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, and sponsored by Microsoft. Prizes were presented by the Taot-

seach and TG4 star Sile Ni Bhraon- ne

“The competition is open to all Leaving Cert students during the school year and there was a very good response last year. We are de- lighted with the interest being shown in the Irish language by students and the very high quality of the entries,” a spokeswoman for the competition said.

Speaking at the event, the Taoi- seach said he was very encouraged by the standard of Irish-writing tal- ent among young people.

Naming Eimear and the other con- testants individually he said their talents “give great hope for the lan-

guage in the future”’.

The annual overall prize went to Eibhlin Ni Fhionnlaoigh from the Brigidine Secondary School, Moun- trath, County Laois.

A spokeswoman said that staff and fellow-pupils of Eimear’s are “de- lighted for her and very proud of her achievement”.

A LANDOWNER along the route of the €200 million Ennis by-pass received more than €4 million from Clare County Council for 12.5 acres of land.

The landowner is one of nine mil- lionaires created out of the compul- sory purchase of land along the 21 kilometre route.

A second landowner received €3/7m for 9.25 acres and the most expensive land along the route was a two acres plot that sold for €1.8mil- lion.

In all, landowners along the route Shared in a €37 million bonanza, according to figures obtained from Clare County Council through the Freedom of Information Act. The purchases were completed during the property boom when the price of land remained high.

A fourth landowner received €2.1m for 16 acres while a fifth received €1.5m for 20.5 acres.

Others to receive more than €lm include one landowner who received €1.5m for 11 acres; another who got €1.1m for 21.5 acres and one other received €1 million for 7.5 acres.

A ninth ‘millionaire’ received €1.2m for 16.25 acres and 3.7 acres of severed land. Three other land- owners received over €900,000, while a further five got in excess of ml OOK OOF

17 landowners received between

€250,000 and €500,000. Thir- teen landowners received between €200,000 and €250,000, while a further 26 landowners received be- tween €100,000 and €200,000.

The by-pass removed 20,000 vehi- cles from Ennis each day and work is continuing on the next phase of the Atlantic Corridor with the by-pass- ing of Gort and Crusheen.

The firm who constructed the En- nis by-pass, GAMA Construction told the Labour Court last year that the company’s loss on the scheme could be as much as €45m.

The figures also show the fees con- sultants and professionals received for their work with Jacobs Engineer-

ing Ltd totalled €6.7 million. Ennis auctioneering firm, Paddy Browne & Co which negotiated with the hun- dreds of landowners along the route on behalf of the council received €1.33 million.

Council solicitors, Michael Houli- han & Co received €1.2 million.

Coffey Construction Ltd received €787,311, while Crusheen-based ar- chaeological firm, TVAS Ireland Ltd received €721,797 for the extensive digs along the route.

IN 1999 Rineanna Rovers were sec- onds away from winning a cup final only for Michael Devitt to score a Bunratty equaliser in the final minute of their clash in the County Grounds. Ten years on five of that beaten Rine- anna Rovers team finally landed the cup medal they craved.

For Hugh Kelly, Pa Fahy, John Earls, Brian ‘Joxer’ Kelly and Dec- lan Devitt it was worth waiting for — they more any other members of the Rovers squad seemed to appreci- ate what this meant.

“T didn’t think P’d be around when Rineanna finally landed a big one,” said Hugh Kelly seconds after the fi- nal whistle. “It’s huge for the club. A couple of years ago, it was touch and go whether the club would go on, but Colm Ryan came in as manager. He told us what his plans were and we all went with it. Everyone got togeth- er and decided to give it a real go. To get arun out was brilliant. Colm did that for me. That’s what I think any- way. I’m off to Newmarket now and then to the Honk. We’II keep it in the parish and celebrate.”

Kelly, a bit of a cult figure in Rine- anna Rovers’ 25-year history, had an army of volunteers at his shoulder.

THE global downturn in the ship- ping industry could provide an un- likely windfall for County Clare as plans are being devised to use some of the deep water in the Shannon Es- tuary as a temporary holding space for mothballed large ships.

According to research carried out by shipping experts Howe Robinson, the projected over-supply in shipping capacity between Europe and Asia this year will be a massive 450,000 TEU in 2009 or almost half a million twenty-foot equivalent unit.

