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KILRUSH paid posthumous tribute to one of its great community activ- ists and an all-round gentleman on Thursday night last when the late Charles Glynn was named the over- all winner of the 2009 Gradaim Ui Ruachain Civic Awards.

The annual awards were established in 1993 by Kilrush Town Council in memory of its late chairperson, Cissy Roughan. The awards were to give public recognition to the great work, commitment and dedication of Cllr Roughan, a member of the coun- cil from 1980 to 1991.

In doing so, these awards were also promoting and encouraging partici- pation and achievement in the arts, social, business, entrepreneurial, education, sporting and general life of the town.

The awards, which are usually pre- sented during the summer, were de- layed last year due to the local elec- tions.

The awards were instead presented on February 4 by Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG).

The presentation and celebration was also attended by the 10 2009 nominees and their guests, and by council representatives Cllr Ilan Lynch (FG), Cllr Mairead O Brien (Ind) and Kilrush Town Clerk John Cosas

The 10 nominees that were recog- nised on the night included Mary Hamilton, Martin Cahill, Mat Kelly, Brendan Egan, Kilrush RNLI Fun- draising, Kilrush Ladies Football, Therese Young, Vinny O’Hallaron, John Fennell and the overall winner, the late Charles Glynn. Charles’s son Charlie accepted the award in mem- ory of his father.

The Cissy Roughan awards are open to everybody. Those nominated do not have to be from Kilrush or resident there but are considered to have made an outstanding contribu- tion to Kilrush society.

“Kilrush Town Council is aware of the vital importance of community spirit and activity to the town, and of the positive contribution and ef- fect of those who strive for commu- nity spirit and welfare in a range of endeavours. Such people play a vital role in sustaining and improving the quality of life to be enjoyed here,” said Cllr Lynch.

TWO men charged with assault causing harm to the late teacher and county final footballer, Brian Casey (26) were further remanded in cus- tody last Friday.

The Lissycasey man died in hos- pital two days after an incident at O’Connell Square in Ennis on St Stephen’s night.

Harry Dinan (29) of 10 Waterpark Heights, Ennis and his nephew, Kevin Dinan (22) of 3 Clarehill, Clarecas- tle are charged with the assault of Mr Casey at O’Connell Square in En- nis on December 26-27 contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

The two were initially charged on December 28 and were yesterday making their fifth appearance in court.

At Ennis District Court on Friday, Insp John Galvin sought a remand in custody for a further four weeks due to the complexity of the inves- tigation.

Insp Galvin said that the file has been submitted to the state solicitor’s officer for the preparation of a Book of Evidence.

Solicitor for the two, Tara God-

frey said that the remand in custody should be for two weeks “as the real- ity is that we are on the first stage of a very long procedure’”’.

Requesting that the remand be for two weeks, Ms Godfrey said, “I ac- knowledge that it 1s a very sensitive matter.”

However, State Solicitor Martin Linnane told the court that the Book of Evidence “won’t be ready in two weeks”.

Insp Galvin said that a further four weeks is required and Ms Godfrey consented on condition that an accu- rate clarification of where the case 1s at is provided on the adjourned date.

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the two in custody to re-appear be- fore Ennis District Court on March a

Mr Casey was buried on New Year’s Day in his home village of Lissycasey. He is survived by his parents, Martin and Eileen, sisters Martina and Aileen, brother Niall and girlfriend, Cecila.

NEXT weekend is a busy one for children of Clare, as they compete in three very different events in the Golden Vale Clare Community Games calendar.

On Friday evening, the Table Ten- nis (Boys and Girls, U13 and U15) takes place in St Anne’s School in Ennis, starting from 6pm.

On the following morning Saturday, one of the biggest county events, the

Art and model-making, brings hun- dreds of children from U10s to Ul6s to the CBS, again in Ennis with the competition starting at 10am. Artists and model makers must bring their own equipment and paper, and are asked to arrive in plenty of time.

Then on Sunday, attention switches to north Clare, when the Girls’ In- door Soccer competition takes place in Ennistymon Leisure centre. Ac- tion starts there at 10am.

Winners in the Table Tennis and

Indoor Soccer qualify for provincial finals at the end of March, while the Art and Model-making winners will be the first to qualify for this year’s National Finals in Athlone. The first weekend of Nationals will be at the end of May this year.

The events calendar in Clare is now in full swing, and the county draughts, handball and badminton are still to come this month.

Off the field of play, Quin/Clooney were presented with the Most Active

Area award for Clare at the re-sched- uled National Area Awards cer- emony in Ballinasloe last weekend. At the same ceremony, long-serving county President John O’Sullivan of Ennis received the Vounteer Recog- nition award for Clare, and a Young Volunteer award went to Stephanie Griffin of Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry.

