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BEING crowned _ the ‘International — Festival Queen of Ireland’ has cer- tainly not gone to Kinvara woman Emma Kilkelly’s head as the 19-year-old seems to have both her feet firmly on the ground.

Just hours after win- ning the prestigious title, which is competed for by the winners of regional festivals from all over Ire- land and beyond, Emma was on her way to Mos- ney for the finals of the community games.

After celebrating her victory late into’ the evening of Friday August 26 the GMIT business student made the journey to Mosney early on Sat- urday morning to referee the camogie semi finals playoff between Cork and Offaly.

“I knew I had commit- ted myself to refereeing the match but I had no idea I was going to win the tile,” said an overjoyed Emma. “To be honest I’ve

been coming to Mosney all my life as a competi- tor and now as a referee and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Emma qualified to take OV MBD MMO MBKION EU MEDAN being crowned the Gort Show Queen, an achieve- ment which also qualified her to compete for the Galway Rose Competi- tion. She was also select- ed as the Banrion at the Gouterievlempercmpeelar:(eme aloe val and The Oyster Pearl at the 50th International Galway Oyster Festival.

The International Fes- tival Queen of Ireland Sores} orem isco me meue- Hever! by Dundalk man Mr. Pat- sy Rogers and involved a formal interview on Fri- day evening followed by an interview live on stage later that night.

Emma was joined at the festival by her fam- ily, friends and support- ers, along with her spon- sor, Patricia Kilkelly of Streams Beauty Rooms im ecoum

FOR 20 years, Fanore man Joe Queally has been travelling to the Blasket islands.

This week, Joe sets out again to follow in the footsteps of his literary hero, Tomas O Criomh- WerenOOP

Located off the tip of the Dingle Peninsula, the Blaskets don’t seem the most obvious location to spend a month on holi- CMA

Great Blasket Island comprises 1,100 acres of unspoilt, | mountainous Keeney

It is four miles long and half a mile wide.

For Joe, the attraction has always been a spir- itual one.

“My biggest reason for going out to the Blaskets has always been my fas- cination with the island people.

“IT wanted to walk in the footsteps of Tomas O Criomhthain, Peig Sayers and Muiris O’Sullivan.

“There’s an awful lot of fascination to be able Ke say I stayed in Tomas O Criomhthain’s house. It is very special to me.

“There 1S one room 1n Tigh an Ri where John Millington Synge wrote a lot of the

WHEELCHAIR users in Lahi- nch are annoyed that an oppor- tunity to make the streets more Wheelchair accessible was not availed of during footpath recon- struction at the seaside town.

There were claims this week that Clare County Council re-laid the footpaths on the main street in Lahinch without any dishing to allow disability access.

Clare County Councillor Brian Meaney is now demanding that all street improvements under- taken by Clare County Council have regard for the access re- quirements for the disabled.

“Representations have been made to me from wheelchair us- ers, angry that the opportunity to make the street more useable to them was not availed of during footpath reconstruction in one of the county’s best-known seaside resort towns,’ said the Green Party Councillor.

“After reviewing the fact, I have to say I share their anger.”

Cllr Meaney spoke of seeing people in wheelchairs making their way along the street in traf- fic looking for a place to gain ac-

cess onto the footpath.

He is requesting that Clare County Council remedy this oversight immediately, as it is also in contravention of the Coun- ty Development Plan guidelines on access and mobility which states, “The design of new devel- opments and public open space should have regard to the needs of people with disabilities.

“It is clear that no regard has been given to the needs of peo- ple in wheelchairs and yet we are trying to promote Lahinch, and Clare in general, as a tourist des- tination for all.”

Cllr Meaney has spoken with management in Clare County Oro triTere Mm coscx-V Cu tercmmmmdeDKcmmmpONT- Nes ter and has asked for consulta- tion with the various disability eroups to identify locations on the footpaths suitable for disabil- LALO

“Not only is this a disability issue, it is also an equality 1s- sue and I will be writing to the equality officer with Clare Coun- ty Council to put in place proce- dures to ensure such an oversight does not occur in the future” concluded Cllr Meaney.

