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Is Clare to lose its minister?

WITH just six weeks to polling day it is believed that Fianna Fail are preparing to enter another candi- date into the race for a seat on Clare County Council.

The party’s headquarters are ex- pected to ratify Shannon pharmacist Shane Hillery as a candidate for the newly expanded Shannon electoral area.

With a strong local political pedi- gree, the son of outgoing town coun- cillor and former county councillor Sean Hillery, it is hoped that the father of two will get the nod from headquarters.

Mr Hillery spent his early life in Sixmulebridge before moving to Shannon and opening his own phar- macy in the Shannon Shopping Cen- tre 18 years ago.

Although his current address is out- side the electoral area, Fianna Fail are hoping his strong business pres- ence in Shannon and the strong fam- TUNA et-bo elem ADU MEoLO1ED Roam O0losO0 MEN Olomoy.@0 0:1 seat in the six seater area.

Married to Ennis woman Valerie Normoyle they have two children.

While Fianna Fail is considering entering a new candidate into the lo- cal election race, the party has lost its MEP candidate for the North West area.

In what was a shock to many, sitting MEP Sean O Neachtain announced his intention not to run for re-elec- tion on Raidio na Gaeltachta, having

being ratified by the party in Mayo just week’s ago.

On Sunday former European Par- liament President Pat Cox launched the election campaign of Independ- ent Marian Harkin MEP.

“Times were too serious, and the stakes too high, to allow policy myths to displace or replace policy substance in public debate during the European Parliament Election,’ he said.

Meanwhile Republican Sinn Féin is considering running a candidate in the North Clare area, having origi- nally considered a candidate for En- nis West.

The party will meet on Thursday night to consider putting forward a candidate for the county council elections.

It is believed well-known member Paddy Kenneally is to consider run- ning for the party in the new five-seat

area.

The Crusheen man said, “The ap- palling treatment that Clare has suf- fered at the hands of the Fianna Fail and Green coalition must be raised with the local election candidates on doorsteps throughout the county.”

AN TAISCE has been told to come into the real world if it didn’t want the return of hares on the runway at Shannon Airport.

Shannon-based independent coun- cillor, Cllr Patricia McCarthy was responding to a call from An Taisce for a policy based on lower usage of Shannon Airport as part of a decar- bonisation strategy for the region.

In a submission to the Mid West Regional Authority, An Taisce stated that “the promotion of the mid-west region as a business and investment location as well as for tourism, 1s unsustainably dependent on Shan- non Airport and the continuation of cheap air fares.”

An Taisce’s Heritage Officer, Ian Lumley said, “Any strategic plan- ning of the mid-west region needs to be based on the reduction of current levels of aviation use for business travel and tourism as part of a wider decarbonisation strategy which is set out in this submission. Future tour- ism will be dependent on attracting longer-stay visitors and less on short- stay visitors arriving by air.

“The explosion in air travel over the last two decades is no longer tenable because of its impact on climate pol- lution, while the approaching peak of fossil fuel production is creating an immediate future where the price and supply of fuel will become vari- able and uncertain, with massive 1m- pact on air travel cost.”

The submission comes against

the background of a decline in the number of passengers using Shan- non. Last year the airport sustained a drop of 500,000 passengers, from 3.6 million to 3.1 million.

However, Cllr McCarthy said yes- terday, “An Taisce needs to come into the real world — and fast.

“Does An Taisce want to go back to the stage where there are hares on the runway at Shannon and to stop people travelling completely? Shan-

non Airport is an integral and essen- tial part of the region’s development, but not the only part.”

However, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said An Taisce were clearly stating what a lot of other regions are con- sidering. For example, business in- trests in Cork had grouped together to re-establish the Cork Swansea KU MANO Ms (Gor

IT’S advantage Avenue United B in the race for the second division championship after Sunday’s win over Lifford B.

Richie O’Grady’s goal six min- utes from full time sealed a win that pushes Avenue four points clear of Lifford at the top of the league.

The victory also ensured Avenue’s promotion to division one and three more points from their final game against Rhine Rovers will guaran- tee that Ben Mulcaire’s side go up as champions.

O’Grady’s goal also inflicted on Lifford their first defeat of the season while at the same extended Avenue’s unbeaten league record to 17 games.