Quin/Clooney also received a Spe- cial Merit award, as they just missed out on the overall award for best area in Munster.

The Labour Court has thrown out complaints made by a group of east- ern European workers that they were discriminated against by well-known Clare engineering firm, Clare Civil Engineering Ltd.

The Labour Court threw out the complaints by general labourers: Lat- ivans, Vladislavs Arbuzovs, Valerijs Myjasojedovs, Sergejs Plonkins and Croat, Igor Ostojic after finding that they failed to establish the primary facts and accordingly their claim must fall at the first hurdle.

The Labour Court official dealing with the case, Caroline Jenkinson concluded that: “Documentary evi- dence reviewed by the court further showed that in some cases the com-

plainants enjoyed superior rates of pay in comparison to some of their Irish counterparts. The court there- fore cannot draw a conclusion that discrimination on grounds of race occurred in this case.”

According to the report, the claims of discriminatory dismissal by Mr. Arbuzovs, Mr. Plonkins and Mr Ostojic were withdrawn at the hear- ing of the appeal before the Labour Court on December | last, while the claim by Mr Ostojic that he suffered victimisation and a _ victimisatory dismissal was also withdrawn at that hearing.

However, the complainants’ case that each suffered discriminatory treatment on account of their race contrary to the Employment Equal- ity Act on foot of non-implementa-

tion of the Registered Employment Agreement (REA) for the Construc- tion Industry proceeded.

Counsel for the company denied the allegations of discrimination against all four complainants.

She informed the court that the company was a small family owned business with no dedicated human resources representative. She submit- ted that both Irish and non-national employees were all treated the same. At the time of the complainants’ employment they employed approxi- mately 50 staff, about 10 per cent of whom were foreign nationals.

The company submitted “that they did not issue any staff with contracts of employment and the terms and conditions of employment of all staff were dealt with in the same way.

Therefore, not issuing contracts to the complainants and not employing them in accordance with the REA and other legislation could not be seen to be discriminatory”.

She submitted that all employees were treated the same way in rela- tion to pay. Their pay was negotiated when they started on an individual net basis and was dependent on their experience.

In the report of the Labour Court officer, Caroline Jenkinson said: ‘In relation to the more specific dis- crimination claim that their race was a factor in the non-implementation of the REA, the evidence adduced at the hearing was that all workers, Whether of Irish origin or non-Irish origin, were treated in the same man- ner.”

SOME of the world’s leading edu- cation experts will speak at a major conference announced for Ennis in May.

‘When Children Learn Differently’ – aconference on teaching and learn- ing resources for difficult times, will take place at Glor from May I- 2.

Speakers already confirmed for the event include Paul Cooper, a pro- fessor of education and chartered psychologist who has developed re- search and teaching interests, along with a list of over 100 publications (including 14 authored and edited books); Suzanne Horgan, founder and director of Eating Disorders Ire- land; Dr Terry Lynch who will speak on understanding, responding to and preventing self-harm, suicidal intent and suicide in young people; and Rosemarie Mason who will give a lecture entitled ‘Understanding the many different ways children learn – an overview of the HANDLE (Holis- tic Approach to Neuro Development and Learning Efficiency) Approach’. The event is being organised by the recently formed Irish Conferences.

Born out of Orchid Book Distribu-

tors, Irish Conferences was set up with a view to organising and host- ing top-quality conferences and seminars in Ennis.

Organiser Ian Smulders said the conference will look at the area of special needs education “in the broadest possible sense”’.

“This will mean everything from the whole area of emotional educa- tion to spotting suicidal tendencies in teenagers,’ explained Jan.

Other speakers confirmed for the conference include representatives from the Blue Box Creative Learn- ing Centre, Limerick; Carmel Tier- ney, a nurse and midwife and neuro developmental therapist; and Cliona O’Rourke, Assistant Dog Trainer, for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.

The conference will be made up of a series of lectures and workshops. Workshops are specifically aimed at teachers.

Tickets can be purchased for individ- ual lectures and workshops. For tick- ets visit www.irishconferences.com, Creer Be contact@irishconferences. com or telephone 065 6842862. Tickets can also be purchased at the The Crow’s Feather on Woodquay, Spay AvEse

THE decision to keep the €10 travel tax after the announcement of the Finance Bill has been branded as “short sighted”.

Reacting to the publication of the Finance Bill 2010, Fine Gael’s Deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Clare TD Pat Breen has slammed what he terms “the short sighted decision not to axe the €10 air travel tax”.