EXCITING advances are currently being made in the mobile telecoms sector and Shannon Free Zone firm Tecnomen Ltd., is at the very cutting edge of these innovations.

The Shannon company is engaged in ground- breaking research and development of various prepaid charging and messaging applications that utilise “next generation’ technologies.

It is developing sophisticated and integrated systems solutions for telecom operators and service providers worldwide These solutions enable the provision of complex telecoms serv- ices.

The innovative Finnish multinational finds

Shannon to be a very advantageous global R&D, production and logistics base. “Excellent Skilled labour, tax incentives and business in- frastructure, coupled with a strategic location beside an international airport are among the chief reasons why we have located such a cen- tral part of our global operation at Shannon’’, said Vesa Kemppainen, Chief Operating Of- ficer, Tecnomen Group.

Tecnomen markets its products and services through its own worldwide organisation and through global and local partners such as No- kia, Siemens and Nortel Networks. Founded in 1978, its headquarters are in Espoo, Finland. With customers in over 50 countries and offices in 12, it recorded net sales of €51.5m last year, up almost 14% on 2003.

With 65% of its 125-strong workforce en- gaged in Research & Development, the Shan- non facility is a key R&D Centre for the Cixe)tioy

“We handle all R&D for the Prepaid Charg- ing business, as well as jointly working with the parent company in developing new messag- ing products’, explained Philip Hayes, Director of Charging Solutions with Tecnomen.

“The availability of a highly educated and skilled workforce locally offers the group a vital competitive advantage in terms of inno- vation and product development. Most of our R&D staff are third-level graduates drawn from nearby colleges in Limerick, Cork and Galway”, added Mr Hayes.

Shannon is the sole manufacturing and glo- bal distribution operation within the Tecnomen Group. Product is shipped by air from the air- port to leading telecoms operators throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Central and Latin America.

The company provides customers with com- plete solutions to suit their particular market segments, including software licences, hard- ware, installation and training services and maintenance and support functions.

The fastest growing market for Tecnomen charging products is Latin America where sales grew by over 90% last year alone. One of its main customers in that market is America Movil, the region’s leading mobile operator

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THE Ennis couple that received over €100,000 and two free sites from a devel- oper after they withdrew their objection to a housing development planned, have lodged a fresh objection against a new residential plan proposed by the same developer.

Last year, it emerged that Vincent and Ann Coffey of Clonroad, Ennis, withdrew their objection against a €20 million housing scheme at the Quin Road, Doora, by Luxury Homes (Galway) Ltd, after the company paid them over €100,000 and gave them two free sites.

However, the Coffeys successfully blocked a subsequent application by the same de-

velopers to build a new €10 million devel- Opment on zoned lands in Ennis after they lodged an objection against the proposal.

Last month, Luxury Homes (Galway) Ltd. lodged plans with the Council for 108 two- bedroom apartments at Doora, Ennis.

The proposal lies in the adjacent field to the development that was turned down last year, due to the Coffey’s opposition.

In their objection against the new proposal, the Coffeys stated concerns over the devel- opment relating to traffic safety, the layout of the scheme and the density of the proposal.

A number of residents in the existing Bru- ach na hAbainn estate have also objected to the proposal.

In their objection, the Coffeys state, “The

density of the proposal is excessive when taken in context with the established pattern of development in the area. This submission simply seeks to maximize density to the det- riment of the future residents of the area.

“This disintegrated zonal separation of res- idential areas, traffic routes and open space being created by the proposal is undesirable and no effort is being made to integrate it with the adjoining permitted development, carried out by the current applicant.”

Expressing concerns over the nature con- servation of the area, the Coffeys state, “The site of the proposal is in the callows of the River Fergus.