With a large over supply in vessel capacity also projected between Eu- rope and America, the demand for deep water storage docks for large boats has increased dramatically.

According to north Clare local elec- tion candidate Paddy Kenneally (Re- publican Sinn Féin), County Clare is

uniquely placed to take advantage of this situation.

‘At the moment the major interna- tional shipping and transport com- panies are cutting the size of their fleets because there is a downturn in business. These ships and tankers will have to be placed in safe anchor- ages and now is the time for the local agencies concerned with promoting the Shannon Estuary to make the case for a ship storage facility utilis- ing the deep waterway,” he said.

“There is nothing stopping Ireland making the case for safe anchorage to the international shipping com- panies. The benefit to Clare would come in anchorage fees, supplies and care and maintenance of the stored Sebo

“In the event of an economic up- turn the ships will be re-deployed for international services by their own-

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A FORMER businesswoman is fighting blindness with the help of the people of north Clare.

Aine Mahoney, who is_ severely visually impaired, has organised a 10-kilometre walk from Lahinch to Ennistymon in aid of the research and counselling charity.

Well aware of the difficulty of those facing blindness the 27-year-old hopes to raise much-needed funds for the charity Fighting Blindness.

The ambitious young woman had taken over Cascades Cafe in Ennisty- mon during the summer of 2005. She was healthy and happy, with no eye- sight difficulties.

At the beginning of 2006 she de- cided to put her own stamp on the café and closed for renovations.

Shortly after she lost almost all of her sight, despite medical interven- tion, including laser treatment. Ms O’ Mahoney even believed that some of the treatment added to her sight difficulties.

She has never lost hope of a cure being found for her condition, and in the meantime is determined to love TUK KOM seem ALONE

Despite being almost completely

blind, the brave young woman has now got her life back on track, and is working hard with the charity in a bid to help others.

Fighting Blindness funds world- leading research into cures and treat- ments for blindness.

It also provides a unique profes- sional counselling service for people with visual impairments and their families.

Providing such services requires a lot of support from the public, in- cluding financial support.

Ms O’Mahoney is hoping to raise as much money as possible for the charity this June bank holiday week- NF

The 10-kilometre walk will take place on June 1, from the Lahinch car park on the Liscannor Road.

Those taking part in the summer walk will enjoy the scenic route of the by roads from Lahinch to En- nistymon and back again.

Registration for the walk will take place on the day at 12pm and costs just €10. The walk will begin at aeye0F

PERSEVERENCE was the key to St Caimin’s latest trophy haul as they weathered a rousing Ennistymon challenge before finally claiming victory. Ennistymon, led by a tiger- ish display from wing-back Ciaran Monaghan who grabbed 2-1 over the hour, were four points clear at the turn of the final quarter despite fac- ing into a stern breeze but they were only to add on one more point for the remainder as St Caimin’s hit back with an impressive purple patch of 1-7 to take the title.

It was hard on Ennistymon who had already suffered defeat at the final hurdle only twelve months pre- vious but overall, St Caimin’s better balance and hard work against the breeze meant they they deservedly shaded the honours.

For their part, Ennistymon missed too many chances with the breeze at their backs, kicking eight first half wides, many of which were hit from distance when working the ball inside could have paid more dividends.

St Caimin’s tactics against the storm worked to perfection for the majority with Padraic Collins con- trolling matters in his role as a third midfielder and that influence led to two early points for the Shannon side when he teed up fellow Cratloe clubmate Dean Deloughery and then started the move for captain Sean Hynan’s score to give St Caimin’s an unlikely 0-2 to 0-0 lead by the 7th minute.

It took Ennistymon ten minutes and four wides to find their range but after Cathal Malone opened the scoring for the north Clare side, Sean McConigley won the resulting kick- out and moved the ball through Mark Burke before ending up with David

Davenport who made no mistake.

It was a shortlived lead however as within a minute Aaron Leahy had cancelled it out after taking ad- vantage of Sean Hynan’s effort for a point that held up in the breeze to steer home a shot at the near post. That seesaw pattern continued for

the remainder but St Caimin’s would have been extremely satisfied to have held Ennistymon against such a strong gale. However, just before half-time, the north Clare side got a significant boost when wing-back Ciaran Monaghan weaved his way down the left flank before hitting an

unstoppable shot to the net via the crossbar to give his side a 2-3 to 1-3 advantage at the break.

