The Clare People Archive

TWO pupils from St. Annes school were Selected for the Munster schools team that won the interprovincial soccer title in Tullamore last week. The Munster team won all their games without conceding a goal.

Michael O’Shea from St. Annes school was one of the players select- ed. Michael is presently studying for his leaving cert at the school.

Aaron Connolly was also a starter on the Munster team and scored two goals in the final game. He was one of the youngest players on the team and will feature again in the coming years. Aaron is currently doing his junior cert at St. Annes.

School coach Damian Walsh was

delighted with both players and it is a great honour for the school to have an international player.

The tournament is organised and run by the FAI. There were a number of training sessions in Cork for the Munster team prior to the tourna- ment. Colin O’Brien of Cork City was in charge of the Munster team and he was ably assisted by a number of FAI coaches. After the tourna- ment ended the FAI coaches from all provinces selected an Irish team to play in the home countries quad- rangular tournament which this year takes place in Scotland in April.

NIALL Clarke’s family has said they are pleased with the jail term handed down last week in the US.

Clarke showed no emotion as the 33-month sentence was imposed by a federal judge last Tuesday. His father Michael and sister Michelle attended the sentencing. Niall’s mother Mary was not present, having returned home to Kilrush, after spending some time close to her son in the US over the Christmas period.

Michael Clarke, who is due to re- turn to Kilrush within the next week, said he had expected a term of ap- proximately 10 years for his son and was pleased with the length of the sentence handed down.

When Clarke was arrested initially, Suggestions of a 25-year term were made, but the Clarkes expressed re- lief that the term was not this long. The family had requested that Niall be afforded proper medical treat- ment in jail and they were also happy that the judge recognised this.

Niall’s father and sister stayed on in the US following the sentence and have had the opportunity to visit him in the jail. Michael Clarke expressed concern at not being able to get treat- ment for Niall in Ireland, for his mental illness, three years ago.

“My mother was a paranoid schizo-

phrenic,’ Mr Clarke said last Tues- day. “My earliest memories are of watching the police come and force my screaming mother into a police car so they could take her to a mental hospital. As a kid, I learned to cope.

“When I saw Niall’s behaviour, the hardest thing I’ve done as a father was to sign the form for his (invol- untary) committal,” he continued. “I didn’t do it easily. I begged for help for my son.”

Niall Clarke, however, refused to be committed and because he was not a danger to himself or others, he could not be forced to seek treatment, his father said.

Speaking outside the courthouse last week, Clarke’s solicitor Eugene O’Kelly, said, “What makes this so sad is that it could have been pre- vented. In a few short years, Niall’s gone from college to criminal, from prodigy to prison.”

Clarke briefly addressed the court before being sentenced. “I’d like to apologise to the bank tellers. I’m very sorry, he said.

OI Ea ODOM Mus VRCCOAUSD ODD OTSMmCIRb es dent while studying Computer Sci- ence at Trinity College Dublin and won a top Enterprise Ireland Student Award in 2002. As a result of his Leaving Certificate, he was awarded a scholarship by Trinity College to study mathematics.

A GIFTED mathematician who was last week sentenced to more than nine years in an American prison for armed robbery, is believed to be suffering from a mental illness that affects one per cent of the Irish popu- lation.

Niall Clarke from Kilrush was a top student in his final year at Trinity Se NSM Deer WatoremebicmecDeevE WANED ANI became concerned about his men- tal health. He started to get serious panic attacks.

His father Michael told a Maine Federal Court that his mother, Niall’s grandmother, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

The distraught father said he felt let down by the health services here for failing to help his son.

Before Niall was arrested for the robbery of Bank of America in Maine in October 2006, his father said that he had taken his son to a GP who, after a 10-minute evaluation, said that he would be all right.

On Tuesday last, Mr Clarke’s de- fence team argued that he had com- mitted the offences “while suffering from a reduced mental capacity”’.

Cork-born psychiatrist Dr Niamh Holohan, who is based in Bangor, Maine, gave evidence that the Kil- rush man had symptoms of schizo- eavne tb eee

She had been working with Ni- all for a year and told the court he had an IQ in the top two per cent in

the world and was “very honest and straightforward in explaining what happened”’.

The psychiatrist explained that Niall said he was driving through Maine when the idea to rob a bank came to him and “crystallised” in such a way as he just had to do it.

“Niall did not understand he had schizophrenia and did not understand the consequences of his actions. He needs therapy,” she said.

According to sources within the Clare mental health service, an aver- age of 45 people in Clare are diag- nosed with schizophrenia every year. The good news is that as many as one third of the population diagnosed with the illness can be completely cured, once treated.

