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AFTER nearly a decade in the doldrums, Clare Roses are starting to get accustomed to the lavish surroundings of the Festival Dome in Tralee. Joanne O’Groman made it two years in a row for Clare participants, when she qualified for the grand final of the Rose of Tralee competition on Sunday night.

The Cratloe native follows in the foot steps of Marie Donnellan from Newmarket-on-Fergus, who last year was Clare’s first competitor in the final stages of the competition since 2006.

There was disappointment for Dawn Ryan from Meelick, however, the Clare born, Limerick Rose narrowly missed out on the August final. Had she made it, it would have been the first time that two Clare born Roses would have competed together at the grand final.

Speaking after her selection, Joanne paid tribute to the support of Marie Donnellan.

“I’m over the moon. I don’t think it has sunk in yet to be honest. I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’s just going to be surreal. I’d say my phone is hopping off the bed up in my room at the moment, I don’t have the energy to look at it,” she said.

“The support and the good wishes that I’ve got up to now has been amazing. Just to be selected as the Clare Rose was amazing and now to go on to Tralee, it’s a dream come true.

“Marie has been a great support. First and foremost she said to just enjoy it, especially the Portlaoise section that I’ve just come through now. I plan on enjoying it. She said the same for Tralee as well. She said it is absolutely amazing.

“She also advised me to buy a foot spa as well. To plug it in every night when I get back from each of the tours – so I plan on buying a foot spa.”

A STRATEGY aimed at encouraging job creation in Ennis will be unveiled at a public meeting in the town on Thursday.

Organisers say the ‘Ennis Jobs Strategy’ will help create the foundations for new employment and economic development. The strategy will be outlined at a meeting in the Temple Gate Hotel on June 5 at 6.30pm. The meeting will involve a number of five-minute solutionbased presentations.

According the organisers, the meeting will focus around the use of “synergy and develop a concise strategy covering various sectors with opportunity to get quick, medium- and long-term wins for Ennis in terms of job creation.”

The meeting will review several sectors of the local economy including retail, tourism, construction, community-based food production, creativity, industry. Johnny Flynn, a local Fine Gael councillor who recently regained his seat on Clare County Council, is one of the men behind the proposed jobs strategy.

“This meeting is about informed contributions from people from particular employment sectors on the ground – a task force of capable individuals with the common goal of jobs. It’s not about the problem it’s about creating and compiling strong and realizable ideas for job creation in Ennis,” he explained.

The aim of the meeting is to compile a result-driven report with actions for 2014 and beyond. The report will be made available to the new Ennis Municipal District committee asking for their support in the implementation.

Among those expected to address the meeting are David Fitzsimmons of Retail Excellence Ireland; Rita McInerney, CEO of Ennis Chamber; Brian O’Neill, Chairman of Promote Ennis and Ana Bella Alvarez, Director of Ennis Street Festival.

Cllr Flynn said, “In terms of jobs, I have been working with different sectors. However I believe there should have been a complete jobs strategy three years ago. There is no point now looking back in dismay instead I am asking business owners, decision makers and all who would like to contribute to come an join us on June 5.”

The meeting will be held on June 5 at Temple Gate Hotel at 6.30pm. All are welcome and organisers appreciate prior contact to prepare for the event, contact Johnny Flynn on 087 2571842 or jny.flynn@gmail.com.

CLARE mothers are getting older with more than 100 babies born to women 40 years of age or older in the county last year.

According to figures obtained from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), just under seven per cent of all children in Clare are now born to women over 40, with the average age of a mother in the county now rising to 32 years and six month, well ahead of the national average.

Indeed, the average age of a first time mother in Clare now stands at 30 years and six month, one of the oldest in Ireland.

The vast majority of Clare births are to women in their 30s with 557 children born to women aged between 30 and 34 last year and 407 children born to women aged between 35 and 39.

