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IF EVER Guinness goes out of busi- ness, barman Joe Sciascia will be worth a fortune.

Joe would be the first to tell you he’s more of a collector than a bar- man, and he has what must be one of the largest collections of original Guinness and old advertising signs in the country.

He’s lost count, but there are up- wards of 5,000 pieces of advertising memorabilia, between signs, ciga- rette cartons, tobacco tins and other items passed over bar counters in years gone by.

So vast is his collection, that Joe quips that the Old Mill Bar in

O’Briensbridge, which he runs with his wife Kathleen and step-daugh- ter Clodagh “was bought so I would have somewhere to put it”.

The Old Mull recently won the Licensing World magazine’s, Bar Awards, in the Best Country Bar cat- OMe

Joe claims no glory for the win, “It’s the hard work that Kathleen and Clodagh put in – I’m no great shakes this side of the bar.”

Whatever about his bar skills, as a collector you wouldn’t doubt Joe. He started 25 years ago and has been scouring car-boot sales, markets and second-hand shops ever since.

“I find stuff everywhere and cus- tomers bring things in as well. I have

my own little museum here.”

Joe’s imagination was caught by the old advertising and he particu- larly loves his collection of “original – not reproductions” of the John Gil- roy Guiness ads, featuring the “See What One or Toucan Do” and “Guin- ness is good for you” themes.

Some of his signs are now almost a century old.

“Advertising and packaging was far more decorative before TV. It had to make a visual impression. It’s not like that anymore. You wouldn’t col- lect most of the packaging they use Old

Joe and Kathleen took over the pub ten years ago and since have invested €300,000 to bring it back to it’s old

(ey ule meso ate

“The old pubs are dying out. We wanted to keep the old character here and the old ads and signs fit in with that,’ said Joe.

The family is delighted with the AEN KOR

“It’s not one of these that you can go online and buy – there are a lot of those out there. The judges liked the place, though I’m surprised they saw anything, there were so many peo- ple here at the time. They arrived on Sunday when we were doing lunch.”

THE line up for this year’s Scariff Harbour Festival is promising to be one of the most exciting and varied Woe

Music, drama, comedy, family fun day, stalls and festival atmosphere is promised over the festival weekend, August | to 3 and in the run up to it.

In one fun event, The Floating The- atre Company, who operate from a restored barge are running week-long workshops in theatre, music technol- ogy, and art and costume design in the week before the festival.

The workshops, for children aged 10 up will be conducted by trained professionals and will culminate in a theatre performance incorporating the work of all the participants at the official opening ceremony on Friday, August 1, at 6pm in Scariff Harbour.

The theme of the voyage is an ex- ploration of the myths and legends of the Scariff and Shannon waterways, specifically the legend of “The Sons of Tuireann”’.

A nominal fee will be charged for each participant for the full week.

There are still some places remain- ing for the workshops so anyone 1n-

interested should call in to O’Meara’s Pharmacy to pick up a leaflet.

In another unique event, volunteer of the Niall Mellon Township In1- tiative, Gerry McNamara will recon- struct a typical township dwelling at his home on the Dock Road for visi- tors of the Scariff Harbour Festival to view.

Gerry is one of seven volunteers who have given their time and labour every year since the project started.

He has worked as a carpenter, constructing sustainable houses for shack dwellers in the Capetown area of South Africa at Imizamo Yethu,

Mfuleni and Freedom Park town- Sethe

The 2008 Building Blitz will take place in the township of Khayelitsha in Cape Town and Gerry intends to travel again this year and needs to raise at least €5,000 to pay for the trip and to contribute to the cost of building materials.

There will be a sale on the day to raise cash for the cause and the or- ganisers are calling on all cake, bread and jam makers, green-fingered gar- deners and nursery owners to sup- port him by donating their produce for sale on the day.

TWO Shannon men who are endeav- oring to run 12 marathons in as many months have reached the half-way mark and will take on their seventh challenge this weekend.

