Author: admin

CLARE’S oldest man passed away peacefully in his home at Illawnbawn in Inagh last week at the ripe old age of 104. John Joe Marrinan passed away in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, June 27, and was laid to rest at Moughna Cemetery on Friday afternoon.

John Joe was born on May 24, 1908, and would have witnessed first-hand the Irish Revolutionary War and the Civil War as a child.

He is survived by five daughters and seven grandchildren, as well as a wide circle of friends and relatives. John Joe’s wife, Treasa Marrinan, passed away eight years ago.

While John Joe was a keen fan of music and dance, his favourite pastime was playing cards and, until very recently, he would make his way to Ennistymon for a regular game of 45.

He was also a very religious man and made a pilgrimage to Knock each year, as well as attending Mass locally on a regular basis.

“He was very active until quite recently. He was up and about every single day until a month or two ago. He was a farmer and his home was his castle, and there was always a great welcome for anyone who went to visit him,” said local priest, Canon Richard Tarpey.

“He was a great family man and each of his five daughters were all very good to him in recent years. He was able to to remain in his own home right up to the very end of his life, which was a great thing for him.

“He was also a very religious man and he attended Mass every week. He also visited Knock once a year and had a lot of time for the Rosary.”

John Joe’s death comes just days after the passing of one of Clare’s other most senior citizens, following the death of West Clare man Timmy Ryan (102), last week.

A Kilmihil native, Timmy stayed fit throughout his entire life and could often be seen walking on the roads around his homeplace or working on the bog in Corgrigg.

Timmy was also a life-long Fine Gael supporter and was one of the local people visited by Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG) earlier this year.

Timmy was a member of the Kilrush Athletic Club who won the All Ireland Cross Country Championship in 1938.

THE teenage community of Clare, as well as their family and friends, are already busy fundraising for the William Winder Rainbow Foundation.

Among the biggest fundraisers will be the ‘Climb 4 William’. On August 5, friends, family and supporters of the charity will climb Croagh Patrick for the charity.

Sponsorship cards are available from caroline@williamwinderrainb owfoundation.ie.

William’s uncles plan to follow in their nephew’s footsteps up Kilimanjaro to also raise funds for the charity.

Following on from William’s love of music, a teenage disco will be held on Wednesday, July 11, in O’Looney’s Surf Bar, Lahinch. Tickets cost € 10 and are available from Green’s Coffee Shop, Lahinch; Tara at Seaworld; and Catriona at the Ennistymon Fruit Stall.

A talent show and disco will also be held in the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon on August 22 for the foundation, while an indoor beach party will be held in Éire Óg’s clubhouse in Ennis in aid of the William Winder Rainbow Foundation and Cahercalla Youth Green Area Development.

The website, which is a one-stop shop for teen support and counselling, is www.williamwinderrainbowfoundation.ie. The site is currently being completed, but people can also log on to the organisation’s Facebook page for more information.

A WEST Clare branch of AIB has been targeted and robbed by an armed robber for the second time in 10 months. During the morning of Friday last, a lone gunman entered the bank’s branch on O’Curry Street, Kilkee, and held up staff. The hooded raider went behind the counter and took an undisclosed amount of cash from registers and the general counter area, before escaping towards the beach. No shots were fired during the robbery and no one was hurt in the inci- dent, but the two members of staff and customers were extremely shocked following the terrifying ordeal. Gardaí in Kilrush are investigating the incident and are appealing for the public’s assistance. A spokesperson for the Gardaí said the robbery took place at approximately 10.55am. “He lifted the counter and produced a firearm and, in a threatening manner, demanded money. He then took a sum of money from the tills and counter area. He left on foot down O’Curry Street, down Pantry Lane and on to Strandline and made good his escape,” he said. It is now hoped that someone will be able to come forward with details as to the thief’s mode of transport. “Did anyone notice this man in Kilkee before or after the robbery or what transport he may have used to come and go from Kilkee? Was he on his own or was he accompanied by others?” Gardaí are trying to ascertain. The brazen thief is described as five foot eight inches tall, with a “long, thin-looking face”. He wore a dark jacket and grey hoodie during the robbery. Anyone with information can contact Gardaí in Kilrush on 065 9080550.

AN ENNIS man who wanted to bring the stars of European football to Thomond Park says he is considering legal action against the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

Damien O’Brien claims the FAI blocked his plans to stage a soccer tournament at the well-known Limerick venue at end of July.

