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HE’S GOT his back to the unplas- tered wall outside the dressing room door and is, by now, changed out of his match day clothes. Addressing the assembled media and playing ab- sent-mindedly with a pair of glasses, Mike McNamara resembles a poet philosophising to a group of stu- dents. His zen-like reaction to the 70 minutes of hurling just passed simply re-enforces his status as laureate-in- chief of Clare hurling and he’s not getting overly-excited by an open- ing game that promised two league points but delivered defeat.

“You know what,” he says, “there’s a difference between the Crystal Cup and a game in the league in the Gaelic Grounds against our friendly neighbours. They’re two different Web eetSace

In the cold gloaming of an early February Sunday, perspective is as valuable as foresight and McNamara takes us back to last year, when Clare travelled to Limerick and returned home, tail firmly between legs.

“The last time, we came out of here with something like a nine or ten point drubbing, maybe going no place, maybe drifting aimlessly to

wherever people drift to,” he said, cryptically enough. “So we’ll take the positives out of today. It was a strange game but when you come to Limerick, as we know to our cost, you can’t just expect to win. It’s a very difficult place to win and that has been proven over the years.”

As for the Clare comeback in the final stages of the game, McNamara was inclined to give little away, say- ing simply that they sat down at half- time, drank a cup of tea and vowed to plough on.

“Maybe we’ll have a closer look at the first half as opposed to the second half. We were twelve points down with 25 minutes to go, but we showed the character we’re looking oe

“We might have made a few mis- takes. We might have introduced some of the newer boys who had been showing well. But we decided we’d go with the full array of strength and take it from there. We were looking for opportunities to introduce some of the young fellas as the match went on but it really didn’t transpire, with the exception of John Conlon. We’d have liked to have used Caimin Mo- rey but he has the flu with the last two weeks.”

With regard to the omission of the injured Niall Gilligan, he said on an- other day he might have been risked.

“If this was the championship, maybe we’d have forced Niall out to play. On a day like this, we took the caution of not playing him.”

And the goals’?

“They were unusual things. We got some of those breaks last year, so we’ll take the bad with the good. We’ll mix it all up. They come and they go. We would have to look at it ayer HOO

“If we were Manchester United we’d look at it with in-depth analy- sis. We’d see where the goals came from. Maybe have a look at the pay- packets of some of them. We haven’t that luxury.”

And Waterford next week?

“Me old buddy Davy and myself back again. Maybe they’re in a deep- er hole than us. It’s a difficult thing to come away from an All Ireland final like that when you know you didn’t play well and the opposition played to the maximum. That’s a difficult thing.

ENNIS rugby club now have the big guns in their sight. Having travelled to a drenched Newport pitch over the weekend, missing a number of key personnel and having not played since the beginning of January, the odds might have been against an En- nis win, but a disciplined perform- ance saw them overcome Newport.

It sets up a mouth-watering meet- ing with UL Bohemian — one of the favourites to take the Munster Junior Cup — at the beginning of March.

Crucially, the game is to be played at The Showgrounds in Ennis, giv- ing the Clare side a decent chance of causing a significant upset and mak- ing it to the quarter-final stage of the competition.

“IT was anxious enough about the Newport game, simply because play- ers might have been rusty after the few weeks lay off,’ said Ennis coach Richie Murphy

DUTCH-born artist Trudi Van der Elsen has taken the position of di- rector of the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon. Trudi, who is based in Kildysert, took over the reins at the gallery from previous director Maria Kerin late last month.

Having worked extensively across Europe and in Canada, Trudi is hop- ing to bring some of this internation- al experience to bear in Ennistymon.

Since its reopening in 2007, the Courthouse has become a_ focal point for art in north Clare. With a number of resident artists working in the second-floor studio, and a full

programme of artistic events in the gallery, the project has brought a new momentum to the artistic life on the area.

‘Maria was the first director here and she did a wonderful job of putting together a programme for the current year, so I will start by following up on this programme,” said Trudi.

“We really try to get a lot of differ- ent types of art in the gallery, from installation and performance, to paintings, photography – everything really. We have also had poetry recit- als, small music recitals and events like that in the past.”

Besides the downstairs gallery space, the courthouse will soon open

a new small exhibition space known as The Red Couches Space. This, combined with the resident artists buzzing in the studios, will continue to bring a new energy to the town.

“It makes it very lively. Artists come and go and there is always something happening. It makes the gallery more open and it brings an energy to the town,’ she said.

‘“Brid Harhen will have one of the first exhibitions in the Red Couches Space. We are hoping that it will be a real community space where the Courthouse Studio artists as well as artists from the community can ex- hibit their work and share ideas to- gether.”