Another third of the population can have “partial remission” but require

medicine for the rest of their lives to prevent the onset of the disease.

Others may require an “environ- ment of care’, whether in the home or institutionalised.

Following Mr Clarke’s sentencing, which is to include medical treat- ment, his father told reporters, “Niall appears to be in remission because he is in an institutionalised environ- ment.” The Kilrush father was in no doubt that had his son received the proper treatment in Ireland, he would not be in a high-security American prison today.

According to Schizophrenia Ire- land, this serious mental illness is characterised by disturbances in a person’s thoughts, perceptions, emo- tions and behaviour. The first onset commonly occurs in adolescence or early adulthood although it can also OLererty am -NkodanbO DB Kon

There are a number of signs and symptoms that are characteristic of schizophrenia. However, the expres- sion of these symptoms varies greatly from one individual to another.

Symptoms are divided into two groups: “active” symptoms that re- flect new or unusual forms of thought and behaviour; and “passive” symp- toms, that reflect a loss of previous feelings and abilities.

AN EAST Clare-based company has secured planning permission for a project that will allow it to supply up to half of its energy costs from alter- native energy.

Clare County Council has granted planning permission to Olympus D1- agnostica for a 200 foot high wind turbine on the site of the facility near O’Callaghan’s Mills.

The company has overcome the council’s concerns in relation to a device that is designed to scare away

bats from the structure.

The company stated that in rela- tion to the nature and scale and use of the proposed development, the policies of the County Development Plan and the pattern of development in the area, the proposed develop- ment would not seriously injure the amenities of the area and would not be prejudicial to public health.

In the planning application lodged with Clare County Council, Olym- pus is “seeking a solution which would meet a portion 40-50 per cent of our electrical base load using al-

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The company stated that it would consume all the energy from the wind-turbine and there was no need for a grid connection. It stressed that the proposal turbine didn’t lie with- in any recognised flight path of the Whooper Swan and the Greenland White Fronted Goose.

In a submission lodged with the plan, the company stated: “The ra- tionale for this project has its roots in spiralling energy costs which are set by international markets and impact severely for two reasons:

the wide fluctuation in energy costs which make financial planning more difficult and the underlying trend is upwards.”

Stressing its adherence to “corpo- rate social responsibility”, Olympus pointed out that it had already re- duced its greenhouse emissions by putting in place a wood chip burner instead of oil which also created a lo- cally-based market for wood-chip.

The company stated that the noise emissions from the wind-turbine will be lower than similar sized turbines.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said yes-

terday, “It is a positive move. I am delighted with the decision of Clare County Council and I hope that other Koy enh oy-bauCecmayya 00s ce) 0 Ce) annetcs bane) ome

The company also stated that the Clare County Development Plan had deemed the location “a suitable area for wind energy” and didn’t have any scenic or environmentally sensitive OLAS hea sree ley ekse

The company also stated that it has held a number of local meetings and had relocated the wind-turbine from its original location in response to local concerns.

CALLS have been made for each of the Burren’s estimate 1,000 farmers to adopt a new labour intensive plan for farming their land.

The call was made yesterday, dur- ing day two of the BurrenLIFE Project (BLP) Conference in En- nistymon, where Burren IFA Presi- dent, Michael Davoren, suggested local farmers should be looking to export “orchid-rich grassland” rather than more traditional farm produce.

The conference, which 1s the first of

it’s kind ever to take place in Ireland, aims at designing an economically viable way of preserving the fragile Burren landscape.

‘There is a need for local resources to work to create a unique manage- ment plan for each farm in the Bur- ren and to monitor the environmental work required,’ said Mr Davoren.

“Orchid-rich grasslands and other habitats will become the new prod- ucts. A labour-intensive method of farming is essential in this environ- ment but a farmer needs to earn an income from doing this very neces-

sary work to preserve the Burren for future generations.”

The conference marks the fourth year in operation for the Carron based BurrenLIFE Project, which has been working towards generat- ing a blueprint for sustainable farm- ing not just in Ireland, but across the EU.

Project head, Dr Brendan Dunford, revealed yesterday that this blueprint would be launched before August of next year.

‘Farming is the key land use to have shaped this landscape in the past,

and will continue to play a key role in shaping it in future. It 1s critical therefore that we identify and sup- port sustainable farming systems for the Burren, and that we do it now,” he said.

“While the BurrenLIFE project will soon finalise a blueprint for sus- tainable farming of the Burren, this will need to be adopted urgently and wholeheartedly by the relevant au- thorities if we are to secure the re- gion’s rich heritage for generations to come.

“We welcome this conference as

an opportunity to celebrate the work achieved by the BLP and partners over the past four years, but also, as we approach the end of the project, to pose the question of where do we 20 from here.”

