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MAKING a will won’t kill you, but not making it will cause a lot of unec- essary trouble and possible financial loss for your successors.

And yet, it is estimated that half of all adults have not made a will and only 20 per cent of business owners have decided who will inherit their businesses when they die.

This leads to more family disputes over inheritance and succession with the sale and division of estates result- ing in a significant share of the pro-

ceeds being consumed by legal costs.

You don’t have to make a will but it makes good sense to leave your af- fairs in good order for those who sur- vive you. It is a sad, but inevitable fact of life that many people die under the age of 30 – yet a very small number of them may even have thought about making a will.

If you make a will, you decide who gets what after your death. You can also decide who doesn’t benefit as you can minimise the impact of capital ac- quisitions tax on your beneficiaries.

If you don’t make a will, your next

of kin will inherit your estate. If you are not married, have outlived your parents and have no children, the Government could be the ultimate ANON lol a

In many cases, the people who ben- efit from your life’s work may be peo- ple you may not have wished to bene- fit from your death. If you don’t make a will, it’s possible the wrong people may be your legal successors.

You get to choose, but only if you take the right action at the right time. The right action is to seek advice from a solicitor and the right time 1s now.

It is important for you to make a will because if you don’t, the law on in- testacy decides what happens to your property.

A will can ensure that proper ar- rangements are made for your de- pendants and that your property is distributed in the way you wish after you die, subject to certain rights of spouses and children.

A person who dies having made a valid will is said to have died ‘tes- tate’. If you die testate, then all your possessions will be distributed in the way you set out in your will. It is the job of the executor or executors you named in your will to make sure this happens.

There are legal limits as to how much of your property goes to which person, as set out in law in the Suc- cession Act, 1965. An executor can be a beneficiary under the will. In other words, the executor can also inherit under the will.

After you die, somebody has to deal with your estate, by gathering together all your money and posses- sions, paying any debts you owe and then distributing what is left to the people who are entitled to it.

If you leave a will before you die, one or more of the executors you named in your will usually has to get legal permission from the Probate Office or the District Probate Regis- try for the area in which you lived at the time of death to do this. Permis- sion comes in the form of a document called a Grant of Representation.

If you did not name any executors in your will or if the executors are unable or unwilling to apply for a Grant of Representation, documents called Letters of Administration (With Will) are issued.

When your estate is distributed, the legal rights of your spouse and children, if any, will be fulfilled first after any debts are paid before any other gifts are considered.

A person who dies without a will is said to have died ‘intestate’. If you

die intestate, this means your estate, or everything that you own, is dis- tributed in accordance with the law by an administrator. To do this, the administrator needs permission in the form of a Grant of Representa- nlOyee

When a person dies without a will or when their will is invalid, this Grant is issued as Letters of Admin- istration by the Probate Office or the District Probate Registry for the area in which the person lived at the time of death.

The legal rules governing the dis- tribution of your property apply: e When you have not made a will e When the will has been denied probate because it has not been made properly or a challenge to it has been SLECOLeAT AU e When the will does not complete- ly deal with all your possessions. In these cases, after debts and ex- penses have been deducted, the estate is distributed in the following way. If you are survived by: e A spouse but no children (or grandchildren): your spouse gets the entire estate. e A spouse and children: your spouse gets two-thirds of your estate and the remaining one-third is di- vided equally among your children. If one of your children has died, that share goes to his/her children. e Children, but no spouse: your es- tate 1s divided equally among your children (or their children). e Parents, but no spouse or chil- dren: your estate is divided equally between your parents or given entire- ly to one parent if only one survives. e Brothers and sisters only: your estate is shared equally among them, with the children of a deceased broth- er or sister taking his/her share. e Nieces and nephews only: your estate 1s divided equally among those Hae hailes e Other relatives only: your estate is divided equally between the near- est equal relationship. e No relatives: your estate goes to the state.

NETWORK Ireland’s National Pres- ident, Una Murphy, will be the VIP guest at the Clare Branch monthly meeting, which will be held at 8pm on Wednesday at The Temple Gate hotel in Ennis.

Una Murphy is the Commercial Lending Manager with AIB Mayo. She has made “Professionalism In Business” a theme for the network in her year as National President and will share her insights on this subject with those attending the Ennis meet- ing.

On the same evening Jill Hincks, Managing Director of Passion for Creative will speak on the subject of ‘How to Succeed in Business — Get Your Ducks All In a Row.” Jill will hand out a free copy of her book to each attendee.