Lifford B, meanwhile, are not yet assured of their place in division one for next season.

They are three points ahead of third placed Rhine Rovers but will need to secure four points from their final two games against Sporting Ennisty- mon and Kilmaley in order to ensure promotion.

Sunday’s local derby was fiercely contested, if a little low on quality and goalmouth incident. Though the game never spilled over into anything nasty, referee Michael Rock was still forced to issue five yellow cards, four to Lifford and one to Avenue.

Cassidy Park was no place for the faint hearted.

Keith Dormer, Albert Hardiman

and Gary Seery kept it tight at the back for Avenue. Likewise Adrian Walsh, Marty O’Regan and Mark Whelan for Lifford.

Both sides lined up with five players across midfield. In such a condensed area, players were allowed pre- cious little time on the ball and the first half unfolded as a full-blooded

drama of hard tackles and thumped clearances.

Pumped up by their stunning cup win over Newmarket Celtic, Lif- ford’s best chance of the half arrived in the 26th minute when Eddie Kil- leen dispossessed Seery and laid off to Francis Franks. Franks’ crossed to McDonagh who lifted his shot nar-

rowly over the bar.

McDonagh and Darren Daly had other chances for Lifford but at the break the sides were level 0-0. Liam Meeney’s right wing cross, six min- utes after the re-start, picked out Mannion at the back post but the midfielder saw his half volley held by Avenue goalie Cillian Culligan.

Killeen fizzed another effort straight at Culligan minutes later. Avenue weathered the storm and gradually took a grip on the game.

Cian Griffin, lively on the left flank, fizzed a half volley that was held by Lifford goalie Joe Burke.

Then Michael Dinan crossed to Richie O’Grady who squared to Conor O’Brien who’s stabbed effort had Burke scrambling.

By now, Avenue were well on top and the goal arrived from their best move of the game. Hardiman pushed a fine pass to Dinan on the right. The midfielder squared to O’Grady who finished from close range.

AN ALLEGED burglary of a house in west Clare centered on a finger- print found at the scene, a court has heard.

Bartosz Ksiazkiewicz (24), of Cui- snace, Cappagh, Kilrush, denies a charge of burgling a house at Clo- verhill, Moyadda, Kilrush, in June 2008.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told Kil- rush District Court that the case cen- tered around “a fingerprint that was found at the scene of the burglary”.

A woman told the court that when she returned to her home at Moyadda, Kilrush, on the date in question, she initially did not realise the house had been burgled, “‘as there were no visu- al signs at the time.”

However, she later realised that a computer, camera and mobile phone were missing. No damage had been caused.

She said the defendant was known to her husband and he had been in her house previously.

Defending solicitor Michael Ryan put it to her that it would have been difficult for an average-sized per- son to fit in the rear window — be- lieved to have been the point of entry – which was quite small. “I would,” she replied. Mr Ryan said, “A rea- sonably grown man would find it dif- ficult to.”

Garda Lorraine Mongan, a scenes of crime examiner, told the court she carried out a technical examination at the house.

She said she placed magnetic ink on the glass frame and on the window frame and marks developed on those frames. She lifted them onto cards, using adhesive tape and they were then sent to the fingerprints section of garda headquarters for analysis.

She said that one of the fingermarks “would be consistent with someone putting their hand on the interior frame and pulling themselves in.”

However, Mr Ryan said that no

palm print was found. “What was found by the State was one forefin- ger mark and that doesn’t constitute to me as a man pulling himself in,” he said.

Detective Garda Raymond Kane, of the fingerprints section at garda headquarters, examined the finger- prints from the lift cards.

He said there were four lifts. Marks on two of them were not belonging to the accused; the third was conclu- sively identified but did not reach the standard for presentation of evidence in court and the fourth matched a fin- gerprint taken from the accused.

“T have found the minimum of 12 characteristics between the finger- print on the left forefinger of Bartosz and the fingermark found on the lift

card from Cloverhill, Kilrush. I’m satisfied beyond all doubt that finger- print was made by the same person,” said the garda.

Mr Ryan said that his client had been “in and out of that house, was in the kitchen, sat there and opened the window.”

The solicitor said that the items that were stolen were never recovered and were never connected to his client.

He said the presence of “a finger- print is not wholly convincing. It would be different if fingerprints were found on the outside or other rooms.”