According to Dr Andrew Bleasdale of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the challenge now is how best to implement the find- ings of the BurrenLIFE Project.

“The project will provide a conser- vation-friendly road-map for farm- ing not just in the Burren but also in other parts of the country,’ he said.

CLARE Pharmacist Dr Audrey Kina- han has been appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as one of their worldwide experts. She will act as one of eleven worldwide Scientific experts on WADA’s Pro- hibited List Working Group.

Audrey who, with her husband Brendan Rochford, owns Rochfords Pharmacy in Ennis and Corofin is a recognised expert in the use of medi- cines in sport and has provided ad- vice to athletes and teams for many

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In 2001 Audrey and Brendan set up the award winning website www. eirpharm.com as part of the Ennis Information Age Town Project. As part of this medicines information site, they developed a unique da- tabase where in 2007, over 11,000 Irish athletes, including all senior inter county GAA players, who are subject to drug testing and their doc- tors, can check if their medicine 1s prohibited or permitted in sport. It is

the only such service endorsed by the Irish Sports Council and is available free of charge.

Last year the website had over 300,000 user visits with the online sports database supplying informa- tion to 13,000 unique users. The website forms a key part of the Irish

Sports Council’s education pro- eramme, informing athletes on how best to avail of vital medicines with- out falling foul of strict anti-doping regulations.

The couple also supply sports clas- sifications on medicines to Irish doc- tors through a monthly medical pub- lication on behalf of the Irish Sports Council.

“The Irish Sports Council is de- lighted with WADA’s recognition of the outstanding contribution made by Dr. Audrey Kinahan and Eirpharm” said Dr Una May of the Irish Sports Councils Antidoping Unit.

As part of the appointment, Audrey will be required to attend scientific meetings in WADA’s headquarters in Montreal and in Lausanne, Swit- zerland.

Audrey is a member of the Clare County Enterprise Board, the Clare County Development Board and of the Ennis branch of Soroptimists In- ternational.

A PROTECTED seal, that defied death, will be released back into the wild at Seafield Beach in Quilty this SUTer AA

Kringle was discovered on New Year’s Eve at Merchants Quay, Lim- erick, significantly under weight, dehydrated, with serious bite marks and a painful cracked tooth.

The grey seal pup, who is a protect- ed species, was to become part of a Munster wide rescue.

The four-week-old seal was discov- ered by a family waiting to attend the skating rink in the Potato, who con- tacted the LSPCA.

The little pup was then taken by the LSPCA to the vet, before being transported by the Limerick Animal Welfare (LAW) to Cork wildlife res- cuer Chelsea Collins.

Kringle was treated with fluids, an-

tibiotics and pain relief.

His wounds were most likely inflict- ed by an adult male seal (or “bull’’) in an attempt to force him away from his mother, who had probably come into season.

Kringle was cared for by Ms Col- lins in Carrigaline until he was well enough to be transferred to the Irish Seal Sanctuary in Dublin. Kringle has been recuperating at the seal sanctu- ary in recent weeks and regaining his strength on a diet of fresh fish. He has now made a complete recov- ery. The Irish Seal Sanctuary will be releasing Kringle into the sea at 3pm on Sunday at Seafield Beach near the village of Quilty. This will be a pub- lic event and all are welcome. Those who go to Quilty to see Kringle on his way are asked to keep all dogs in cars until he is safely at sea.

A LONG running battle which Car- rigoran Nursing Home and _ local residents in the Newmarket-on-Fer- gus area have waged to prevent a 100 foot high mast from going ahead has EDU (oreR

An Bord Pleanala has overruled the recommendation of its own inspector to refuse telecommunications com- pany “three” planning permission for the proposal.

Last year, Clare County Council refused planning permission after

it concluded that all options for the co-location of the mast had not been maximised.

In their initial objection, Carrigoran Nursing Home, through Sr Christina Murphy, said, “Our nursing home is within 200 metres of the proposed mast. The nursing home has 152 beds and a staff in excess of 70 people.

“The residents range from short- stay medical care to ages in excess of 80 years of age. In this, patients will have a range of illnesses includ- ing Alzeimer’s.

“Our mother house in the US 1s

extremely concerned, particularly of the health hazard created by the development and of the high level of energies emitting from the develop- ment.:

However, in its appeal, “3” stated: “We believe that it has been demon- strated that a rigorous search of the area was undertaken by “3” before nominating the appeal site as the pre- ferred option in terms of coverage, acquisition and planning issues.