Network Clare President, Pamela Clancy said she is delighted that the National President and Jill Hincks are attending the meeting in Ennis, ‘We are really pleased to have the na- tional president, Una Murphy come to Clare and share her vast experi- ence of professionalism in business and on the same evening to have a second speaker of Jill’s calibre who has over 25 years national brand agency experience in London and Manchester, has created award-win- ning campaigns for such clients as M&S, B&Q, Argos and Homebase and who specialises in retail psy- chology and brand strategy. Many women in business use creativity “to get their ducks in a row’ on a daily basis and we are looking forward to hearing Jill’s input on this topic,” she said.

Network Ireland is a progressive dynamic organisation for women in business, the professions, industry, trades, government departments and the arts. It was formed in Dublin in 1983. The organisation has developed both a quality reputation and a qual- ity distribution system for ideas and information. Today it has branches in Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Laoise, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Tipperary North, Tipperary South and Waterford. Networking is increasingly important in growing successful companies.

Members in Clare represent a di- verse range of business interests. These include Orla Holland of Inte- rio, Quin Road Business Park, En- nis, Eileen Clair, Therapist, Kilkee, Pamela Clancy of Clancy Solicitors in Ennis, and Alice O’Carroll of Clare supported Employment Serv- ices. Other members include Mary Hanley from BillPost, Kilrush, Re- becca Brew of Crotty’s Pub Kilrush and Ana Marques of Lion Oak Serv- ices. Sarah Malone of Innfluential Marketing has been a Clare Member, as well as Madeline McAleer of Clare Focus, Brid Vaughan of BlathInis and Grainne McCormack of Choco- lat. Lisa Walshe from Houlihan and Co. Solicitors and Mary Corry from Elsevier Ltd. Shannon.

The Clare Network extends a warm welcome to anyone interested in finding out more at the Templegate Hotel in Ennis on Wednesday 23rd September at 8pm.

AN TAOISEACH Brian Cowen will make his first trip to the county town as leader of the country on Monday next.

The Fianna Fail leader was criti- cised during the local election cam- paign for not stopping in Ennis as part of his tour of the county, favour- ing Shannon and Kilmaley instead.

He denied at the time that he avoid- ed the county town as he did not want to engage lobby groups on the closure of 24-accident and emergen- cy services at the hospital.

“The schedule has been fixed and there is no problem meeting people as I go around. And I think it is im- portant to point out, regarding Ennis Hospital, the ward block construc- tion is going to take place (later in the year) we hope. I would be ex- pecting that it would be taking place then,” he said at the time.

More than three months on and Mr Cowen has agreed to a walk around in Ennis.

The Taoiseach will begin his sec- ond official visit to Clare in Shannon, where he has accepted an invitation from Shannon Chamber President, Jan Barrett, to speak at his annual lunch for the business community.

Announcing the event, Chamber President Jan Barrett said, “The chamber is delighted to get an op- portunity to directly represent its members’ interests in these chal- lenging times to An Taoiseach, and

to support the case for the passing of the second referendum on the Lisbon sbi iAee

After lunch, Mr Cowen will begin his visit to Ennis by launching the CCTV (Close Circuit Television) service at Ennis Garda Station. With “big brother” watching over him he will then walk through the winding streets of the town from 2.45pm be- fore meeting the party faithful in a local hotel.

Mr Cowen will then travel west to Lissycasey to the new water plant.

Derma deta oD NNTca CoM AOU Beh ( ome Kirush for the official opening of a community creche.

The childcare facility, Cuan Samh, serves the Adult and Community Learning Centre on Cooraclare Road. The ceremony is timed for 5pm. The purpose-built unit replaces earlier childcare facilities housed in a pre- fabricated building at the centre.

IT all went according to form in Bodyke on Friday evening as the home side got back to winning ways ahead of their quarter-final clash this weekend whereas winless Meelick are doomed to the relegation fight.

Already qualified for the last eight despite an inconsistent start, Bodyke needed a positive showing here and did so thanks to defensive anchor Sean Doyle who mopped up any breaks as well as their attacking quartet of PJ Kelleher, Johnny Howard, Keith Qui- gley and newly crowned All-Ireland Under 21 champion Colm Madden whose latent understanding allowed them to accumulate 2-16 of Bodyke’s total between them.