The defendant, who has lived in Ire- land for the past year, told the court he had visited the house in question CLIK ato

Asked how his fingerprint was found on the window frame, he said he did not know, but that it may be because he had opened the window. He said he did not break into the Te) b ister

Mr Ryan said, “I don’t think the State has established a case beyond reasonable doubt. There has to be some niggling littl doubt. There wouldn’t be if he had never visited the house or if he had never been in the kitchen, but he was on a number of occasions.”

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned ruling on the case until next month.

BALLYEA kept their championship hopes alive by the skin of their teeth on Sunday morning as a last gasp Gary Brennan goal earned them a dramatic reprieve. A Daire Keane free for Kilmaley deep into injury time appeared to have been enough to finally see off Ballyea’s challenge but they had one last sting in their tail when Niall Keane’s long free into the square first broke to Don Flannery whose pull was partially blocked, only for Gary Brennan to react the quickest to finish to the net.

It was a bitter pill for Kilmaley to swallow, especially considering that they were six points clear by the 41st minute but in many ways, they were the architects of their own downfall.

Instead of killing off the game, they sat back and invited Ballyea onto them and tired legs resulting in indiscipline gave Ballyea a renewed window of opportunity that they eventually grasped.

There were some contentious deci- sions towards the finish but with the crowd totally immersed in the drama, the tension was heightened on the field as the tie reached it’s dramatic and ultimately fitting conclusion. Both sides had their moments over the hour with Ballyea’s haltf-back line and midfield bossing the open- ing half, despite facing the breeze that blow towards the clubhouse.

It meant that Kilmaley only led by 1-3 to 0-3 at the break, with Kilma- ley’s Michael O’Neill proving a con- stant irritant to the Ballyea defence, hitting 1-1 of that total with the goal coming in the 17th minute when John Cabey’s ball inside was fumbled by goalkeeper Seamus Doohan.

With only O’Neill, John Cabey and the impressive Noel Casey propping them up in the first period, Kilmaley were fortunate to hold that three point advantage into the interval as Ballyea hit nine wides against the conditions but on the restart, Kilmaley finally

began to assert themselves.

Chief marksman throughout the championship, Daire Keane came to life and along with the lively O’ Neill, they tacked on a brace of points each with only Gary Brennan replying for Ballyea as Kilmaley opened up a 1-

7 to 0-4 lead with less than twenty minutes remaining.

However, Ballyea got themselves back into the game through placed balls, although their recovery was slow and tense. The first signs of a fightback came when Declan Keane

was fouled and Francie O’Reilly stepped up to take the resulting 20 metre free but his effort was tapped over the bar by goalkeeper Bryan O’ Loughlin.

A Niall Keane free followed soon afterwards to cut the deficit to four

and the crowd were also left gasping when a Gary Brennan shot from close range was though to have gone past goalkeeper O’Loughlin but in fact, his effort was just left of the post.

Ballyea kept up the pressure though and after Don Flannery hit a huge point from distance, Niall Keane converted another free to claw it back to two points.

Not having scored in over twenty minutes, Kilmaley finally lifted the siege when Daire Keane pointed a free after being fouled himself in the 63rd minute but there was still time for one last attack and when Cathal O’Connor was fouled on the *45, Bal- lyea finally got themselves out of jail with that Gary Brennan goal.

It was to prove the final puck of the game and with the sides due to meet again this weekend, Kilmaley will pray that this late laspe won’t come back to bite them.

ALLEGATIONS that a man was sub- jected to an unprovoked attack as he walked through a boreen in Shannon have been aired in court. Dominic Hayes (18), of Inis Ealga, Shannon, is accused of assault causing harm.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told Shan- non District Court that it would be alleged the accused punched another man into the face, breaking his nose in the process. He said the injured party was walking through a boreen in Shannon at midnight on July 27 last when he met the accused.

“The State will say he was attacked

in an unprovoked fashion,” he said.

‘He was headbutted by the defend- ant into the face. Dominic Hayes then Started to hit him in the face, five or Six times, with his fist and he was kicked on the ground,” he said, in reference to what would be alleged.

The court was told the matter would be contested by the accused.

Judge Joseph Mangan asked was the accused on his own at the time and was told he was in a group of four or five people.