In his recommendation, the board inspector stated that the proposal would not reliably accommodate fu-

ture telecommunication installation, would be needlessly intrusive in the area and would not be in accordance with the proper planning and sustain- able development of the area. However, the inspector’s recom- mendation was overturned after the board of An Bord Pleanala consid- ered the national strategy regarding the improvement of mobile commu- nications services. Its decision was also based on the guidelines relating to telecommunications antennae and support structures and the location of the proposed development on a site

which did not come within the scope of specific restrictions with regard to development in scenic areas.

The board ruled that the plan would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicin- ity, would not be prejudicial to public health and would be in accordance with the proper planning and sus- tainable development of the area.

It stated that it decided not to ac- cept the inspector’s recommendation to refuse permission, noting the lack of landscape designation and the dis- tance to residential properties.

ON THE lengthy trek from Belfast to Limerick, Jody Gormley, former Tyrone footballer and current An- trim manager looked ahead to the Clare challenge and believed his side would find some resistence in Ennis.

VSS UUh CBMs ae aee day night well past midnight, before trevelling to Cusack Park on Satur- day morning and walking all over Clare later that afternoon. The ease of Antrim’s victory eventually sur- prised Gormley.

“The opposition was poor but we weren’t to know that coming down the road,” he said on Saturday. “Our fellas are working hard at the minute and you could see that out there. It’s

a long journey up the road, but we’ll be going back with a smile on our faces.”

The movement of Antrim and their ability to string passes together pleased the manager. “Early on in the first half we had some great moves that ended up with scores, we’re making progress which is what it’s all about. Clare gave us a tough game here last year in the Tommy Murphy Cup and we prepared for this chal- SONSXomMWA LOMO otclmmexeNoatommne meee DU ITC ma

Having also beaten Wicklow and Kilkenny to date, Antrim have the foundation to emerge from Division 4 and according to Gormley, the mo- tivation is there to progress.

‘We had a poor season last year and we re treating every game as though

we have to win it. The Tommy Mur- phy Cup threw us a lifeline because it gelled players together for the rest of the season. It worked well for us. Boys knuckled down and we’ve con- tinued to train hard over the winter. We’re glad to get onto the grass and we’ve started well but we’ve Offaly next and a lot of people are saying Offaly shouldn’t be in Division 4, that they’re too good for this divi- sion. And I’d imagine Offaly will be a step above the three teams we’ve played so far. They’re a big, strong team with some very powerful for- wards, so that’ll be a new challenge for us.”

Off Gormley goes for the journey home. A different set of ambitions than those he left behind in Clare.

FRANK Doherty walks out of the Clare dressing room looking like a man who signed up for a 10 kilome- tre jog but has just been told he’s got two marathons to run.

The job is big, Frank. Bigger, may- be, than anybody ever expected.

For now, he’s still hopeful of entic- ing one or two more players onto the panel and though they’re needed, that invitation after three straight league defeats looks increasingly less se- ductive with every passing week.

That the panel has to be looked at with a sharper, more critical eye is now obvious and Doherty says it’s time to re-assess the value of some of it’s members.

“There are guys who’ll have to be released after today,” he says. “From my own point of view, I’m totally down after that performance and so are the two selectors involved. And so are the players as well.

‘“There’s a lot of cracks out there to be quite honest. There’s no point

painting a rosy picture. People have already spoken about where we are right now and at the moment, we’re down at the bottom. We’re going to have to try and lift the lads and get them up for Waterford on March 2.”

He’s asked about some of the mis- takes Clare were responsible for and says he’s struggling to grasp the quantity of fumbles and dropped or nR

‘The amount of turnovers were un- believeable. I couldn’t count them all myself at times. We haven’t been un- der lights every night of the week to do certain things, but we have trained hard. It’s not an excuse because these are basic errors. We’re talking about club lads at underage, taking balls into tackles with a solo. Hopping a ball in front of a player when you’re about to go into a tackle. It’s basic, basic stuff.”

The cracks that Doherty saw on Saturday are one thing but the length of the road ahead of Clare becomes clear when he speaks of the need to revert to grassroots coaching.

A manager takes a job and expects the base skills to be available, he shouldn’t have to worry about an in- ferior legacy.

“I’ve always said that these guys need to be taught at an early age but we re talking 10 and 12 years of age to be addressing this. If the fututre is going to be bright for Clare — which I hope it will be — then these are things that need to be addressed. The skills have to be there if the next few crops will improve. But from a technical point of view, to be honest, some of the errors out there were schoolboy errors.

“Let’s look at the bigger picture. I’m not here to criticise players. I wouldn’t do that. The guys have abil- ity and they’ve played to the best of their ability. When it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. That’s sport and it’ll knock you on your back every now and then.”