Over the next few months, the gal- lery will host exhibitions from Boz Mugabe, opening on February 1]; an exhibition of drawing from the gallery’s own Life Drawing Group, which also opens on February 11; and an exhibition from Brid Harhen which opens on February 14.

To keep in touch with events at the gallery, phone 065 707163, e-mail ennistymoncourthousegallery@gm ail.com or check out the blog at en- nistymoncourthousegallery.blogs- pot.com.

ENNIS 1s one of the branches of First Active set to close, as part of plans to shed 750 jobs nationwide.

Ulster Bank announced last week that First Active – which is its mort- gage arm – will cease to exist. As a result, 50 branches, including Ennis, are to close by the end of the year and the First Active business will absorb into the parent company.

550 of the jobs will go in the Repub- lic, with the remainder to be shed in branches in the north of the country.

Management says it is confident that staff reductions could be achieved through voluntary redundancies.

The mayor of Ennis, Councillor Peter Considine (FF) said last night that while he was concerned at the announcement, overall, Ennis was not as badly hit as other parts of the country, in terms of the downturn.

“It is a concern, but in the times we are living in, it is to be expected,” said Cllr Considine.

“Hopefully those employed will be subsumed into the Ulster Bank mothership,” he said.

However he said that despite the negativity in the economy, there were many positives, one of which was the announcement of 50 jobs in the Shannon Free Zone yesterday.

“When you compare us to other towns and cities in the country, we are fortunate in Ennis.

‘We are not dependent on one mega employer like Ford or Intel or Wa- terford Crystal, in that our hat isn’t thrown into the one basket,’ added Cllr Considine.

“In the overall context, we are not hit as badly as other areas,” he add-

ed.

Opposition politicians have ex- pressed fears that the job losses at Ulster Bank would be followed by hundreds of other job losses, given the fragile state of the economy.

Labour is concerned that there will be further jobs cut in the banking sector.

In the wake of the Ulster Bank an- nouncement, a statement from Bank of Ireland stated, “All our businesses are under review” while Allied Irish Bank said the bank had no plans for any job cuts.

PEOPLE in north Clare are mourn- ing this week following the news that Annette O’Dea, otherwise known as Sr Ann-Marie, has passed away in California.

Sr Ann-Marie, who hails from Ballygannor just outside Kilfenora, celebrated the golden jubilee of her

vocation, along with her twin sis- ter Philomena O’Dea (Sr Celine) in 2005.

Having spent most of the previous 50 years in separate religious institu- tions, the sisters were together when Sr Ann-Marie passed away in San Diego, a number of weeks ago.

The twins were born in Ballygan- nor in 1936 and went to school in Kil-

fenora National School and then at the Mercy Convent in Gort. In 1955, aged just 19, they joined the nuns in Mallow following the sudden death of their mother, Lilly. They left be- hind in Ballygannor their father John and 11 brothers and sisters, including Kitty, who later gained fame with the Kilfenora Ceili Band.

After spending six months in Cork,

the twins were moved to London where they were officially welcomed into the nuns in separate ceremonies. They qualified as nurses and served in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales before Sr Ann-Marie was di- agnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and both sisters were allowed to move to a warmer climate in America.

In all their years as Nazareth House nuns, they have never been based in the same convent and only see each other on holidays.

Sr Celine first returned to Ireland in the 1960s and gained national prominence when a story of the kindness she showed towards teen- age mother Wanda Machnicha and her son made front page news in

PATIENCE was the key for Newmar- ket Celtic on Sunday as they eventu- ally overcame the stubborn challenge of Division | side Kilrush Rangers to secure a place in the second round.

As with any cup tie against lower league opposition, the key to success for Newmarket was staying loyal to their game plan wear down the op- position and that perseverance even- tually paid dividends as the reigning Premier champions took charge of the second period and hit two goals to prevail.

It was all so different in the first half however. As expected, the home side had the lions share of posses- sion but were repeatedly frustrated

in the last third and instead it was the plucky west Clare side who enjoyed success on the break, taking the lead as early as the 22nd minute and re- ally should have added two more be- fore the interval.

Newmarket, for all their build up play, couldn’t break down a miserly Kilrush defence anchored suberbly by goalkeeper Tony Burke and cen- tre-half Barry Copley. Burke wasn’t overly burdened with shots but his assured aerial handling provided a secure base for Kilrush.

In fact, while Newmarket had plenty of chances, their only shot on target in that opening half came as early as the 4th minute when a brief defensive lapse allowed Eoin Hayes to bear down on goal but his effort

was excellently smothered by Burke.