In saying that, despite the com- prehenisve scoreline, the Bodyke management still won’t be wholly satisfied approaching this weekend’s knock-out stages. They were totally in control of this tie from start to fin- ish but lapses in concentration that hampered them against both Feakle and Clarecastle again resurfaced here as they never ruthlessly put con- fidence shy Meelick to the sword at any stage. Allied to that was a poor conversion rate of 16 wides over the hour that in the business end of the season against the bigger sides could

prove very costly.

Meelick, for their part, ravaged by emmigration, injuries and suspen- sions, epitomised a side who just wanted to get the game over with and put this season behind them after three opening defeats but with a win here ensuring a play-off with Wolfe Tones to avoid relegation, the carrot was still dangling for them to muster up one last battling display.

For that to happen, they needed a positive start but their gameplan was in the shredder as early as the fourth minute after two soft goals had them firmly on the backfoot. Meelick did get the opening score through Ken- neth Keane but from the puck-out, their defence were immediately diso- rientated by Bodyke’s movement and it allowed Tom McNamara to kick through to the unmarked Colm Mad- den who was clear to rattle James Duffy’s net. From the puck-out, PJ Kelleher fed Keith Quigley for a point and only two minutes later, the writing was on the wall for Meelick as a Sean Doyle free from his own 65 was added to by Patsy O’Donnell to open up a 2-1 to 0-1 lead.

From that juncture on, it was a firefighting exercise for Meelick but with Johnny Howard, Colm Mad- den and Keith Quigley causing ma- jor headaches, Meelick just had too

many fires to put out and not enough manpower to stop the flames.

Eanna Mulvihill’s frees were the only reliable source of comfort for the south east Clare side but down to the bare bones, they hadn’t the firepower to trouble Bodyke who had enough chances to put Meelick away by half-time but only took fifty per cent of them. By half-time, they led by 2-11 to 0-07 and went about finishing the job early in the second period with Quigley and Madden adding points before a 36th minute goal from Johnny Howard had them cruising at 3-13 to 0-08.

However, although the result was now beyond doubt, they never con- vincingly built on that advantage, misfiring with hopeful efforts and it allowed Meelick to stage a mini- revolt.

The introduction of Ger Markham immediately caused Bodyke prob- lems, earning a 20 metre free with his first touch that Alan Markham slammed to the net in the 42nd minute before the substitute got one himself three minutes later when an Eoin Daly ball dropped behind the full-back line for the full-forward to pull to the net.

With the lead now sliced to eight, the loss of midfielder Barry O’Dwyer to injury was now felt by Bodyke but

it was his partner PJ Kelleher who steadied the ship once more with two successive points along with a Qui- aD keer

The brief crisis averted, Bodyke regained control to ease up to vic- tory and provide the perfect launch- ing pad for a concerted drive at the knock-out stages. Some fine tuning is still necessary though if they have a realistic chance of toppling the big boys in the grade.

FEAKLE claimed the top spot in Group two as they held off previous- ly unbeaten Clarecastle with a bat- tling second half fightback. In truth, they were full value for the win and would have been kicking themselves had they not secured all the points after a bucketful of poor wides over the hour.

For forty minutes, in similar mis- firing fashion to their Junior B side earlier that afternoon, Feakle were woeful in front of the posts. Miss

after miss frustrated the east Clare side and with the Magpies dogged throughout the field, they grabbed a crucial goal after 20 minutes when full-forward Eoin Brennan collected a pass from Dean Power and soloed at the heart of the Feakle defence be- fore offloading to John Reidy to hit to the net on their way to a 1-5 to 0-4 half-time advantage.

Feakle shuffled the pack at the break bringing on Colm Naughton to full-forward and it was to prove an inspired change as Feakle began to turn the screw. The wides continued

to mount up but they finally found their range to slice the lead to the minimum before Naughton blocked down a Kieran Lynch clearance, gathered possession and slammed to the net to give Feakle a 1-7 to 1-5 advantage.

Gathering momentum and with Henry Hayes in inspired form at centre-back, Feakle pummeled the Clarecastle rearguard in search of further scores and they were re- warded in the 50th minute when Stevie Moloney kicked their second goal to push five points clear. Clare-

castle tried valliantly to pull back a goal but their efforts were in vain as Feakle held out for all the points and more importantly maintained their unbeaten record ahead of this week- end’s quarter-finals.

that classes will be

commencing at the end of this week at the new gym.

In recent times, pole dancing has

been synonymous with strip bars and gentlemen’s clubs.