“This air travel tax is depressing our tourism and aviation industries. It is a disaster, especially for Shan- non Airport where the airport is set to lose several European and UK destinations. Ryanair are on the brink of transferring several of their sun routes to Cork Airport and the franchise agreement which Aer Lin- gus has signed with Aer Arann will see that airline open up several new short-haul routes from both Cork and Dublin. Iam also expecting the year- end passenger figures for Shannon Airport for 2009 to show a signifi- cant decline,” he said.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has been a vocal critic of the tax, citing its introduction as one of his reasons for decamping aircraft to other cheaper cost-base destinations in Europe.

This week, O’Leary produced fig- ures revealed by Europe’s airline monitor, showing traffic into Ireland down by 18 per cent, while in Den- mark and Spain, where charges were reduced, traffic grew by seven and

two per cent respectively.

The criticism comes as the region’s tourism concerns prepare to hear what Shannon Development, Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland have planned for the region for the com- ing year.

The three bodies will brief tourism concerns on their plans on Thursday morning at a special conference in the Radisson Blu hotel.

“Much of the economy in Clare is

dependent on the tourism industry and with the trend in unemployment on the rise again in the county – up four per cent for January 2010, from 10,404 at the end of December 2009 to 10,818 at the end of January 2010 – this tax is affecting our competi- tiveness,” the Fine Gael spokesman renee

VOLUNTEERING, it’s said, brings it’s own rewards. But an east Clare organisation which is looking for volunteers is happy to give some- thing back to the people who are willing to help out.

Irish Seedsavers, based in Capparoe, Scariff are looking for volunteers and in return will provide free places on their very popular courses.

“We’re looking for people who would volunteer for two hours each week. It doesn’t matter if they have no experience in gardening, what age they are and they don’t have to be super fit or super strong – there are all kinds of jobs to be done and something that will suit everyone,” said Seedsavers spokeswoman, Ger- aldine Tobin.

For every 20 hours the volunteers put in, they will be entitled to a free place on one of the many courses which the registered charity runs.

Seedsavers aim is to preserve native species of trees, grains, vegetables and fruit and to promote sustainable erowing methods.

They also run courses in a range of subjects from cheese making to or- ganic growing and natural brewing.

“Quite apart from the free courses, the volunteers will pick up a lot of knowledge about growing by being here. There will be different levels of knowledge among people in the two groups as well, so people will learn a lot,’ said Geraldine.

One of the projects planned – if enough people show an interest in volunteering – 1s making the gardens at Seedsavers more visitor friendly,

planting native seed and generally beautifying the place.

So that volunteers will know what to expect, there will be an infor- mation and volunteer training day on February 5 from 2pm to 5pm at Seedsavers.

Prospective volunteers will be able to meet staff and see what is involved

in the work as well as getting a tour of the gardens and learning more about the Seedsavers mission.

Volunteer days will be on Tuesday between 2pm and 4pm and Thursday from llam to lpm.

Volunteers can choose either – or both – days and as well as two hours of enjoyable work in a good cause

and can look forward to a place on the very interesting courses. For fur- ther information, contact Seedsavers on 061 921856.

NEWMARKET continued _ their forward progression on Sunday af- ternoon when they easily accounted for Bridge United in a game that was originally scheduled for Sixmilebri- dge, but was switched to Newmar- om

The alternative surrounds did the eventual winners no harm and they settled in as early as the opening minute.

Last time out, the twin attacking threat of Kieran Devitt and Eoin Hayes bagged two goals, they contin- ued that form on Sunday and indeed, maximised it as the game wore on.

But back to that opening minute of the game. Devitt picked up pos- session just outside the box, made sweet contact with the ball, looping his shot over Paul Tuohy and the first thing the Bridge goalkeeper had to do all afternoon was to pick the ball out of the net.

Immediately Newmarket settled. They grew in composure and confi- dence and it’s easy to see why most in Clare soccer circles regard them as the biggest threat to Avenue this season. When they doubled their lead a quarter of an hour later, it was clear that they were going to continue their unbeaten run to six games.

That second goal came courtesy of the boot of Devitt once more. This time Newmarket raided down the left wing, launching the ball into the dan-

ger area and Devitt knocked the ball into the net from close range.

By now, they had seized control of the game and for the 90 minutes, Bridge would fail to threaten Trevor O’Donnell in the Newmarket net.

It remained 2-0 at the break but 64 minutes in, Newmarket pounced again, with Devitt claiming his hat- trick. His third bore some similari- ties to his second. Once more his side attacked down the left and once more Devitt scored from close range.

But credit his strike partner Eoin Hayes who got through plenty of work all afternoon. He also added to the Newmarket haul with a couple of fine goals for himself.

His first and his side’s fourth ar- rived with 15 left in the game.