Now with the breeze at their backs, St Caimin’s began to chip away at that lead with points from Shane McDermott and Aaron Leahy but yet again they were to be stunned

by Monaghan who crept around the back to grab his second goal. It was a four point lead that they would hold heading into the final quarter but in- evitably St Caimin’s rallied and af- ter Aaron Leahy converted another point, the Wolfe Tones man imme- diately set up Simon Malone for the equalizing goal that would swing this tie decisively towards Caimins.

Malone and Michael Houlihan swapped points soon afterwards but with the wind still blowing strong, Ennistymon couldn’t afford to gift St Caimin’s the leading point that Col- lins punished.

It was the momentum the Shannon side needed and further scores from Wesley Deloughery (2), Malone and Leahy sealed the win.

PLANNING permission has been granted for a new 138 unit housing development in Ballyhugh just out- side Gort despite the recent down- turn in the local population.

Reddington Construction received the official go ahead last week for the construction of a development including 132 houses and six apart- ment units on the Tubber Road in Gort.

According to figures released in the last census, the population of the town had been increasing rapidly up until 2006.

This increase was brought about in

the main by the massive increase in foreign nationals coming to live in the town.

According to the 2006 census, al- most half of the town’s total popula- tion was made up of foreign nation- als, with 83 per cent of these coming from Brazil.

However, locals believe that the number of foreign nationals living in Gort has dropped in recent times with many members of the Brazilian community leaving Ireland in search OM WON .e

According to housing website, my- home.ie, more then 70 homes are currently on the market in Gort with the capability of accommodating

more than 300 people between them POM KOlecde

The Ballyhugh development was granted planning permission subject to a number of conditions including the construction of a creche and a number of shops in the area and the extension of the public footpath and lighting along the Tubber Road to Ballyhugh.

County planners have also stipu- lated that an archaeologist be em- ployed by the developer during the construction phase.

During the planning application process, environmental group, An Taisce had expressed concern about possible flooding in the area.

CELEBRATIONS have begun to take place all over Clare to mark the 125th anniversary of the GAA. Nowhere are these celebration more fitting than in Carron, birthplace of Michael Cusack. Last Sunday Michael Cusack’s GAA club held a community fun day for all the local children at their newly developed

clubhouse in the heart of the Burren.

Major changes have taken place at the club over the last number of years as, led by former club chairperson Christina Glynn, the club has over- seen a major redevelopment of the clubs facilities and the introduction of a state of the art flood-lighting AYA K 008

The clubhouse and grounds are lo- cated not far from the birthplace of

Carron’s most famous son, Michael Cusack.

Banner squeeze through in extra time

CLARE Pharmacist Mary-Jo Duffy was honoured as the winner of the Pharmacist Contribution to the Community Award at the 2009 He- lix Health Irish Pharmacist Awards, last week.

The Ennis pharmacist was present- ed with her award at a ceremony held at the Mansion House, Dublin.

Nine awards were presented on the night, recognising professionals from Counties Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway and Mayo who have all dem- onstrated excellence in their field.

Speaking at the awards, Howard Beggs, CEO of Helix Health said,

‘“Tonight’s awards are just a snapshot of the hard work and dedication hun- dred of pharmacists are demonstrat- ing throughout the country on a daily basis in community, hospital and re- search settings.

“The role of the pharmacist has ex- panded greatly in recent years, they are no longer just dispensaries but instead vital points of contact, ad- vice and assistance.”

Discussing her win, Mary-Jo said, “To paraphrase Daniel Day-Lewis ‘| have been completely absorbed into the nobility of the Clare coast- line around me. This is the place that sustains me. This is where I have planted myself. It is a refuge where I

restore myself.’ It has given me much and I am delighted to have given something back.”

The GSK Overall Pharmacist of the Year Award was presented to Tim Delaney of Tallaght and Dr Des Corrigan of Deansgrange was the recipient of the Liz Hebert Lifetime Achievement Award.

An adjudicating panel comprised of respected pharmacists from various branches of the pharmacy profession selected the award winners from three short-listed entries in each cat- egory. The Pharmacist Awards were set up to support the Benevolent Trust Fund of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.