A total of 776 boys were born in Clare in 2013 with Sean the most common named selected by parents. Sean, which was previously the most common Clare name in 2011 – overtakes Jack which was the most popular name last year.

Emily was the most popular name for the 715 girls who were born to Clare mothers last year.

Emily was the clear favourite name for Clare girls after the four-way tie between Aoife, Lily, Lucy and Sophie in 2012.

Meanwhile, just over 10 per cent of Clare babies were born to single mothers last year.

According to the CSO, 1,025 children were born to married mothers of mothers in civil partnerships in Clare in 2013. Of the 466 who were born to unmarried mothers, 309 reported that they we cohabiting with the father. This mean that a total of 157 babies, or just over 10 per cent of total, were born to single parents in Clare last year.

A TOTAL of 2,682 Clare teenagers are registered to sit state exams from Wednesday.

As the sales of lucky rabbits feet, Mass cards and holy medals peak this week, 1,393 Leaving Certificate students from the county face their final tests in exam halls all over Clare.

A further 1,406 students will face state exams for the first time as they begin their Junior Certificate Examination, also beginning on Wednesday morning.

In addition, 67 Leaving Certificate Applied candidates will also complete their exam, which is made up of continued assessment.

And while many parish churches throughout the diocese of Killaloe are assisting with last minute divine inspiration with early morning masses on the morning of the first exams, nature is also playing its part with wet muggy weather promised for the early part on the examinations.

More male than female students are registered to sit the Leaving Certificate in Clare this year, with 664 girls and 729 boys scheduled to take the exam.

As many as 36 of the 67 students doing the Leaving Certificate Ap- plied in Clare are also male.

The gender balance of the number sitting the Junior Certificate in Clare is reversed however with 714 female students and 687 male students signed up for the exam.

Nationally some 118,673 candidates will take their seats in 4,962 examination centres countywide to begin their Leaving and Junior Certificate examinations.

From the June bank holiday weekend, over 4,962 superintendents involved in supervising the written examinations will take possession of the boxes containing the 3 million examination papers that are required by candidates over the 13 day exami- nation period. Over 4,000 examiners will be involved in examining the work presented by candidates in the written examinations. This is in addition to the some 2,000 examiners required to mark the exams.

The examinations run until Thursday, June 19, for Junior Certificate subjects and Friday, June 20, for Leaving Certificate subjects. The written examinations in the Leaving Certificate Applied programme finish on Thursday, June 12.

The results of the Leaving Certificate examinations will be available on Wednesday, August 13. Results of the Junior Certificate will be available in mid-September.

WITH just days until the newly elected Clare County Council meet for the first time, mystery still surrounds how much they will be paid and their expenses.

At the 11th hour the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan (FG) still has not revealed if the 28 new county councillors would receive a pay cut or a pay rise in the new smaller county council.

He said he would announce a revised package of changes to payments to cathaorligh, mayors and expenses for attendance at conferences shortly. It is understood that there will be a limit of € 1,000 per councillor for attending conferences.

The expenses to be allocated to cover newly enlarged constituencies are also a closely guarded secret for now.

It is understood however that there will be extra money on top of the basic salary to be pocketed by the mayor of the county, the chairs of the four new Municipal Districts (the former electoral areas) and for the chairpersons of the Special Strategic Policy Committees.

From Friday, May 30, all 28 elected the previous Friday were formerly considered county councillors.

This Friday, June 6, they will meet for the first time in Aras Contae an Clár (right_ to elect a new mayor and decide how many times they will meet during the five-year office term.

It is understood a proposal is to go before the newly elected members suggesting that full county council meetings are held just every second month, with each Municipal District to meet monthly.

This proposal is already meeting some resistance from more established members who are more accustomed to full monthly council meetings.

As all four town councils in Clare are now gone, there will be no more mayors of Kilrush, Shannon or Kilkee.

As Ennis has a population of more than 20,000 people however the councillors from the Ennis Munici- pal District can elect a town mayor from among its members.