Mr O’Brien’s Iconic Company in association with Endemol sports last year staged a tournament involving Inter Milan, Celtic and Manchester City at the Aviva stadium.

The Ennis native says the FAI scuppered his plans to host a similar event this year because they say it clashed with their plans for a tournament in Dublin.

He says, “I don’t know any tournament that’s taking place in Dublin in four weeks time. Madonna is playing alright but I don’t think she’s played for any team.

“I’d been in touch with the likes of Celtic, Chelsea, Lazio, Spurs, clubs like that about coming to Limerick. It was estimated that this would have been worth € 80 million to the local economy. Those aren’t my figures. Those are the figures from Thomond Park. Think of all the hotels and bars and restaurants and how well they could have done from something like this. I think its crazy what has happened.”

Mr O’Brien, who is originally from McNamara Park in the Turnpike area of Ennis, adds, “I’m looking at my options legally. They don’t have the authority to do this.”

The 38-year-old former Turnpike Rovers player says he has also pulled his sponsorship from the FAI’S flagship Emerging Talent Programme.

An FAI spokesman yesterday said the association had “no comment” to make on the matter.

Six years ago Mr O’Brien devised the format for Football’s Next Star a reality TV show that offers young footballers the chance to earn a professional contract with clubs such as Inter Milan and Chelsea. In 2009, Tulla United teenager Sunny Jay qualified for the final 40 of the competition.

The show will be screened on Irish television in September.

CRATLOE is the most expensive part of Clare for house hunters.

According to the real-estate website daft.ie the average asking price for a house in the southern part of the county, on the border with Limerick city and stretching up towards Sixmilebridge, is now at € 181,698.

However the prices here have dropped significantly since peak prices, from April to June 2007.

Back then the asking price for an average family home was € 371,091, over twice the current asking price.

As of June this year, the average price for a two-bed property in this area was € 114,577, a three-bed property € 161,458, and a four-bed property € 273,758.

On average house prices in Clare have dropped by 50.6 per cent since the height of the boom, but while almost all of Munster was showing an evening out of prices during between March and June, Clare and Limerick City were the exceptions.

Asking prices for house in Clare continued to drop by as much as 2.8 per cent during these last three months, with the average price now at € 151,211. The average four-bedroom house in the county has an asking price of € 186,000 however with five-beds reaching € 261,000.

Those wishing to become home owners can also expect to pay above the county average in Flagmount, Feakle and Caher where there is an average asking price of € 158,911, down 49 per cent since peak prices and Tulla and O’Callaghan’s Mills has an average asking price of € 153,599 down 45.6 per cent.

Prices are also relatively high in Doolin and Kilshanny at € 154,833, down 48.7 per cent in five years.

And if you want a bargain buy in County Clare your best bet is West Clare where houses covering an area from Kilmurry McMahon, up towards Connolly and Quilty and west to Cree have an average asking price of € 91,959.

CLARE is the only county in Munster without State-sponsored third level education, but it hasn’t stopped more people than ever before in the county embracing the education system.

That’s just one of the findings to emerge from the latest bulletin report of the 2011 National Census of Population released by the Central Statistics Office in the past week.

According to the figures, there are more students in Clare than there are people out of work in a breakdown of the population of the county that are over 15 years of age.

The huge surge in the numbers of students over the age of 15 in the county is reflected in a figure of 10,044, a figure which represents a 27.3 per cent jump numbering over 2,100 since the 2006 census results.

This means that the jump in student numbers in Clare is now running ahead of the provincial and national average that stands at 14 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

However, the census returns have revealed that the county is behind the national average when it comes to the biggest tools of modern education – technology.

All because the numbers able to access much-needed information online is lower than in other parts of the country. Three in five Clare homes have access to broadband, and even this represents a four-fold jump from 2006, it’s still five percent below the national average.

The unemployment figures for the county stand at 9,805, which is lower than the national average, while the figure for those who are classified as ‘looking after the home/family’ is 8,476.

The figures for those working in Clare in April 2011 are 45,606, with the numbers of retired people standing at 12, 530.

Of the working population the healthy state of the agriculture industry in Clare is reflected in the fact that there are 7,499 farmer in Clare – a figure which is broken down between 5,064 men and 2,435 women.

HISTORY was made in Ballyvaughan yesterday as passengers from both sides of Galway Bay travelled between Ballyvaughan and Galway city centre in minutes on the first sailing of the Ballyvaughan Bay Hop.

The fast ferry made the crossing in perfect conditions with everyone present adamant that they would use the service into the future.