The judge declined jurisdiction and adjourned the case for preparation of the book of evidence for hearing in WeomOvuRCUDL COLE ae

JUST as the three quarters point of this final was passing, Sixmilebridge pulled the trigger and rattled home 1- 2 in less than three minutes.

Before this, the teams were locked together at 0-9 each and once that deluge of scores rained down from the Bridge’s front six, Crusheen couldn’t react or, more accurately, they weren’t allowed react.

For the remaining 15 minutes, Sixmuilebridge — who hadn’t won this competition since 2003 — defended with serious authority. They allowed Crusheen just one more score, a point from Conor O’ Donnell a minute into injury time.

That Crusheen played most of the final 20 minutes of the game swith- out scoring wasn’t entirely surpris- ing. They went through a similar drought in the opening half, failing to put a score on the board from the 17th minute until just after the re- eae

It typified the game and in fairness, the real beauty of the hurling over the hour lay in the sound defening of both sides. Strong and fair chal- lenges, effective hooking and hard blocking pockmarked the evening in Clarecastle and in the end, it was Sixmulebridge’s forward line tha picked most locks through their op- posite defence.

They opened up a quick two- point lead with a score from Barry O’Connor along with a free, half way out the field, from Caimin Mo- rey. But from there, Crusheen settled into the momentum of the game, found their rhythm and blasted off five unanswered points with Joseph Meaney orchestrating and executing the bulk.

After his side’s fifth score, though,

the Sixmilebridge defence really closed for business and though Ci- aran O’Donnell’s presence at centre back for Crusheen was immense in that opening half hour, neither he nor his colleagues could prevent Sixmi- lebridge going in at half time two points to the good.

Speaking after the game, Sean Stack, Sixmilebridge manager said

he was pleased with the first half and content to lead by two but waiting for the game to resume and with the wind to come for Crusheen, it was easy to speculate that Sixmilebridge may not have made the most of their dominance of the final 10 minutes of Werle nee

When Crusheen started with a blaze of scores, that theory was bolstered

but Stack knows his team far better than us sideline speculators.

With thirteen minutes of the game to come, the best move of the game arrived and produced the defining moment. All evening it looked as if Declan Morey could open up at any moment and in possession on the right wing, he dropped his shoulder and headed for goal. Having sla-

lomed past a handful of Crusheen de- fenders he let fly from 20 yards out. In the first half, a similar shot from Morey was brillianlty saved from Donal Touhy but this time, Morey’s precision was flawless.

His shot nestled in the top corner of the net and at last, Sixmilebridge had some daylight. Crucially, they immediately followed up with two more points, a 65 from Caimin Mo- rey and a lovely point from substitute who showed sublime control of the ball before firing over from a tight enough angle.

Lynch’s point meant Sixmilebridge scored three off the bench, a tidy haul in a game that at times, looked like an extra score or two could make all the difference. In the last ten, Sixmi- lebridge tacked on a smattering of points and eased their way over the line. A soft enough finish to a game that never lacked intensity or heat and a result that will be celebrated with zeal in the Bridge.

A MAN behaved like ‘a madman with a knife’ during an early morn- ing incident at a house in Ennis town, after enormous amounts of alcohol had been consumed.

JJ O’Brien (22), with addresses at Main Street, Kilteely, Limerick and Grange, Kilmallock, Limerick, and Darren O’Grady (23), of Fahy’s Lane, Ennis, were charged arising out of the incident.

O’Brien faced a number of charges, while O’Grady was charged with possession of an iron bar.

Garda Shane O’Connell told En- nis Circuit Court yesterday that a number of people congregated in a house at Station Court in the town in the early hours of June 9, 2006.

Among them were the accused men, who were invited to the house after a night out.

He said that a lot of alcohol had been consumed by everybody and the drinking continued at the house.

He said that while they were there, Ian Hassett, who was a tenant at the house, was concerned that Darren O’Grady was going to wreck the property. He then asked both accused to leave. He said that they left, but Mr Hassett saw them at the back of the house a few minutes later, fight- ing with another man.

O’Grady had what appeared to be an iron bar. The fight was broken up, but then, “all of a sudden, JJ O’Brien pulled a knife on Mr Hassett.”

He said the knife was a 12-inch bread knife with a jagged edge. Gda

O’Connell said O’Brien put the knife to Mr Hassett’s neck and told him he would cut his throat. He said that Mr Hassett grabbed the knife and as he did so, it ripped backwards and cut his finger. O’Brien again swung the knife at Mr Hassett.

“Mr Hassett said JJ O’Brien was acting like a madman with the knife,” said the garda. The two accused men fled the scene on foot. He said that O’Brien threw the knife away and it was never recovered.

The court heard that both men have several previous convictions.

O’Brien’s barrister, Brian MclIner- ney, BL, said his client had consumed an enormous amount of alcohol on the night in question.

He said the accused was taken into care when he was young and ap-

peared to have “gone off the rails over a relatively short period of time, but has emerged from that fog. He’s off the radar.”

He said he had been addicted to drugs at one stage but was not abus- ing them any longer.

Mark Nicholas, BL, for O’Grady, said his client’s father died when he was young and he had been taken into care for a period of time. He said he had fallen into bad company in his teenage years and has struggled with orabteace

Judge Carroll Moran said that while the matter would normally merit a “lengthy prison sentence,” he was prepared to review that after hearing that both men had “turned their lives around.”

He remarked that garda evidence

was “‘very fair” in relation to O’Brien who had undergone a course of treat- ment for his addiction and was, ac- cording to the evidence of an after- care worker with the Health Service Executive, “unrecognisable” as the man who had been abusing drink, drugs and getting involved with criminality.

Similarly, O’Grady had “pleaded, changed his life and co-operated.”

Judge Moran imposed three-year suspended sentences on all four counts against O’Brien, each sus- pended for three years, on condition he commit no crime and continue under the direction of the probation Service.

The judge imposed a two-year sen- tence, suspended for three years, on O’Grady on the same conditions.

WHEN Richard Moloney threw the ball in to start what was his first sen- ior inter-county fixture there were only 43 customers who had paid their way into Cusack Park — that was a commentary on the level of interest in this tie and the current plight of senior football in the county.

The stay away supporters and those present knew this was going to be a nothing game — a final day away for the exiles, a day for Clare to hoover up two National League points and end what has been a depressing cam- paign on a winning note.

That about sums up what happened — apart from an early spurt from Lon- don when a fourth minute goal from Enda Gallagher gave them 1-1 to O-1 lead this was a one-sided miss-match as Clare strolled to a facile win.

Then manner in which Clare hit back after Gallagher’s goal was a telling portent of things to come — straight from the kick-off they worked the ball down the field and a slick move in the final phase of the field involving Enda Coughlan, Michael O’Shea and David Tubridy yielded a goal within 35 seconds of London’s shock opener.

Tubridy slammed the ball to the empty net on his way to a top-scor- ing tally of 1-5 as Clare ran riot for the rest of the game. Indeed, but for some very wayward shooting which contributed to 13 wides over the 70 minutes the gap would have been much bigger than the 20 points that separated them at the end.

They’d stretched it to seven points by half-time — points by David Tubri- dy (4), Enda Coughlan and Michael O’Shea had them 1-7 to I-1 ahead by the 20 minute mark before an Enda Coughlan goal on 23 minutes and points by Michael O’Shea and Tim-

my Ryan brought their tally for the half to 2-9.

London did rally towards half-time thanks to three Kevin Downes points to raise their total to 1-5, but any hope that the revival would continue after the break was quickly quashed by an avalanche of Clare points.

Timmy Ryan, David Russell, Enda Coughlan and Liam Markham had points within five minutes of the re- start as the game degenerated into nothing other than a _ slow-paced training game a panel of players might have after a three-hour physi- cal session.

London were dreadful, so much so that it was hard to credit that they had beaten Waterford earlier in the cam- paign. They only managed one point in the half, an injury time effort from Kevin Downes.

Clare, meanwhile, racked up 1-11 in the half. The flurry of points at

the start of the half was taken on by substitute Cathal O’Connor who grabbed a brace by the 44th minute, while Sean Collins finally got his eye in when knocking over two by the 56th minute.

By this stage London were offer- ing no resistance and were finally put out of their misery by Richard Molo- ney’s final whistle — however, before it came Clare notched up a further 1- 6 in the final ten minutes.

Enda Coughlan grabbed four points, Liam Markham and David Tubridy got the others while Gary Brennan goal with virtually the last kick of the game.