There is no clear indication as yet when this post will be decided upon or whether it too might be included in a power sharing agreement between the paties. The other Municipal Districts – Killaloe, Shannon and West Clare – will elect a chairperson, or more specifically a chairman, as there are no women among them.

While the new look council will no longer be responsible for water, it will take charge of Enterprise, as the Enterprise Board has now come under the remit of the local authority.

Moves to bring the Clare Local Development Company (Leader) under the council’s authority is currently being resisted nationally.

THE number of Clare people who took their own life showed a marked decline last year, prompting hopes that the county may be turning the corner on the suicide epidemic.

According to official figures obtained from the Central Statistic Office (CSO), 14 Clare people, 12 males and two females, took their own lives in 2013 – giving a suicide rate of 11.9.

This shows is marked decline of the 13.7 suicide rate from the previ- ous year. The news comes on the two year anniversary of the tragic death of West Clare teenager William Winder, who passed away on June 3, 2012.

According to William’s father and founder of the William Winder Rainbow Foundation, Mark Winder, more needs to be done to keep the suicide rate in Clare in decline.

The foundation offers free information and access to councillors for Clare people effected by depression or suffering from other issues.

“It’s great to see the figures declining finally and people speaking about suicide is helping. It is my son’s second year anniversary and we’ve been dealing with that ourselves. But we had a family day last week in Lahinch.

“We see families coming up to us directly all the time and talking about suicide. That wound not have happened five years ago,” said Mark.

“Families are being broken up, people are being forced to emigrate and that has an effect. Families are suffering and the whole community are suffering.

“You can go through places now and it’s like going through a ghost town. But if you have a place to turn to and people are willing to talk, then it helps. There was nothing in Clare [for people who were feeling suicidal].

“You could get in your car and drive to Pieta House but if you are feeling suicidal, the last thing you should do is get behind the wheel. The kids don’t know where to turn.

“It happens, it’s can be a split second decision, and it is destroying people. I think they are seeing that now; they can see from the hurt [felt by the people left behind after a suicide]. I cry openly, my wife cries openly. We talk to kids and to school and we tell them. They can see the devastation in our faces.

“We saw the suicide stats last night and it’s great that they are declining but there is a lot not being taken into account. Like single vehicle accidents are not being classified as suicides even if there is a suicide note. But any decline is going in the right direction. Anything is good news. We’ve seen enough deaths in Clare. We’ve seen the devastation.

“We need to keep talking about it. We need to keep it on the forefront of people’s mind. The [Government] funding for this in non-existent. It hits me in the heart every time I see a suicide and hear of a suicide.

“You live it, you live it every day. Once you have someone in your family that died of suicide you never get away from it.”

For more information on the work of the William Winder Rainbow Foundation visit www.williamwinderrainbowfoundation.ie.

A WELL-KNOWN peace activist is seeking legal costs against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after the State failed in a criminal prosecution against him.

A charge against Edward Horgan (68) of failing to obey the direction of a garda to leave the vicinity of Shannon Airport was dismissed at Ennis District Court on Tuesday.

Judge Mary Larkin dismissed the charge against the retired Irish Army commandant and prominent anti-war campaigner following an application from Mr Horgan’s barrister, Brian McInerney.

Mr Horgan, with an address at Charnwood, Newtown, Castletroy, Limerick, and his co-accused Tim Hourigan (38), with an address at Cedar Court, Kennedy Park, Limerick, both denied a charge of failing to obey the direction of a garda to leave the vicinity of Shannon Airport on October 13, 2013.

The charge alleged the men were loitering without lawful authority or reasonable excuse in a public place in circumstances, which gave rise to reasonable apprehension for the safety of persons or for the maintenance of the public peace.

However Counsel for Mr Horgan applied to have the charge dismissed on the grounds that the direction given by Garda Thomas Downey of Shannon Garda Station in a car park on the day in question was “vague in the extreme”.