Present on the 12.30pm crossing was Mary Unglert from Unglert’s Bakery in Ennistymon, who went to Galway for the day for a spot of shopping with her mother and daughter.

“This is a service that is definitely needed and a permanent link from Ballyvaughan to Galway would be great. With the business that I am in, we wouldn’t need to use it but for anyone who is commuting from Clare to Galway, this is ideal. This can also help to bring more tourists from Galway into Clare,” she said.

“I’m not worried about getting seasick, we’re on ferries and boats the whole time and we like going out to Doolin from the Aran Islands so there’ll be no problem with that.”

Doolin resident Dolores Delaney is hopeful that the Ballyvaughan Bay Hop will be made into a full-time, year-round service.

“I have been waiting for this to happen for years and years. I think it’s wonderful. My husband and myself are going to have a bit of lunch in Galway, do some shopping, have a little walk around – then we are coming back on the 6pm boat,” she said.

“This is a great way of beating the traffic. Sometimes it can take us more than two hours to get from Doolin to Galway. I can guarantee that I would use this service at least once a week, maybe even more.”

There was also some exciting news from Dave Brocklebank from the Burren Yoga Centre, who believes that he can incorporate the Ballyvaughan Bay Hop into the yoga packages that he offers through his business.

“We run yoga courses all year around and, as part of that, we take people on different trips. For us, this would be a fantastic thing, to be able to take people over to Galway city as part of their course,” said Dave.

“We would be able to support the service but, more than that, this surface would help to support our busi- ness, by providing another attraction to bring people to the Burren Yoga Centre.”

The Ballyvaughan Bay Hop is the brainchild of Ballyvaughan resident Gwen Ryan, who is hopeful that a full-time, year round service will be available soon.

“I am thrilled that this is happening. It is brilliant to see the positivity of everyone around here. The response has been so encouraging. This really does present so many opportunities for the area,” said Gwen.

For more information or to book, visit www.ballyvaughanbayhop.com.

A PEDIGREE cow from Barefield has become an internet sensation around the world in little over a week, after her curiosity got the better of her and he strayed from the long acre around Ballyalla to go ‘shopping’ for some bathroom ware.

That’s the story being told and viewed around the world in a threeand-a-half-minute YouTube clip that has gone viral in the past week as nearly 10,000 internet users a day log onto the young heifer’s interest in shopping.

It’s all to do with the Charolais heifer belonging to a local farmer that strayed into the Ennis Supply shop on the Gort Road last Saturday week, was filmed on a mobile phone and posted on the internet and, as of Monday night, had nearly 70,000 people viewing the footage.

“It’s amazing really,” Ennis Supply owner Stephen Flaherty told The Clare People this week. “I’m not from the YouTube age and I didn’t even know that it was put up on the internet, but the fact that it was and has had so many hits in unbelievable.

“It was on Saturday afternoon and the heifer just walked in the front door of the shop and walked around for about 15 minutes.

“She did no damage and we were eventually able to guide her out of the shop.

“She belonged to a local farmer, who farms at Ballycoree, and strayed from a field when a gate was left open and she eventually made her way up to us. While she was walking around, a young fella by the name of Damian Corry, who works with us on a Saturday, started filming him.

“When we got him out, I thought that was the end of it, but now loads of people are calling me to say they’ve seen it on the internet.

“I suppose you could say it’s some advertising for the business,” added Mr Flaherty.

THE owners of a missing ferret in Ennis say they have been plagued by pranksters since they launched a poster campaign to find the animal.

Daniel Drzeweecke and his girlfriend have appealed for help from people in Ennis to help find their pet ferret – Ceara – who has been missing in the town for the past two weeks.

Daniel says the couple has received numerous helpful phonecalls from members of the public.

However, pranksters have rung the couple with false sightings. They also received a call from a person who claimed they had found their beloved pet dead.

Daniel explains, “We have got many different phonecalls, some prank calls. Sometimes it’s a joke or a prank.

“Once somebody called and said they had found the ferret dead. But it was actually only an old piece of clothing, a piece from a jacket.”

Ceara, who is microchipped, has been missing for the past two weeks since getting free while being brought for a walk near a fountain in the Mill Road area of Ennis.

The couple are asking anyone who sees Ceara not to be afraid to approach her.

Alternatively, they can contact Daniel on 085 1465752, Julija on 085 1316651, Egle on 085 1315841 or any local vet, pet shop or dog pound. Daniel says that any information is useful.

