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The evolution of Clooney/Quin con- tinued on Friday evening, adding a new ruthless streak to their rapidly erowing arsenal to open the new campaign with a comprehensive vic- re ays

Learning from past mistakes has been a feature of Clooney/Quin’s de- velopment this year and with the ex- pected fire and brimstone from Smith O’Briens, who had lofty notions of their own this year, Clooney/Quin played this tie to perfection, soaking up the early pressure before gaining a decisive stranglehold on the game that they would never relinquish.

Granted, there was a large ele- ment of fortune to the two late first half goals that essentially turned this tie on it’s head and broke Smith O’Brien’s spirit but as Clooney/Quin learned the hard way last year, you make your own luck at this level and it’s just about grasping those op- portunities when they present them- selves.

All that was in sharp contrast to Smith O’Brien’s who seem to have learned very little from their two full seasons at the top level. The same old failings were evident and ship- ping their biggest defeat at this level couldn’t have come at a worse time for their confidence.

Peel back the skin of the thirteen

point winning margin and you will find that the game fundamentally hinged on the ten minute period before half-time. After a slow start, Clooney/Quin led by O-7 to 0-4 on the 20 minute mark but could have been pegged back when Shane O’Brien earned Smith O’Brien’s a penalty.

However, Liam Walsh’s 23rd minute effort was saved by a combination of Cillian Duggan and crossbar and while that setback wasn’t detrimen- tal, it was magnified soon afterwards as two injury time gifts of goals left them trailing by nine points at the usr e

They came in almost identical fash- ion, stemming from Cillian Duggan long frees, the first of which appeared to travel straight to the net while the latter got the deftest of flicks from Cathal Egan.

Half time couldn’t come soon enough for Smith O’Brien’s but if those goals signalled the beginning of the end, Martin Duggan’s 34th minute goal may as well have had the Grim Reaper operating the umpire’s green flag as it totally sucked the life out of the Killaloe side’s challenge. With only Seamus Gleeson, Liam Walsh and John Cusack willing to stand up, Smith O’Brien’s heads be- gan to drop and to compound mat- ters, they also found goalkeeper Ca- thal Hannon in defiant mood.

Clooney/Quin had no such lead- ership issues with Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrison, Fergal Lynch, and the unplayable Martin Duggan who had an impressive haul of 1-7 to his name, controlling matters.

It meant that they eased up to vic- tory, one which will give them a huge boost ahead of their long break until round three while on the flip side, nothing but a win against Corofin in round two will be good enough to save Smith O’Brien’s season.

DURING his first ever visit to Clare as Taoiseach yesterday (Monday), Brian Cowan received a vote of con- fidence from an unlikely quarter.

Fine Gael councillor and mayor of Clare, Clir Madeleine Taylor Quinn welcomed the political leader to Clare saying, “May I, on behalf of the people of Clare, welcome the Taoiseach Brian Cowan, whom I know is in a very difficult situation at the moment, but I have every con- fidence that he has the ability to do what is required to bring the nation and the country back on its feet.”

Despite opinion polls and Green Party calls for a redrawing of the programme for Government, a defi- ant Mr Cowan was rallying the party troops and speaking of winning con- trol of Clare County Council.

, 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.

MINISTER for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley has described as “un- acceptable” problems encountered with the commissioning of the €8 million Ennis water treatment plant.

A boil notice, in place on the town’s water supply since July 2005, was last week extended for a further three months after it was discovered that the treatment plant cannot sup- ply enough water for homes in the Ennis area.

The quality of water produced by the plant did meet required Euro- pean standards however problems with supply, resulting from periods of heavy rainfall, emerged during the commissioning period.

As a result the 56-day commission- ing period is to recommence with an interim treatment plant still being used to treat water.

Speaking in Ennis on Friday, Min- ister Gormley said, “We’ve had fail- ures. In my own backyard we’ve had a sewage treatment plant, which was on the basis of a public private part- nership, which failed, it was a bit of a

debacle. If you’re saying, is it accept- able? Then no, it’s not acceptable”.

He continued, “We have to get these things right. We have to ensure that infrastructure projects come in on budget and are actually a service for the local people. The most im- portant thing in all of this is to retain our focus on what is best for the local community.”