Darren O’Connell (32) and Alan Mullin (30) from Tullyglass, Shan- non, will run the Swiss Alpine marathon on Saturday. It is part of a challenge aimed at raising money for Cystic Fibrosis.

A friend of theirs died from the condition several years ago and they are hoping that the people of Shan- non will recognise their huge efforts in this challenge.

Over the past six months, the two have run in Zurich, Rome, Valencia

and Norway, along with a couple of runs in Ireland. After Switzerland, WEA SUUENiom alu IOM e(KIl ene stounbre Dublin, New York and Lisbon.

Their last run was on flat ground in Norway. Alan finished in four hours and three minutes, while Dar- ren came home in four hours and 12 minutes.

‘The marathon itself was fine. Get- ting there and home was a bit of a nightmare. We had to travel to two airports and it was tough going,” said PETE

Both have managed to come through the mammoth challenge relatively unscathed and despite nig- gling injuries, have both been lucky enough to stay in good health. This is important, given the high level of

intensity involved.

“The Swiss Alps this weekend will be pretty tough. It is the highest alti- tude marathon in Europe. It will be either very hot or very cold,” added Darren. The rest of the runs will be city marathons,’ he said.

While Alan trains in Dublin, where he is based, Darren does most of his training in Shannon and Cratloe. He also took part in the 10k run in Bun- ratty two weeks ago, in aid of Our Lady’s Hospital for sick children in Sate

Allied to the running, the two have also been raising money for Cystic Fibrosis. They have collected up to €7,000 so far and hope to increase this substantially, as the final runs Zhe) Keene

“We had two days of bag packing last week in Dunnes Stores (Shan- non) and collected €3,500. We were delighted with that. All of the money is going directly to Cystic Fibrosis. We are playing all of our expenses out of our own pockets,’ he added.

The duo will approach businesses in the Shannon area later this year, with a view to encouraging them to help out with funds. They will also hold a number of fundraisers, in- cluding a table quiz in the Oakwood Arms Hotel, Shannon, in October.

RESIDENTS in several housing estates in Shannon do not have ad- equate parking spaces, while oth- ers have a lack of vehicular access to the rear of their homes. That was the message delivered last week by county councillors in the Shannon area, who called for measures to be

taken to address the issue.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy (In- dependent) said there was “chaos” in O’Brien Park on occasions.

Councillor Gerry Flynn (Independ- ent) said that a similar situation exists in De Lacey Park and said that that estate, along with Purcell Park, Col- lins Park and O’Brien Park should be looked at.

“Every house now has at least two cars,’ he said.

Cllr Flynn said that some house- holders in Cill Cais were “crying out for an entrance to the back of their houses. These older parts of Shannon are isolated and for a lot of older peo- ple, they can’t get in the front or the back,” he said.

Clare County Council Senior Ex-

ecutive Engineer Donal Hogan said that communal parking is the way to go in future, in high density develop- Ne

“It would take an awful lot of funding to retrofit those particular situations. I can’t see myself getting money to put rear access roads to houses and there is a lot more than Cill Cais,” he said.

A SEVERE shortage of burial spaces in Shannon and surrounding areas is leading to huge concerns among lo- cals, who are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire graves for their JEVOOBE BLE

Three cemeteries in the area may not be extended, due to the presence of archaeological remains.

That was the view expressed last week by Fine Gael Councillor John Crowe, who raised the issue at a Shannon electoral area meeting.

He asked were extensions to Bal- lysheen, Clonlohan and Bunratty graveyards held up due to archaeo- logical issues.

In response to his query, Acting Senior Executive Officer with Clare County Council’s water services Myles Carey clarified the issue.