The couple have had Ceara for three years.

According to Daniel, ferrets are an increasingly popular pet.

Daniel has not given up hope of finding his ferret.

He explains, “I was talking to some other ferret owners and they say that ferrets go missing a lot.

“One person told me that their ferret was missing for a month before they found it again. They enjoy their freedom.

“They are not really a pet. They are able to live outdoors and kill their own food. She can handle the outdoors.” AS the switch to digital television gets closer, SAORVIEW targets half a million affected homes with onscreen message across RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, TG4 and TV3. Latest figures show there are 491,000 households with an estimated 800,000 television sets in Ireland that must switch to digital to avoid blank screens when the old analogue signal is switched off on October 24th, 2012. Starting this week, in a drive to ensure that affected homes know how to respond to the changeover, a brief on-screen message will appear at regular but infrequent intervals on sets receiving the old analogue TV signal. The message does not appear on sets already receiving a digital television signal. Almost a million households already subscribe to a digital service and therefore need take no action unless they choose to switch to the free SAORVIEW service. Commenting on the reason behind the on-screen caption, Mary Curtis, Director of Digital Switchover, SAORVIEW said: “Understandably, lots of people have been asking how they will know if they must get ready for SAORVIEW and digital television. The answer is straightforward. If you have an old analogue television and aerial, you will need to convert to digital otherwise you will lose your free Irish channels next October. By transmitting this message periodically on analogue sets, we hope to prompt viewers to take taking action sooner rather than later. SAORVIEW is available now so we are advising those affected not to wait until the last minute particularly as upgrading to RTÉ Two HD (High Definition) will make sports viewing more pleasurable this summer”, said Curtis.

The on-screen caption gives viewers the basic information they need to get SAORVIEW. As most will already have a UHF aerial, they simply need a SAORVIEW Approved settop box or a SAORVIEW Approved TV (which has the digital tuner built in). The caption also directs analogue viewers to the SAORVIEW website and call centre if they have any questions about getting SAORVIEW. Once sets have been upgraded to receive SAORVIEW, viewers can sit back and continue to enjoy Irish TV for free.

In addition to the caption, a date reminder “bug” will appear on these same TV sets. In welcoming this initiative Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, said “The ‘bug’ which those still using the analogue TV network see on the top left corner of their TV screens will appear until they switch to a digital TV network will allow us to make it very clear to them that they need to take action and change to a digital TV service if they are to avoid losing their TV signal on Wednesday 24th October. Along with the information booklet which will be delivered to every home in the country at the end of June, the introduction of the ‘bug’ to analogue TV screens is an important part of our communications campaign to encourage people to get informed and take action. These initiatives, along with the decision by RTE, TG3 and TG4 to introduce reminder captions to analogue TV viewers, will serve to remind people that they need to move to a digital TV service of their choosing in advance of Wednesday October 24th and that they can take action now. We hope that analogue TV viewers will understand the reasons for the introduction of these devices and that it will prompt them take action sooner, rather than later”.

The date reminder in the top lefthand corner of the screen will be permanently on screen in the countdown to analogue switchover date, October 24th.

ENNIS Chamber of Commerce has warned local businesses to be extremely cautious when advertising in publications that they are not familiar with and to do their research before placing any advertising.

The warning comes following a disagreement between three Clare businesses and a UK-based publications company over advertisements published in the ‘Friend for Life’ magazine.

The local businesses claim that they were sold the advertisements under false pretenses by the Vision Group, who publish the magazine. The Vision Group however, claim that the advertisements were sold to the Clare businesses legally and in good faith.

According to Rita McInerney of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, proper research is the key for ensuring that Clare businesses get the most out of their advertising budget.

“Ennis Chamber would advise any business considering advertising with a publication that they are not familiar with to exercise caution. Businesses should ensure that it is a legitimate business and conduct a background check through some research on the internet or by requesting a company registration certificate or a charity number and then verify this with the authorising organisation,” she said.

“Dun and Bradstreet offers a credit check service on any business world- wide at a reduced fee through Ennis Chamber, which is worthwhile when considering doing business with a company you a not familiar with.

“This is particularly relevant for international trade, where business legislation can differ from country to country and it is more difficult to find out information. Businesses need to advertise to ensure their customers know what they have to offer but such marketing has to be conducted in a targeted way and businesses should investigate to ensure that the advertising does actually reach the audience to which it is intended,” she said.

“With tight budgets, businesses have to receive the most return on investment when marketing their products and services.”