In contrast, Kilrush, who only lived on scraps, were the more threatening side of the half and had three golden Opportunities to give themselves a significant half-time advantage.

Crucially though, they only took one but what a solo goal it was as winger Sean Downes easily jinked through the Newmarket defence to rifle to the net. That goal sandwiched two glorious chances for striker John Carmody who first failed to connect properly in front of an open goal after a teasing cross from Paddy Clancy in the 11th minute and the second came on the half hour when he rounded goalkeeper Trevor O’Donnell but screwed his left foot shot wide.

The home side sneer v Obs

clicked into gear though and bat- tling an icy breeze that cut through McDonough Park, they began the second half with renewed determi- nation. Unconsciously, despite being aided by the wind, Kilrush sat deep and drew Newmarket upon them. In the 47th minute, Jimmy Houli- han stroked a good chance just left of the post but it was only a warning of what was to come and in the 57th minute, it was the elusive Eoin Hayes who toe-poked home the equaliser after being put through by Mike O’ Malley.

Kilrush were now totally in defence mode, only posing a threat with Tony Burke’s booming clearances to his strike pairing. Instead, Newmarket continued to lay siege and as the shots tally built up, a goal for the home side appeared all too inevitable.

They did leave it late though. Just as supporters were bracing them- selves for another twenty minutes of frostbite, Eoin Hayes again popped up to knock a ball over the top for Jimmy Houlihan, who finished to the net amid appeals from Kilrush for offside.

In typically spirited fashion, Kil- rush did have one last sting in the tail when Trevor Clancy went through one-on-one with O’Donnell but the keeper was equal to it and Newmar- ket held out for a plum all-Premier second round tie with Bridge Celtic.

THIS was a Premier v Third Divi- sion clash, one that always seemed- destined to go the favourites’ way. That’s how it turned out, but not be- fore Hermitage gave their vaunted Opponents plenty to think about in deCom baci OTD Em

In the end Burren cut loose and bagged three first half goals to kill the tie, but before that Hermitage were very much in this contest as they threw caution to the wind and

endeavoured to play good open foot- or nOR

This tactic worked in the first 20 minutes, especially down the left flank where youngsters Shane Talty and Jason Morris really caught the eye and posed numerous problems for the Burren United rearguard.

For Burren, who were playing Noe UOTSL MO SLoMUYAD ECMO DMN OSCoMN DD acim Orb N mmmIE was a case Of weathering the storm and then asserting their superiority as the game wore on. They did this on the back of some sterling defen-

sive work, particularly from Greg O’Leary, while up front the twin- strike-force of John McDonagh and Ghat Marine eventually caught fire and killed the game before half- time.

The breakthrough goal came in the 20th minute when Evan Talty’s inswinging corner from the left was met by a crashing header from Bur- ren’s Romanian striker Chat Marine. Five minutes Burren doubled their advantage when Hermitage’s keeper Brian Henegian failed to hold Evan

Talty’s shot and John McDonagh fol- lowed up to drive the rebound to the net from close range.

Burren had two penalty claims in the half — both when Evan Talty went down in the area — waved away by referee Frankie Coote, but they made it three ten minutes before the break when Ghat Marine got in behind the ‘Tage defence and fired home from 12 yards.

The second half was a matter of seeing out the game for Burren — they played with the strong breeze but apart from extending their lead to four five minutes in when Ghat Marine’s cross was headed home by John McDonagh they didn’t add to their total. The only blemish in Bur- ren’s performance came when substi- tute Liam Keane was sent off before the end.

The win tees Burren up for an all Premier Division clash against Rine- anna Rovers — their cup clash will be the fourth meeting between the sides this season. Burren edge things in league fare with a home win and an away draw from their two meetings, but Burren were the winners in their Munster Junior Cup meeting.

THE four quarter-finals of the Broad- way Petfoods A3 525 with €10,000 to the winner were top of the bill at the College Road venue on Saturday last. In Heat 1 the Ger Burke of Mil- town Malbay handled Jacksies Nicki (T3) was all the rage to retain her unbeaten record in the competition in this opening quarter final but she totally missed the break as market ri- val Brother Lee (T6) showed every- one a clean pair of heels to get home in 29.05.

Favourite backers were back on good terms in heat 2 as the Larry

O’Shea owned James Roche trained Gogetemaura(T3) made all to defeat the closing Burnpark Adam owned by Mary Browne of Cree by a length and a quarter in 29.11.