‘These lands are rich in wildlife and this is an area of scientific interest. This develop-

ment if permitted will destroy this important habitat adjoining the river and is contrary to the proper planning and development of the area.”

The Board Pleanala Inspector’s report, which revealed the payment made to the Coffeys on the previous application, re- counts a letter from the Coffeys that at no time did they approach the developers with the intention of securing payment of money, gifts, consideration of other inducement by any person.

Managing Director of Luxury Homes (Galway) Ltd, Sean Cleary was yesterday unavailable for comment. A decision 1s due on the application in October.

IT’S clear that the govern- ment, and the computer software industry sector are seriously worried about the fall-off in interest in careers in ICT Gnformation and com- munications — technologies), science and engineering.

The question being asked is where are the innovators of the future going to come from? More basically, as Bill Harris the director general of Science Foundation Ireland said last week: “without en- gineers, how are we going to make things?”

So, national and regional partners in the ICT industry have now come together in a concerted effort to promote the ICT industry as a career, by sending role models work- ing in ICT companies into schools to talk about their careers. The idea is to encour- age secondary school students to take science and technol- ogy based subjects at Leaving Certificate level, and to con-

sider ICT-related courses at third-level, including compu- ter science, science and elec- WUCereU oT aNieunetee

As part of a nationwide ef- fort to promote the take-up of high-tech careers, the ICT Champions programme was launched in Shannon last week, with a briefing work- shop in Intel Communications for the role models taking part in the programme.

Three Clare schools have already signed up for visits from the ICT’ Champions – St Caimin’s in Shannon, En- nistymon Secondary School, and Kilrush Community School. The Champions will be visiting them to tell the students what roles, oppor- tunities and challenges ex- ist within the industry. Intel, which has a cutting-edge re- search and development facil- ity in the Shannon Industrial Estate, and Dell and Chorus in County Limerick, have supplied over 20 volunteers to visit schools.

“Intel will be approaching other Clare schools to see if they are interested in the pro- gramme,’ Hannah Grene of ICT Ireland told

Sentencing of a man who exposed himself and masturbated in front of a female hitch-hiker has been adjourned, pending a probation report.

Joe Clynes (33), with an address at 154 Hermit- age, Ennis, and formerly of 15, Millstream Court, Mill Road, Ennis, was convicted of the offence, which occurred at Dehomade, Lissycasey, in ALvb iter

The victim told a previous court sitting that she

had been hitching on the outskirts of Ennis on June 11, 2002, and accepted a lift from Clynes. A short distance from Ennis, she said she saw his hand on his “groin area” and his “elbow was mov- ihre

After a while, she saw “the head of his penis.” When she tried to get out of the car, the accused told her “it’s all right now” and he offered to drive her the rest of the way to Kilrush. The woman said she got out of the car and was “pretty scared”’ at that point.

In June, Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the matter until last week’s court sitting at Kildysart, pending preparation of a probation report.But, when the matter came up, the judge was informed that there appeared to have been some misunder- standing, as Clynes had changed address. Clynes told the court he now lived at Hermitage, Ennis.

Judge Mangan told Clynes he would not accept any excuses at the next court sitting. “If you don’t hear from the probation services, you get 1n touch eLNemealsse me

THE highlight of the past weeks greyhound racing was the win of ‘Knappogue Roy- al’ in the final of the Galway Hurling Board A4 stake at the Galway track on Friday night.

The dog had been a good servant to owner Martin McDermot of Kilrush, win- ning some valuable races over the summer months and collected a cheque of €2,000 on this occasion. ‘Larch- ill Wood’ owned by Ciara Donoghue of Ennis took his chance after coming in as a reserve in trap 2 to win ina

time of 29.32 on Thursday night.