Newmarket received a free 25 yards out and in a well-worked set-piece, they controlled the ball well, setting up Hayes for a tap in.

His most sublime contribution came after 82 minutes. From 25 yards out he showed composure and skill when chipping the goalkeeper for his side’s fifth goal of the game.

It rounded a quality display from Newmarket and proved the icing on the cake for the league’s most potent strike partnership.

COUNCILLORS for east Clare have called for measures to be put in place to ensure that another freeze won’t leave people stranded in their homes in this part of the county.

The chairman of the Killaloe Area Committee of the county council said the council response “was far too slow – it came two weeks too late”. The Fianna Fail councillor compli- mented the community efforts “but we felt powerless – we had no grit for people to spread. Thankfully there were no emergencies in some of the

areas that were completely cut off – short of the coastguard flying in and lifting people out of it, no-one could get to them.”

The members were making sug- gestions for the revised gritting plan which is now being drawn up. Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) said more of the roads being used to get people into work need to be gritted. “Why can’t we have a situation where the erit is left at a designated point and then the community can help by spreading it?”

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) said that he felt road crew’s day off on January

5 “could have been put back. A few metres of grit would have sorted out villages like Parteen.”

Cllr Pat Burke (FG) said that the stretch from Cregg Cross to the county boundary needed gritting. “People were coming off gritted stretches on to this one stretch. It was dangerous.”

Cllr Joe Cooney said that he wants “all the regional roads gritted, then people can go on back roads to get on to them and get out”.

Cllr Michael Begley (Ind) that the Clonlara to Sixmilebridge must be included in any plan. “A lot of peo-

ple use that road to go to Shannon and it’s up and down the whole way. It was done in part but there were deadly icy patches and there were a number of unfortunate incidents.”

Senior Engineer, Sean Lenihan said that the majority of the council staff came back early from holidays and did not have the extra day off. “I can’t accept that the reaction was too slow – the staff were out all over Christmas.” He added that an emer- gency line was manned at all times. “No one locked the door behind them and went home to put their feet up. There was always staff on.”

AND so it begins.

The real beginnning of Micheal McDermott’s journey as Clare senior manager — the journey out of Divi- sion 4 where Clare have laboured these past three seasons.

That’s the aim. That’s why McDer- mott boldly told his Clare public in Christmas week “We’ve broken the season down in stages and our main focus is to win Division 4. Not get out of Division 4, but win it. There’s a cup to be won, there’s a national title to be won. Why just be happy with promotion?”

Fighting talk and festive cheer for Clare football, but McDermott knows that the practice of actions speaking louder than words begins with the throw-in at Cusack Park next Sunday.

And, McDermott has upped the ante once more by highlighting the importance of a winning start. “The display against UCC wasn’t good enough, but we have done a lot of training in the past few weeks, and looking at us in training and in chal- lenge matches, I think we can deliver a performance that the Clare public will be proud of,” he says.

“We’re going into this game after challenge matches against Roscom- mon last Thursday and Kilmurry Ibrickane on Sunday. We’re going in the right direction — we still have a lot of work to do for the year but

we’re pleased where we are at this present point of time.

‘The first match is going to be the one that Clare need to win to set the team up for the rest of the league campaign. We always said that and that’s the way we’re approaching the Wicklow game.

“Wicklow are a top quality side, there’s no doubt about that but the league is the league and it’s early in the year and I’d say that Wicklow are in the same place as we are as regards preparation for 2010.

“Going into the game there is no form to judge either team on — that’s

why it’s important to do everything to try and get those two points under our belts. We feel quite confident that we ll put up a very good performance and if that’s good enough to win the two points, great,” he adds.

And, McDermott has pledged a dif- ferent style of football in 2010 when

compared to previous years, eschew- ing short-passing for a more direct and traditional approach.

“In previous years Clare ran the ball a lot — I wouldn’t disagree with those styles, but this year it’s about moving the ball much faster and get- ting it into the full-forward line much quicker and our half-forward line be- ing in position to support the full-for- ward line quickly to get the scores,” |temr-Ke C6 Kp

“Our game is going to be based around intensity. We’re looking to play good football, quick ball into our forwards and looking to get scores on the board. We’ve been working on scoring power in training and if we can hit ten or 12 points we’ll be there or thereabouts winning the game. I think we’re capable of that and capa- ble of taking the two points.

“We want the players to buy into this style and if that produces a per- formance and a victory on Sunday, the players will really start believ- ing in the system that we’re trying to eNe

“It’s such an important match that you can’t under-emphasise it and say it enough. The first game and we’re playing at home and for the support- ers of Clare we want to give them hope for the year.”