However, Mr O’Malley said that “pole dance fitness is huge on the continent but has taken a while to spread to us here. It is a great fitness class with a huge emphasis on fun. We have clients of all ages signed up and there is a great buzz about the class.”

He pointed out that “pole danc- ing is now regarded as a recognised form of exercise and can be used as both an aerobic and anaerobic work- out. Recognised schools and qualifi- cations are being developed as pole

dancing increases in popularity.”

He confirmed that the poles have been ordered to specification and that each pole will cater for four participants at the classes.

“We have a policy here of offering the very best service to our clients and this includes keeping up with current fitness trends.”

Mr O’Malley said that partici- pants are advised to dress in short pants, with no creams on the legs or Web hcaatce

According to Mr O’Malley, the pole dancing fitness “involves danc- ing sensually with a vertical pole

and is now a leading way of getting PUMA OD ome Ma DOcas REN Dla

“Advanced pole dancing requires strength, flexibility and endurance. The dancer may simply hold the pole, or use it to perform more ath- letic moves such as climbs, spins, and body inversions. Upper body and core strength are targeted and vastly improved during training Sessions,’ he said.

THE Government has turned a blind eye to An Garda Siochana’s policy of increased urbanization.

That’s the view of Clare Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen who has called on Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to review the strategy and to put gardai back into the rural areas.

“The only 24-hour Garda stations in Clare are in Ennis, Shannon, Kil- rush, Killaloe and Ennistymon. The

other Garda stations open for just a few hours each day,” Deputy Breen Sr nLe

‘In recent months, I have received a number of calls from people who live in isolated parts of the county and are worried about the increased inci- dence of burglaries in their areas.

“They are concerned that the short opening hours of their local Garda stations are resulting in gardai having to travel long distances to respond to incidents.”

Deputy Breen’s concerns were ech- oed by party colleague, Joe Carey.

He said, “There is something not quite right when almost the only in- teraction of people with the Garda is on meeting the traffic corps. There has been a conscious decision to develop elements such as the traf- fic corps, leaving rural stations and community policing to wither and die.

“Over the past number of weeks there has been a marked increase in

burglaries throughout the county.

“If you take a line from Coose in Galway through to Whitegate, Scar- riff, Broadford and Quin, roughly the R352 regional road, I can recount four individual incidents.

“Many homeowners in the east Clare to south-east Galway artery find themselves having to put more elaborate security systems in place. Sheds and storage areas resemble an Irish version of Fort Knox.

‘East Clare is a massive geographi-

cal area which has been further in- creased with the redrawing of the operational areas. This is an area served by the part-time Garda station in Scariff with just one patrol car and a maximum of five gardai.

“T am convinced that one can link what is happening to the economy with the increase in crime towards property and belongings of the per- son. No doubt this phenomenon will increase steadily if we do not do something,” he said.

CRICKET is a game that doesn’t hold up much comparison to the game of hurling. In fact, it’s not even a distant relation of the national game at full tilt but there was some- thing very cricketlike about the man- ner in which Smith O’Brien’s – after taking the game to the group leaders in the opening quarter to lead by I- 5 to 0-3 – seemed happy to declare and let Kilmaley do the batting for the remainder.

That was the most bizarre turna- round in a match that had only mi- nor relevance to the overall champi- onship as Kilmaley looked to keep their unbeaten run ticking along and possibly even top the group while a positive result of any kind for the Killaloe side would ensure their sen- ior status for another year.

However, after a fire and brimstone Opening quarter that seemed to rattle Kilmaley, Smith O’Brien’s held a five point lead but somehow were not to

score for a further 34 minutes and by the time they took up their innings once more, Kilmaley were practi- cally out of sight.

Kilmaley could even afford to pre- vail without the vast influence of Colin Lynch and it was one of those changes Conor Clancy that provided the perfect target up front. Producing the type of performance that earned him two All-Ireland titles, Clancy’s paw was seemingly a ball magnet, repeatedly set up scores for others and slow to start, Kilmaley will be thankful to Clancy who was a con- stant thorn in Smith O’Brien’s side. Still, the Killaloe side were up for this game and after pushing into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead by the 12th minute, two from Liam Walsh, a stroke of fortune earned them a crucial goal only two minutes later. It came after goalkeeper Seamus Hurley fumbled a handpass whilst burstting out from goal and Shane O’Brien stole pos- session to hit to an empty net via the stick of John Clohessy.