Garda Downey encountered the two men in a car park near Shannon Airport that was closed to the public, the court heard. He told the court he had gone there after receiving information that two people were in the car park. Garda Downey said he asked the men to leave the area. However Mr Horgan and Mr Hourigan said that when they enquired what area they had to leave, Garda Downey told them “Rineanna South”.

Counsel said this was a “colossal area”. In his application, Mr McInerney said, his client did not know the area from which he had to leave and that failure to comply with a direction that was “vague and imprecise” is not a criminal act.

He said no civilians were present during the brief exchange so a breach of the peace could not have occurred.

Mr Hourigan, who represented himself in court, also applied for a direction from the Judge.

Judge Larkin dismissed the charge against both men, saying there could not have been a reasonable apprehension for the safety of persons or the maintenance of the public peace.

Mr McInerney said he was compelled to seek costs against the DPP. He said he had advised the Gardaí beforehand of the issue existing in the case but the DPP had still decided to proceed with the prosecution.

Judge Mary Larkin said, “I have never been in a court where the court has made an order for costs against the DPP.”

She adjourned the matter to July 16 for submissions from Counsel.

GIRL power is back in Clare County Council. The historically male dominated local authority has trebled its number of female councillors, from one to three, in this election.

Leading the charge was independent candidate Ann Norton, who was first woman elected to Clare County Council over the weekend.

“It’s good to have a female voice in the council.

“After Patricia [Patricia McCarthy (Ind)] announced that she was retir- ing, a lot of people were worried that there mightn’t be a lot of women on Clare County Council.

“Different people give different reasons why there aren’t more women running for election, but at the end of the day I don’t see it being any different whether you are male or female,” she said.

“I’m a mother of three children. I have plenty of energy and will give time and energy to Clare County Council, the same as I put into the Clare Crusaders Clinic and into my family.”

Norton, who was elected on the 18th count of a marathon Ennis count at the West County Hotel credits her transfer friendliness as one of the reasons why she was elected.

“I’m absolutely delighted, thrilled. I wasn’t expecting this at all. I knew it was going to be tough; 27 candidates was a lot in the Ennis area.

“I think, from yesterday, when the count came in, my number were quite high.

“The question was whether I’d get the transfers.

“It’s all very new to me but it worked. Being transfer friendly worked,” she said.

WHEN Clare Colleran Molloy FF and Mary Howard FG were elected to Clare County Council on the 20th and final Ennis count it brought to three the number of women that would serve on the next local authority.

The female complement on the new 28-seat council is still only 10 per cent of the overall council membership, but it is also a 200 per cent increase in female representation at county level.

It was feared that when Cllr Patrica McCarthy (Ind), the only woman on the current council, announced her retirement there would be a shortage of female candidate willing to come forward.

While there will be no female representation on the Killaloe, Shannon and West Clare Municipal Areas, Ennis will now have three.

Clare Colleran Molloy was the last of the three – which includes Ann Norton (Ind) – to be elected and the dark horse among the three.

Her election she admitted was a surprise even to herself.

“I am so thrilled first and foremost as a first time candidate that I got that vote of confidence from so many people and obviously it is reflective of all the hard work I put in along with my husband Tony. We started knocking on doors on February 6 and we had such a good team of not only family and friends but also good cumann Fianna Fáil support,” she said.

“I did not expect to be standing here today,” she said minutes after she was declared elected.

The woman from Quin explained that after hours of nervous energy on Saturday, she had resigned herself to the fact that she would not get the seat by the Sunday. Hours later she was elected.

The new councillor elect has already got a “baptism of fire” in the world of politics following a flow of comments on a public online forum caused her distress ahead of the election.

The barrister said she was currently having that issue dealt with and is looking forward to her new political career.

NEWLY elected councillor Mary Howard (FG) has promised that the dynamics of Clare County Council will “change completely” following an influx of new female candidates to the local authority.