Mr Gormley said that there were no problems with quality of the Ennis water supply and that local authori- ties had to be sure before they com- missioned the treatment plant for full WD OSLoMENos

He said, “The plant is being com- missioned at the moment. We have to ensure that there are no further false Cra the

“We have to ensure that we are absolutely certain that the drinking water quality is up to scratch. We’re sure that is the case but we’re just, I suppose, employing the pre-caution- ary principle to make sure that we’re absolutely sure. So that investment is a good investment and people have the very best drinking water qual- ity when that commissioning phase is done.”

SHANNON Town Councillor Mike McKee has announced that he is to retire from politics, bringing to an end a career spanning more than 20 years.

The Independent councillor made his intentions clear last week, follow- ing months of speculation on whether he was to seek re-election to the town council.

Mr McKee, a former Sinn Féin councillor, was first elected to the

council in 1985 and has served as a councillor for the 24 years since WeloOe

Mr McKee was the first mayor of Shannon Town Council, which re- placed the town commission in 2001. He fondly recalls this honour.

“T was privileged to be cathao- irleach of the commissioners at the time and subsequently became the first mayor of Shannon in 2002, an honour I will never forget,’ he said.

Among the fond memories he has taken from the council include the

development of the playground and the extension of the town bounda- ries.

“We all worked together as a team for the good of the people of Shannon ad the success of the building of the Tir na nOg playground, the instal- lation of badly needed bus shelters, the extension of the town boundaries and the estate and road name plates, to name but a few, are testament to that unity,” he said.

SHANNON Development has re- ceived only two expressions of inter- est for the €50 million redevelop- ment of Kilrush marina.

Last month, the regional develop- ment agency confirmed that a private sector consortium, that included west Clare firm L&M Keating, withdrew from the project. It said the wors- ening economic climate resulted in the developers confirming that their proposal for the development of the marina and marina lands at Kilrush was no longer viable. This resulted in Shannon Development re-advertis- ing to seek expressions of interest to re-ignite the project with applicants given a deadline of May 5 to lodge expressions of interest.

A Shannon Development spokes- man declined to confirm if any ex- pressions of interest were received. However, it is understood that the re- gional development agency received just two expressions of interest.

Clir Tom Prendeville (FF) said it was important that the rights of the marina staff were protected and that the development would increase the number of berths at the marina from 120 to 200. “The marina has achieved a small surplus over the past few years and marina manager, John Hehir has turned it around.”

Cllr Prendeville, who is also a member of Kilrush Creek Marina Ltd, said that the marina has pro- vided a major boost for Kilrush and west Clare. The latest employment Statistics for west Clare, show that the numbers in Kilrush on the live register has increased from 657 in April 2008 to 1,248 in April of this year — an increase of 89 per cent.

According to its advertisement for expressions of interest, Shannon De- velopment state that “Kilrush Marina is managed and operated by Kilrush Creek Marina Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Shannon Development. The landbank that surrounds the marina, which consists of approxi- mately 15 acres, is also owned by Shannon Development.

“The development of the marina in a way that delivers economic benefits to the Kilrush area and is compatible and complimentary to the existing marina operations has been identi- fied for implementation by Shannon Development,’ it added.

AMATEUR artists from all over Ireland will be making their way to Lisdoonvarna later this month for the third annual Outdoor Landscape Painting Competition.

The event, which is organised each years by the Burren Painting Centre, aims to build on the success of the last two years and attract a host of artists from across Ireland and be- yond to take part.

This year’s competing artists will battle it out to win €3,000 worth of prizes at the event.

The Burren Painting Centre has collected a record amount of spon- sorship for this year’s event with the overall winner receiving a top prize of €300 cash, a three-day painting break and framing of the winning ele

This weekend of art will commence on the evening of Friday, May 22 with an oil painting demonstration by well-known Bray artist, Fergal Flanagan from 8.30pm in the studio of the Burren Painting Centre.

The amateur artists will register on the Saturday morning bright and early at the Lisdoonvarna National

School. They will then choose a lo- cation from the three options given them, check on the map and head off and start to paint.

The locations will be kept strictly secret before the beginning of the competition but they will all be lo- cated within a 10-mile radius of Lis- doonvarna. The competing artists will have until 6pm that evening to return with their completed entries.

All the paintings will be judged on the Sunday morning by professional artists, Patricia O’Breartuin and Frank Sanford. Both of these artists have been regular tutors at the Bur-

ren Painting Centre over many years and are enthusiasts of ‘en plein air’ orenonlauetee

Local artist Lorraine Wall, from Ennis, will conduct a drawing work- shop in the studio at the Burren Painting Centre while the judging takes place. The contestants will meet for lunch and the prize giving at The King Thomond Hotel in Lis- doonvarna.