The final of the A5 Stake takes place this week, and also looking forward to a stake final at the weekend will be a long time supporter of the game Tom Flanna- gan of Ennistymon. His dog ‘Mythical Flyer’ secured his spot in the final after dead heating for first place in race 3. Race 7 on Thursday night’s card went to ‘Aulton Nikiata’ owned by Pat Hog- an of Barefield, the winners time was 30.96 seconds for the 550 yards trip. Excite- ment also continues this coming weekend for Ennis

man Frankie Sheehan. His dogs ‘Sheehans Cottage’ and ‘Joint Cottage’ did enough in there respective races on Fri- day and Saturday night and are now in line to collect big prize money.

‘Baby Lleyton’ owned by Bertie and Mary O’Doherty of Ennis was Clare’s only winner at the College Road venue on Saturday night. This was the dogs first win housed in trap one, the win- ners time was 29.78 *Lisnac- ulla Dream’ owned by Gerry Lang of Ballyea and ‘Rex the Rocket’ will also be in the line up at the Loughrea Hurling Club A3 Stake Final

this coming weekend.

Seamus and Aidan Dug- gan of Ennis kept the Clare flag flying at Limerick on Thursday night, winning race 2 with ‘Plenty of early’ in a time of 29.56. The same partnership returned on Sat- urday night with ‘Castleweir’ to finish second in the Tote retention scheme. There is €10,000 to the winner here and the Ennis lads will be hoping to maintain they’re interest over the coming weeks. Sixty dogs went to traps for the first round heats on Saturday night.

ENNIS’ Tricia Mangan will be the key figure on the Irish ladies golf team on their history-making mission in Dundalk this week as they attempt to win the Home Internationals for the third consecutive year.

Irish champion Mangan, who is in the form of her life and currently ranked number nine in Europe, 1s joined on the eight woman Irish team by Shannon’s Heather Nolan.

Ireland have not won on home soil since 1907, but with an ever improving side, the Irish are quietly con- fident of lifting the trophy for a third time following wins at Cruden Bay in 2003 and Royal Porthcawl in Auer

“We were very happy with our practice over this ex- cellent parkland course last week” commented team captain Sheena O’Brien-Kenney.

“We know our opposition will be stronger than ever this year but we’re most excited to have the opportu- nity to challenge for an unprecedented three-in-a-row. A good team morale added to the expected healthy home support will help tip the balance in our favour”

she added.

England look most likely to upset Ireland’s plans and hope to avenge last year’s first day defeat by Ireland which saw them finish the tournament tied second BLAS E: Doh

THE Chairman of the Clare County Board said it was an “an easy decision to appoint Michael Brenann and Donie Buckley” as joint managers of the Clare Senior Footabllers.

The decision was ratified at a meeting of the Clare County Board on Wednesday night. Their names were put forward after a seven man committee had spent the last month deliberating over who should suc- ceed John Kennedy. Noel Welsh, who seconded the appointment af- ter Robert frost had proposed the motion, said Michael Brennan de- served to be viewed in “the same category as John Maughan”. Both

men currently reside within the county and have previously worked together at NUIG. Michael Bren- nan, a retired army officer, is an ex- Galway footballer who featured in the 1983 All-Ireland final against Dublin. Originally from Kerry, Donie Buckley has been closely in- volved with Clare football for the past 15 years.

He has enjoyed good success as a manager winning county cham- pionships with Miltown Malbay in 1990 and the Faughs in 1994. He also guided Eire Og to an interme- diate championship in 1995. The decision brings to an end weeks of speculation about who was going to be in the Clare hotseat for next term. Ever since Clare’s defeat to

Sligo in the All-Ireland qualifying Series, it had been unclear whether John Kennedy was going to remain in the job. Kennedy stepped down last week, and is now being heavily linked with the vacant managers position in Limerick.

Michael McDonagh paid _trib- ute to Kennedy for his service to Clare football over the past three years. “He was a gentleman from the top of his head to his toes and along with his fellow selectors, we were very lucky to have men who were sO committed to Clare foot- ball”. His sentiments were echoed by John Keane who said that John Kennedy had “made history with Clare by lifting the Tommy Mur- phy Cup in Croke Park”.