Speaking after her election to Clare County Council on Sunday afternoon, Howard praised all the Clare women who put themselves forward for this local election.

“It’s great to see that we have great quality women candidates in Clare. They are hard working, they are clever and they have the passion and drive.

“The dynamic is going to change completely now [because of the women candidates],” she said.

The Ennis-based councillor, who was one of three Fine Gael councillors returned in the Ennis area, has credited an “old fashioned” approach to politics for her success at this election.

“It’s been a long few months, it’s been a hard battle and a big big area for us to cover, for all of us. I canvassed the old fashioned way, one foot in front of the other.

“We started in the bitter cold last winter and we finished up this week. Thank God it worked out the way I wanted it. I love my job and I have a great passion for where I live and I love what I do,” she said.

“When I got elected five years ago [to Ennis Town Council], there was such a transition in my life, a lot going on. So I decided that I would do it [politics] full time, to the best of my abilities.

“I decided that it would be a career choice for me. I have loved every minute of it.”

Mary BUGLER
, Ogonolloe, Clare. Funeral Mass in St Molua’s Church, Ogonnelloe, today (Tuesday) at 12 noon followed by burial in Ogonnelloe cemetry. Donations if desired to Raheen Community Hospital. May she rest in peace.

Seán CULLINAN
, Cornmarket Street, Ennis/North Circular Road, former HSE Dublin and Oxmanstown, North Circular Road, Dublin 7 and late of Cornmarket Street, Ennis. Funeral Mass in Ennis Cathedral today (Tuesday) at 11 am. Burial afterwards in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Michael CLOHESSY
,Tullabrack, Kilrush. Peacefully at University Hospital Limerick. Laid to rest in Breassa Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Peggy CUGGERAN (née McMAHON)
, Stewart Street, Kilrush. Funeral arriving at St. Senan’s Church, Kilrush, this morning (Tuesday) for 11amMass, burial afterwards in All Saints Cemetery, Shanakyle. May she rest in peace.

Tom GUINEY
, Doolough, Connolly. Laid to rest in Coore. May he rest in peace.

Bridget HEHIR
, Boloughra, Cranny. Peacefully. Laid to rest in Cranny. May she rest in peace.

Sr Maria Goretti MCGRATH
, Convent of Mercy, Nenagh/Spanish Point, formerly of Garrykennedy, Portroe, at McAuley House, Limerick. Laid to rest in St Mary’s Convent Cemetery, Nenagh. May she rest in peace.

Michael Joseph QUINN
, Leopardstown/Inch, Laid to rest in Shanganagh Cemetery, Foxrock. May he rest in peace.

Johanna FITZGERALD (née Holohan)
, Toovahera, Lisdoonvarna. Laid to rest in Kilmoon cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Gerry LINNANE
, Stack’sVillas,Tralee, formerly of Newquay. Laid to rest in NewRath Cemetery, Tralee. May he rest in peace.

Nancy O’GRADY (née Duggan)
, Cahercanivan, Kilmihil. Peacefully. Laid to rest in Reilig Nua, Kilmihil. May she rest in peace.

Mary CASEY
, Deerpark, Doora, Ennis and formerly of Kings Road, Kildysart. Laid to rest in Kildysart Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Sr Mary CLANCY
, Daughters of the Cross, Beech Park Convent, Dublin/Ennis. Laid to rest in Deans Grange Cemetery. Donations, if desired, to Blackrock Hospice. May she rest in peace.

Francis Glen FOY
, Killeen, Corofin. Peacefully. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Tom KEANE
, Birmingham, England and formerly of Clonfadda, Killaloe. Laid to rest in Bridgetown Church Grounds. Donations, if desired, to Milford Hospice. May he rest in peace.

Mary KEARINS
, Sutton/Sixmilebridge. Suddenly at Marymount Care Centre,Westmanstown. Laid to rest in St Fintan’s Cemetery, Sutton. May she rest in peace.