More details and entry forms are available from Chris O’Neill at the Burren Painting Centre, Lisdoonvar- na, info@burrenpaintingcentre.com or phone 065 7074208.

FRONT line road staff at Clare County Council could be just four months from being placed on a three-day week following a massive fall-off in the amount of money the local authority has to spend on the county’s roads.

Details of the revised Roads Pro- gramme for 2009 were presented at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council and show a further cut of €6 million in the money available to

spend on roads.

Along with the cancellation of a number of road projects and up- grades, the council confirmed yes- terday that they have been in contact with the unions responsible for local authority road staff to discuss ways in which they might manage the shortfall from September on.

“IT am very disappointed that we have another amendment to our roads programme for this year. Having al- ready had cuts earlier this year, now to lose out on a further €6 million is a

disaster,” said Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“IT think that it is a total disgrace. I don’t think the council realise how bad the roads are. It’s all that the peo- ple who we are meeting at the door- steps are talking about. I am totally opposing this today. We have had enough cuts since last September in our roads programme and we can’t take any more cuts.”

Concerns were raised that front line road staff could face cuts later this year.

“The worry is that further cuts

might come. There has to be a re- evaluation of the current situation,” said Cllr Pat Hayes (FF).

“If we lose our workers on the ground, it will cause more difficulty in the future. We need to ensure that we still have a workforce in the autumn. There are rumours out there that peo- ple will be on a three-day week in the autumn. There are some critical things that must be evaluated.”

A council spokesperson said that all avenues were being explored to ensure that local authority staff are

retained.

“We are engaged in constructive dialogue with the unions for the road workers and machinery operators staff. We are exploring every avenue for saving money before we look at the reduction in hours for the road maintenance staff,’ said a council spokesman.

‘As regards to further cuts later in the year, I have no idea. The funding agencies for this are Clare County Council, as well as the NRA and the Department of Transport.”

MODERN-DAY warriors will march through the mists of time in Killaloe this summer to contend for NOUN CeN ONO A CO

On August 8, hundreds of tri-ath- letes will contest the title Ard Ri on territory adjacent to the ‘Forth of Brian Bort’ and ‘Greenanlaghna’ the seat of the great Munster Dalcas- sians.

The inaugural Brian Bort Triath- lon Challenge will require different skills to those which sustained the ancient warriors, but endurance and preparation will still be needed.

“The intensity and heat of battle over the course of one day’s racing will produce the worthy heir. There will be a winner and the heir will be bestowed with the crown and title

Ard Ri Cill Da Lua,” a spokeswom- an for the organisers said

Keith Wood and Anthony Foley, International Rugby legends and Killaloe’s modern day warriors were on hand to launch the triathlon at the Kincora Hall Hotel last week.

OW slommbets) ovbeclaCeyemm Cem seUKMmnur-l#el ley! stemmed from a challenging charity cycle, which is currently under way. Thaireland is a charity cycle from Thailand to Ireland by three Killaloe lads who aim to build a holiday vil- lage for sick children and the Share a Dream Foundation.

Brothers Brian and Michael Cul- hane from Killaloe, and Paul Ryan from Ogonnelloe, set out from Bang- kok last December with the goal of cycling 14,000 km back to Ireland. They are currently in Turkey and expect to arrive back in Killaloe in

CRU RAM LeU A

Any proceeds raised from this tri- athlon will go towards the €50,000 target the three cyclists have set themselves. Their adventure can be followed on www.thaireland.1ie.

Triathalon swimmers will take their marks on the lakeshore at the Twomilegate and, on completion of the open water 750 metre swim, competitors will then race over a 22 km cycle course on the most scenic roads overlooking Lough Derg, pass- ing by the Brian Bort oak tree and St Cronan’s 10th century church, loop- ing around the East Clare Memorial Park at Tuamgraney before return- ing through the picturesque village of Ogonnolloe.

The challenge doesn’t end there, on completion of the cycle, a 5km run still awaits any would be Ard Ri.

The run will take place on the steep slopes of the peaceful forest at Bally- cuggeran. Having surmounted these challenges, first over the line will be ceremoniously crowned Ard Ri 2009 on the ancient site of Kincora, the seat of Brian Bort: Killaloe and Ireland’s last high king.

Those who are developing their skills in swimming, cycling or run- ning can enter the relay event with three individual warriors participat- ing and covering the same course.