Ken Kennedy and Pat Aherne Swapped points soon afterwards to give Smith O’Brien’s a 1-5 to O-3 advantage but that was a good as it would get for Smith O’Briens who began to fade and it allowed Kilma- ley to gain a foothold in the game. Alan Markham upped his game at centre-back, midfielders Conor Mc- Mahon and Stephen McNamara be- gan to dominate their sector while up front Conor Clancy, Diarmuid McMahon and Kenneth Kennedy got some much needed supply and they slowly turned the screw through Kennedy, McNamara and Conor McMahon to trail by only two at the break at 1-5 to 0-6.

The second half only reaffirmed their control as four successive points put them in front by 0-10 to 1-O5 by the 4lst minute. However, what sealed the victory was Kenneth Kennedy’s 43rd minute goal, inevi- tably broke by Clancy to Diarmuid McMahon who pulled through for the full-forward to turn and kick

past the onrushing Mark McInerney. Kilmaley were now rampant and de- spite further points from Diarmuid McMahon and Alan Markham, the damage could have been far greater only for a pelthora of wides.

Smith O’Brien’s finally broke their scoring duck in the 5lst minute through a Liam Walsh ’65 but Kil- maley were not about to let their ad- vantage slip at this stage and tacked on late points through Kennedy, Clancy and John Clohessy to lead by 1-16 to 1-07 by the 58th minute.

Shane O’Brien finished strongly with a brace for Killaloe and Pat Vaughan earned a late penalty after being stopped by substitute Sean Hehir but before the effort could be taken, Liam Walsh saw red for a needless stroke on John Clohessy. O’Brien’s penalty was saved, Kilma- ley prevailed and now approach the quarter-finals in bouyant mood as group winners as well as being the only side outside of Newmarket to remain unbeaten in the championship

so far. Even their frustrating cricket- score of wides had been halved.

IN keeping with the character of a ferociously tight group, Cratloe squeaked past Tubber to claim the runners up spot and thus a place in the quarter finals.

Injury time points from Martin ‘Ogie’ Murphy and Sean Chaplin sealed the win after Tubber had ral- lied to recover a three-point half time deficit and draw level through Barry O’Connor’s 55th minute point.

Sandwiched between Murphy and Chaplin’s strikes was a fierce goal bound drive from O’Connor that Cratloe goalkeeper Sean Hawes did well to force behind.

Cratloe survived, a feat of some significance in a group dubbed ‘the group of death’.

They join Newmarket in the knock- out stages while Tubber, who’s hopes of qualification rested on winning on Saturday to force a play-off, join heavyweights Clarecastle and Wolfe Tones on the list of early champion- ship casualties.

It wasn’t a classic by any stretch, but there was enough guile in the play of Cratloe pair Cathal McInerney and Conor McGrath and plenty of desire and overall quality about Tubber to make things interesting.

Three points in the opening seven minutes from Eamon Taaffe, Jack Neylon and Blaine Earley saw Tub- ber seize an early advantage.

Their confident start was capped in the 15th minute when Barry O’Connor tipped Patrick O’Connor’s lighted delivery to the net.

McInerney picked off Cratloe’s first point before two frees from Damien Browne, who was excellent from placed balls throughout, left Tubber leading 1-3 O-3.

A controversial decision then re- sulted in the moment that saw mo-

mentum tilt back in Cratloe’s favour.

Damien Browne appeared to bat the sliotar over the touchline only for Cratloe, to widespread disbelief on the Tubber bench, to be awarded a sideline cut.

Browne duly poured salt on the wounds by walloping the sliotar deep into ‘Tubber territory. McInerney picked up a loose break and nailed

a close range finish to the net in the 26th minute.

The goal inspired Cratloe to open up what would ultimately prove a de- cisive lead. Two frees from Browne, a point from Sean Chaplin and crack- ing strike from Liam Markham, ensured Cratloe led 1-8 1-5 at half mbealee

Barry O’Connor’s 36th minute

point drew Tubber to within a point. Eamon Taaffe scored his third point from play but a free from Browne and McInerney’s skillfully executed effort, kept Cratloe 1-11 1-9 ahead.

That lead should have been greater but Cratloe’s errant shooting saw them rack up six wides in the second halt.

As a consequence they were even-

tually caught.

Three Tubber points on the trot, in- cluding a superb sideline from Blaine Earley, levelled the game at 1-12 apiece in the 55th minute.

But Cratloe eventually found their range and in doing so secured quali- fication.