In a written response, the council offical said that the Clonlohan cem- etery was deemed unsuitable for extension, due to the presence of ar- chaeological remains in the area of WRK Ae

He said that an archaeological as- sessment had been carried out at Ballysheen and had been forwarded to the National Monuments Section AW OCG M RoLON LMAO) KOM AUDIKO

He pointed out that an archaeologi- cal assessment is to be carried out at Bunratty burial ground and suitable firms are currently being sourced for this work.

“We have a major problem with burial grounds. I believe it is all over the county. Bunratty is completely full, Ballysheen is full and I think Oi CoyelCo)sk: tem iwaeel mrerer

“It is being held up by the National Monuments Section. We will just

have to break down these barriers,’ said Councillor Crowe.

He said that a site was available for the extension of the cemetery in Bunratty for a number of years, but the plans did not proceed.

“The one thing communities have is their graveyard. It’s very, very wrong,” he said.

“In the last 10 to 15 years, these ar- eas have grown so much. They have no place to bury their loved ones. Some people have had to moved out of the area to get a graveyard,” he added.

Councillor Pat McMahon (FF) agreed with Councillor Crowe.

“It’s absolutely crazy where you have voluntary groups putting in a lot of work and obstacles are being put in place. These are voluntary groups. They are doing magnificent work and are being hindered by depart-

ment rules. People get so frustrated,” he said.

SCR VCCMO erm asses DO MONT M Or velIOR Newmarket-on-Fergus, has found it difficult to get a grave, despite living there for 20 years.

Councillor Gerry Flynn added that IIlaunamanagh graveyard was al- eee aUOUE

“Tt is at a critical stage now. I don’t know hoe many spaces are left. It is pretty limited. They are putting the onus on community groups. If we can’t provide for people who have died, we are going down a very bad road,” he added.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy (In- dependent) pointed out that the areas in question were fortunate to have archaeology and this must be pre- served. However the importance of balancing this with people’s needs was critical.

A GROUP of talented young musi- cians have been presented with bur- saries, through the Shannon Music Project.

Clare County Council’s Arts Of- fice provided the bursaries for the 13 musicians to attend the Ennis Guitar and Rock School workshops in Shan- non last week. The recipients were Simon O’Donnell, Frank Goggin, Natasha Miller, David Park, Andrew Park, Garry Mc Kee, Patrick Collins,

Barry Shannon, Lindsay Carroll, Pa- draig Bambury, Steven Rainsford, Chris Quigley and Elsa Mann.

The Shannon Music Project (SMP) is a Clare Youth Service project based in Shannon. It provides young people aged between 15 and 25 with opportunities to get involved in musi- cal events and avail of practice space and high quality musical equipment.

The project is run by a committee of young people who are supported by the Shannon youth workers.

The SMP has been running for over

10 years and this year received fund- ing from Clare VEC and Shannon Community Grant Scheme to help with equipment purchases.

The project has organised bands nights, acoustic performances and competitions in Shannon and also liaises with Ennis Music Project for similar events and workshops.

‘This is a great opportunity to work with community groups in Shan- non. We have worked previously with Clare Youth Service Ennis and now we hope to further develop the

partnership between the Arts Office and the Clare Youth Service here in Shannon,” said Tara Connaghan, Traditional Arts Co-ordinator based bom) ercbeyeCeyee

“T am delighted to see Clare Arts Office come on board with the work the music project is doing in Shan- non. The funding provided for these workshops is of great benefit to the young people involved and no doubt will help them further their own in- dividual skills,’ said Shannon Youth Worker, Cathal Dillon.

ST JOSEPH’S Secured their division one status with this remarkable win that condemns Eire Og to relegation.

This was must win for both teams with both hovering dangerously close to the bottom of the table be- fore throw in.

Level at half time, Joseph’s pulled away in spectacular fashion. Goals from Paul Dullghan and Sean Mc- Mahon put Barefield seven points clear by the 39th minute. Dullaghan pounced again for Barefield’s fourth goal in the 44th minute, by which time the Eire Og challenge had well and truly expired.