An all graded eleven race pro- gramme greeted racegoers on a miserably wet Thursday night. The best performance of the night came in the A3 graded tenth contest over 525 yards as the Mrs Janet Downes of Killaloe owned Tell Me Skinner showed fine pace down the back straight as he defeated favourite Crown Emperor (T1) by seven and a half lengths in 29.10.

Race 2 was turned into a procession

by the promising looking Carkhills Express (T2) owned by Robert Carkhill of Ennis, who won by 17 and a quarter lengths.

There was a big shock in race three as the outsider of the sextet, the John Fitzgerald of Kilrush owned Ler Fe- derer (T6) came home a length and three parts ahead of Seehan Jake.

Race 4 saw the trap three runner Ry- lane Kewell(Droopys Kewell-Baby Rumble) record an eye catching de- but success by five lengths in 29.27. The Donal Duggan of Newmarket- on-Fergus owned runner led by two lengths from Tyrur Hoban at halfway and although that rival briefly looked

a threat Rylane Kewell pulled right away up the home straight for an em- phatic success.

The Fanore based Gone At Three Syndicate were in top form follow- ing Race 7 as their Last Ace Pot (T1) trained by Seamus Fahy left his ri- vals toiling in his wake as he defeat- ed Tyrur Venus(T2) by six and three quarter lengths in 29.90.

Race 8 saw the John Carey of Kil- rush owned Cracking Crash (Crash- Elmhurst Ellen) taking command at the penultimate corner as he strectched clear for a four and a half length victory in 29.71.

On Friday night’s card, Killaoe

trainer Michael Downes’ good run continued when winning the first race with Tell Me Rocco in a time of 29.72. He later recorded a double in race 9 as Orlov Dolly (T6) owned by his wife Janet proved 3&1/2 lengths to good for the staying on Grandas Mica (T5) in 29.84.

The bumper went to Ballaghboy Crash owned by the ever popular Jerry Moloney of Doora who showed fine early pace and had a six and a half lengths win in 30.80 for the 550 trip. Other Clare winners on the night were Classical Moments for Frank Browne of Quin and Ler Aviator for John Fitzgerald of Kilrush.

COUNTY board delegates will vote ona masters fixtures list that has been drawn up and presented to clubs by a special Structures Committee at to- night’s meeting of the Clare County Board.

Effectively, this is the first time clubs had a major say in competition structures and it follows last year’s backlog of championship hurling games which occurred after the Clare manager, Mike McNamara, called on clubs to defer the second round of the championship as Clare were prepar- ing to play Tipperary in the Munster

Final. This meant some clubs didn’t play any championship game until late August and an avoidance of such problems was one of the key terms of reference for the committee.

The committee, which has five hurl- ing representatives and four football representatives, will point out at to- night’s meeting that they have aimed to ensure that dual clubs will have at least five days between championship games in hurling and football.

One of the most significant dates to be tied down is the opening round of the hurling championship. The committee had initially proposed that Rounds | and 2 of the hurling

championship would take place on the weekends of May 16/17 and May 30/31, but were asked by the Clare management to change the dates to May 9/10 and May 23/24. As this would require altering the Clare Cup Fourth Round, the committee have suggested playing the opening two rounds on consecutive weekends in May. Tonight, delegates will get the Opportunity to discuss these dates further. If Clare win the Munster Senior Hurling Championship, the third round of the club championship will go ahead on the weekend of July 18/19 and should that not come to pass, those games will take place on

August 15/16.

In terms of club leagues, the com- mittee proposes to begin the Clare Cup in March and the Cusack Cup the final weekend of February.

However, due to inter-county ac- tion, the second round isn’t sched- uled until March 29.

In relation to the football club championship, the opening round is

scheduled for June 20 with games involving dual clubs, where neces- sary, scheduled for six days later.

In the proposal submitted to clubs, the committee pointed out that while all would accept that it 1s preferable to play club hurling and football in

summer months, “it is extremely dif- ficult to plan club games during these months.

“The playing of club leagues and championships in a meaningful and competitive way will require a posi- tive approach and a certain degree of flexibility and goodwill on the part of all involved.”

The recommendations are expected to be generally accepted by delegates and discussions on the recommen- dations will form the main talking point at tonight’s meetings.

Meanwhile, the draw for the Under 21 hurling championship will also take place at tonight’s meeting.

LAST Sunday, Clare played Kerry in a challenge to give the newer play- ers an opportunity to impress ahead of the league and the youngsters re- sponded with a comfortable victory. However, Mike McNamara and his team plan to cut the 38 man panel be- fore the league, with approximately four or five players making way.

It also includes captain Brian O’Connell who returns later in the month. The current 38 man panel is as follows: