still getting the same answer. We know of at least seven people who

are sleeping rough in Ennis but we are sure there are lots more.

“The county council and HSE need to step up and do something. The community welfare workers at the council and the health board are all in the same circle and are all hop- ping from one venue to the next and we are getting nowhere,’ Ms O’Brien re HLGe

‘There is one particular squat where some of the homeless stay and it is in a desperate state. It is all boarded up and it is just an awful place to visit never mind sleep there. There could be four or five at a time in there.

FARMING representative and poli- ticians have welcome the changes to the Forest Environment Protec- tion Scheme (FEPS) announced last week, hailing them as a major oppor- tunity for Clare farmers.

Speaking following the announce- ment, newly-elected IFA Farm For- estry Committee Chairman, Pat Hennessy, welcomed the changes.

“The new package includes land- owners now being able to receive a FEPS premium of €200 for each hectare of woodland planted, regard- less of farm size, and will encourage larger farmers to plant,” he said.

“The scheme has also been made

more attractive for farmers with small holdings as the minimum planted area allowed has now been reduced from eight to five hectares for farmers with less than 30 hec- eho

Meanwhile, Clare TD Tony Killeen has also welcomed the announce- ment, saying it will be of benefit for both small and large Clare farmers.

“This is a major development in the forestry schemes and it should be particularly suitable for farmers in Clare. It is good news for both small and larger REPS farmers with en- hanced incentives in all categories.”

“Clare farmers that plant eight hectares or more will now receive a FEPS premium of €200 for each hec-

tare of woodland planted, regardless of farm size. For owners of farms of 30 hectares and less, the minimum plantation size has been reduced to five hectares.

“In this case the FEPS payment will be €150 per hectare. The FEPS premium 1s payable in addition to the existing Afforestation Scheme grants and premium available meaning that a farmer planting eight hectares could, for the duration of FEPS, earn an annual tax-free forestry premium of up to €6,000 without affecting his/her Single Payment.”

The FEPS Scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in early 2007 to pro- vide a new option for farmers look- ing at forestry. FEPS offered an ad-

ditional premium, to the existing LOO per cent planting grant and yearly premium payments available under the Afforestation Scheme, of up to €200 per hectare for five years de- pending on farm size.

The scheme was targeted at partici- pants in REPS and was designed to encourage farmers to establish and maintain high nature-value forestry through a number of different meas- ures, particularly in the area of en- hanced bio-diversity and water qual- ity protection.

All forestry payments are tax-free, providing less than 50 per cent of a farm is planted, will not affect a farmer’s single payment entitle- ments.

A MAJOR new project, designed to overhaul the Irish fishing industry, was launched last week by Minister Mary Coughlan.

The aim of the scheme is to perma- nently remove older fishing vessels from the fishing fleet, replacing them with more modern vessels capable of trawling for different types of fish.

This voluntary scheme will remove older and larger fishing vessels with mixed catches of fish such as cod, haddock, monkfish, mackerel and herring thus increasing the quotas available to the more modern com- petitive fishing vessels.

This investment in the future of the

catching sector will permanently re- move some 75 boats from the Irish ji stol

“The aim of this scheme is to bring about a viable future for the fishing sector and support the economies of those coastal communities depend- ent on fishing,’ said Coughlan.

‘The Government has invested a €21 million budget for the scheme in 2008 with a further €2] million committed in 2009. I will pursue further funding, in line with the rec- ommendations of the Cawley report, as required, taking account of the take up under the scheme.

“This programme represents a very substantial commitment to bringing the Irish fishing fleet into balance

with available resources and ensuring that those remaining in the industry can be assured of a profitable future. The recently published Finance Bill contains a number of measures spe- cifically designed to reduce the tax burden on fishermen taking up this scheme.”

The scheme is open to vessel own- ers in respect of fishing vessels 10 years or more 1n age and 18 metres or more in overall length. Vessels must be operational at the time of decom- missioning and have a recent track record of fishing.

The level of payments under the scheme are determined based on criteria including the age of the ves- sel and its catch history but will not

exceed in any case €7,500 per gross oy ey ator

“The Seafood Strategy sets down the road map for the development of the sector. We must focus on sustain- ability of fish stocks and maximising the return from the fish catch.,” con- tinued the minister.

‘Already good progress has been made, in line with the Cawley strat- egy, on delivering a more innovative and co-ordinated approach to the marketing and processing of seafood in order to maximise the value at every stage from the sea to the ta- ble.”

The closing date for receipt of all applications under this scheme is Spm on Wednesday April 30.

AT THE weekend, Bishop of Killa- loe, Willie Walsh, officially blessed a building that everyone in the know said couldn’t happen.

In just eight weeks — 28 labouring days — 165 volunteers and their work- ers from the Port Elizabeth township erected a new health centre and hos- pice against all odds.

For weeks, the activity on site was frenzied, with volunteers gulping breakfast, boarding the bus at 6.30am and working until 6pm or later in the evening.

The first crew to arrive were con- fronted with the daunting sight of the huge foundations and a mountain of blocks waiting to be laid.

Alan Carmody from Lisseycasey, the foreman with the first group, said he “got a shock when I saw the size 0) Mad otom obun Conberca

But everyone, including the locals, got stuck in and worked hard. It was so exciting to be involved. We’ll nev- er forget it.”

The teams pushed on through days of hard slog in punishing heat and before the first crew left, they had laid 130,000 blocks.

The next team cooked as the sun beat down on the silver, reflective material of the roof while they sealed the building.

The tradesmen did what they’re best at and everybody else did what they were told, whether it was painting, plumbing or carrying never ending supplies of water to labourers work- ing in puddles of their own sweat.

Each of the 62 windows had to have up to 16 panes of glass put in and gla- Ziers used half a ton of putty.

Workers laid 168 cubic meters of mortar and the volunteers downed 2,330 litres of bottled water .

In the scorching African sun, the builders of hope used 11 kilos of sun- block. And still they burned.

By the time the final team arrived, the structure had taken shape but there was still an enormous amount of plumbing, painting, plastering, til- ing, hanging ceilings and carpentry to do. And that was all before the massive clean up began.

Finally, everything was in ship shape, with the exception of the the floor covering which had to be put on the long finger because the floors had been laid so fast they hadn’t time to dry.

But the Irish carried the criac with them in their suitcases. Tin whistles, come all-ye’s, slagging matches be- tween teams of workers, ludicrous match making attempts and requests to fill the hotel swimming pool with aletoj mrs l MN eCom Ne OlMmNe Com abnE

As supervisor on site for the entire project, Jimmy Kenny from Dublin said, ‘We had a laugh’.

MISSION VALE can teach the rest of the world a thing or two about recy- cling. Nothing that finds its way into the care centre goes to waste.

Recycling allows the centre’s staff to buy bread every day for the feed- ing station.

The people who queue for food bring something which can be recy- cled and that in turn is sold on to pay for the bread.

They collect a half loaf of bread and a scoop of soup mix and at week- ends, some rice or potatoes and an onion, along with any meat donated to the centre.

The process serves the dual purpose of giving people the dignity of doing something in exchange for their food and making inroads into the mounds of litter which the authorities never collect.

Crumbs created in the cutting of bread aren’t swept into a bin, they’re added to the powdered soup mix which is given out to families.

The styrofoam lunch boxes that

contain the volunteers’ lunches are all saved and will also be recycled and every bit of leftover, including the tiny jams are taken down the site to give to the township people work- ing on the care centre.

When the volunteers leave, their clothes will be given to the centre.

The Summerstrand Hotel where the Irish are staying has opened it’s store cupbord to Missionvale and do- nated dozens of old but perfect tow- els, sheets and pillowcases.

On most building sites, bits of bro- ken brick and end pieces of timber are a problem. In Missionvale, the leftovers from the care centre which the Irish are building have been used to construct a little raised garden and a seat.

The most poignant bit of recycling of all happens outside the kitchen door each evening. After every batch of scones baked for the volunteers, the crumbs from the baking trays were tipped into a plastic bag and given to one of the township children who come to play in Missionvale’s ee N KOE

THE project has become a real fam- ily affair, with husband and wives, mothers and daughters, dads and sons all getting involved.

TJ Talty, wife Maire and their daughter Grainne from Lisseycasey were on-site in South Africa, hand- ing each other paint brushes, ham- mers, saws and cleaning rags.

The Talty’s other daughter, Cliona, was part of an earlier group of volun- teers while their niece and nephew, Paula and Shane had also been work- ing with an earlier team.

Mary Kelly from Tulla was at the airport to see her son, Francis head off in the first wave of volunteers and later she was in the kitchen baking while her daughter, Lourda, was do-

ing everything from carrying water to sealing floors.

Susan Fitzgibbon from Darragh arrived on the project days after her NOIZE stom ae

Christy Ryan from Kilmaley was swinging a hammer alongside his son, Malcolm, and inseperable sis- ters-in-law, Angela and Betty Hayes from Lisseycasey and _ Limerick, were painting as a pair.

Husband and wife team, Bridget and Michael Haugh from Lisseyca- sey slapped mortar on hundreds of bricks and organiser, Maureen Mc- Carthy from Ennis didn’t have too much persuading to do to get her brother, Jody on board.

And Mike from Tulla and his broth- er, Gerard Daffy were joined by their cousin Patrick from Corofin.

SINCE Mary Kelly from Tulla land- ed in Africa she has baked more than 4.000 scones.

Having been president of the Ap- ostolic Society for 25 years, Mary says she “always wanted to come to Africa to see what they were all talking about when they came home and made presentations. And I’m not one bit sorry I came — it’s been bril- liant and please God I’ll come back again.”

Mary took up station in the Mis- sionvale kitchen to provide creature comforts for the ravenous volunteers at their tea-breaks.

And when she wasn’t busy turning out Spotted Dick loaves, scones, trea- cle bread and apple tarts she spent

her time teaching the women in the craft center to crochet and knit.

For years, shopkeeper, Maire Talty from Lisseycasey has kept every spare free toy, pencil or colouring crayon that came with a comic.

SS er eel W KM RUUU COM stROm Ns loeee

“I always thought there would be someone coming over with an empty Suitcase sometime’, said Maire who is also Ethel’s sister.

She struck pay-dirt with the group she was travelling to Africa with. Everyone loaded up with a dozen or so bags of toys for the Missionvale Santa to distribute at Christmas.

Dr Rory O’Keeffe left his practice in Ennis for the entire eight weeks to deal with the cuts, bruises, hyper- tension, heat exaustion and swollen limbs of the volunteers. When he

is not being called on to doctor, he plays with the township children.

Another volunteer shouldn’t be alive to be here, having been serious- ly ill, but he’s wearing his trademark straw hat and weilding power tools.

As they leave each day, volunteers bring bags of sweets for the children who wait in droves at the gates.

One volunteer had his passport and money stolen before he even left the airport. Within minutes, the group organised a whip-round and the money was replaced.

Every morning, volunteers squirrel away rolls, sausages and bread from their hotel breakfast so the African workers will have something to eat.

The litany of little acts of heroism goes on. But then, they are all he- Keen