The end was slow and painful for the townies. Joseph’s took full ad- vantage of their collapse, hitting their opponents for seven points in the final quarter.

Barefield impressed in midfield where Kevin Dilleen and Conor Has- sett covered a lot of ground and con- tributed ten points. Ken Kennedy was

again the lynchpin at centre back and McMahon is adjusting well to life at full forward. Strong enough to cause a bit of bother under the high ball, McMahon exhibited a sure touch when the ball came in hard and low.

Manager Kevin Kennedy can be pleased too that his side never eased up despite the blatantly one-sided nature of the contest in the closing NE TLoe

The second half was the stuff of nightmares for Eire Og. They con- ceded and 3-12 and scored just two points. The townies drop down a lev- el, but of more pressing concern will be the psychological damage inflict- ed ahead of the club’s make or break championship clash with Kilmaley.

It started promisingly for Eire Og. Danny Russell’s struck two points from placed balls either side of a free from Hassett. Russell was then involved as his swift handpass set up Cathal Whelan for a goal in the 6th eepeeleikon

Hassett (2) and Russell traded points

before McMahon forced an opening for Michael Cullinan to strike a goal on the 15th minute.

Dullaghan’s point put Joseph’s 1-4 1-3 ahead. Tadgh McNamara’s point levelled it and points from Hassett and Adrian Flaherty ensured a half time score of 1-5 1-5. Barefield were soon in charge after the re-start. Kennedy hit over a point before Dullaghan poked a goal in the 37th minute as the Eire Og full back line dithered over Marty O’Regan’s clear- ance. Still, it was nothing compared to the destruction about to be visited upon Eire Og.

McMahon turned Whelan and fired a goal in the 39th minute. Even at this stage, and Barefield ahead by seven points, Eire Og looked shot of one

Hassett, Dilleen and McMahon added three points before Dullaghan rifled in his second goal, to leave 4-9 1-6 ahead.

The townies were done for. Damien Kennedy picked of four late points.

Hassett and Dilleen added a couple more. Eire Og’s sole response came from Ronan Cooney who scored two late points.

THE race for the Clare Cup heats up this week as four out of the six re- maining fixtures in the top three d1- visions have relevance to the fight for the four semi-final places.

In Division 1, leaders Sixmileb- ridge will top the group if they can overcome Crusheen but even if they lose, they could still guarantee a spot in the penultimate stages if either Cratloe or Newmarket-on-Fergus lose to Clooney-Quin or Clarecastle respectively. The only game at the

weekend saw St Joseph’s record a comprehensive victory over Eire Og, relegating the Ennis side in the proc- ess along with Kilmaley.

The sole remaining fixture in Divi- sion 2A — Inagh/Kilnamona v Scariff – has connotations at both ends of the table with the Combo topping the di- vision if they win and thus claiming the semi-final spot while a win for a revitalised Scariff would guarantee a relegation play-off with neighbours Whitegate to see who will join Kil- lanena in Division 2B next year. Tulla were the big winners at the weekend

as they completed their fifth succes- sive league victory to jump to the summit and gain promotion but it will all depend on the Combo’s last outing to decide the group.

In Division 2B Clonlara secured the top spot with a four point win over Feakle, thus becoming the first Clare Cup semi-finalist while the other winners at the weekend, Ogonnelloe and Broadford will have to wait until Wednesday to realise their fate when Smith O’Briens take on Corofin. A win for the East Clare side would guarantee promotion but a draw or

defeat would mean a three way play- off to see who gains promotion.

In Division 3, Ennistymon and Clarecastle will contest the interme- diate league final after both won at the weekend with Ennistymon guar- anteeing the Magpies place after a late goal saw them surprise Meelick.

The Division 4 final between Eire Og and Newmarket-on-Fergus’ sec- ond strings is fixed for Sixmilebridge on Saturday while in Division 5, Bal- lyea will play Sixmilebridge’s third team in the first of the semi-finals in Clareabbey on the same day.

THE Doolin Craft Fair has put out a call to food producers and vegetable growers whose produce is just com- ing into season at this time of the year. The fair has a number of ven- dors who would like to sell fresh pro- duce on behalf of local producers.

“It’s a win-win situation. The pro- ducers get a fair price for their pro- duce and no longer have to think of desperate ways to use up their spare vegetables and the people who come to the fair get lovely fresh vegeta- bles,” said organiser Toby Sachsen- maier.

“It has really taken off over the last

few weeks – better than any of us could have hoped for really. From the very first day that we opened we have gotten a great response from locals and visitors who have come.

“I think one of the things that makes this market really different is that we have new stalls coming in each week so people can come back week after week and have a different experience.”

The Doolin Saturday Market and Craft Fair takes place each Satur- day from 10am to 4pm at the Russell Community Centre in Doolin.

“It’s not just about having these products for sale. A few of the ven- dors are always doing something

which the people who come to the market will find interesting. For ex- ample we have Mairead who sells woolen garments. She shows people how to spin wool each week,’ con- WbOlE(ore me Re) ey\A

“It’s about creating an atmosphere for the people and I have heard from a number of people that the atmos- phere created by the vendors at the Doolin Market is something special.

“We have a core group who are there every week and then we have different people who come once and awhile when we have space. This week, for example, we have people who are making fused glass jewelry which is something that we haven’t

had before. We have a certain turno- ver each week and that keeps it fresh for the locals who come up all the Wb elen

“We are always looking for new people. We have no room at the mo- ment for permanent tables but we have space for people who only want to come in once and awhile.

“We are also looking at the possi- bility of doing a Christmas fair and it would be great to have a few people around who would be interested in that also.”

For more information on_ the Doolin Craft Fair contact Toby at doolinmarket@gmail.com or phone Paul at 065 7074229.

ENNISTYMON will open up for some good clean fun this week as the town’s Family Festival prepares to take over.

Beginning on Thursday, this year’s festival has been designed to offer something for all tastes, young as well as old.

With dozens of events taking place each day, the festival mixes light- hearted games for young people and adults with some of the very best of local music.

Some of the festival highlight in- clude the bar persons’ race and pub stretcher race on Thursday, the tug of war and teen disco on Friday, Joe Burke Memorial Cup soccer tourna- ment and 5k fun run on Saturday and

the baby rave and donkey derby on SLUICE NE

“We have tried to get something for every element of the community. We tried really hard to get something that would interest ever age group. From all the silly events for adults, to the music that everyone will enjoy and all the events designed for younger people,” said organiser Marian Cliff.

“What is important is to thank ab- solutely everyone who has helped out this year. So many people are offer- ing their time for nothing – like the DJ, the people who are running the workshops and all the stewards.

“Pretty much all of the local busi- nesses have sponsored something di- rectly or they have just handed me a cheque for the festival,” she added.

“That’s what it’s all about – we

are trying to make an event that has something for all the community and the community has really gotten be- hind it.

“We have small collection boxes in all the bars and in the evening the girls behind the bar have been going around and rattling them trying to raise some money. We need all this money to pay for the insurance.”

One of the highlights of the En- nistymon Family Festival is always the live music. This year is no excep- tion with a typically eclectic mix. The likes of the Robot Pilots, the Andy Wilson Band, Kohima, Bush- plant and the Van Diemens will all be taking to the stage.

The youngsters will also get a chance to shine with a youth bands competition on Saturday.

“Thanks to Matthew Griffin we have the gig rig back in the square for this year’s music and Paddy Mulcahy has but together a great line-up of live music,’ continued Marian.

“There are so many people who have gotten involved in the festival or have given sponsored that I would love to thank, but so many people have been generous that it’s just 1m- possible to mention them all.”

For the full line up and times for the weekend’s festivities check locally.