Category: Uncategorized

AN extra councillor, extra area to canvass and extra people to vote.

The county councillors in Shannon must be inwardly smiling, but out- wardly they are panicking.

The very last thing any elected politician wants to hear about them- selves is that their seat is safe.

A scandal they can survive; a faux pas in the council chamber, no prob- lem; even taking the “wrong” side in a controversial local issue can be overcome — but for some journalist, political pundit or barman to say that they are a sure thing come June 5, that is the kiss of death.

So even though there are five sitting Shannon electoral area councillors hoping to be returned to a new six- seater area, they are taking nothing for granted.

All five — John Crowe (FG), Tony Mulcahy (FG), Gerry Flynn (Ind), Patricia McCarthy (Ind) and Pat McMahon (FF) — are putting their names on the ballot paper again, but this time around there are a few new strong contenders.

Already five new possibilities have declared as candidates, and at the time of going to press, there was one more Fianna Fail possibility from the Shannon town area waiting in the wings awaiting head office approval.

Fianna Fail in the area has always maintained that a strong Shannon town candidate was required, and this likely contender has the name and family history to his benefit.

His nomination will all depend on the powers that be in Dublin, some- thing that does not sit well with the grass roots level in light of the selec- tion process in the Shannon electoral area So far.

Many believe that former Fianna Fail stalwart PJ Ryan should have been put on the ticket ahead of new- comer Eamon Fennessy. While Mr Fennessy will have a strong GAA backing, it was felt Mr Ryan had a higher profile on the ground and was geographically better placed.

Head office disagreed, however, and Fianna Fail on the ground, who

are determined to secure that new seat, feel hard done by.

Mr Ryan was just ousted last time by newcomer Gerry Flynn (Ind), who was elected without making the quota. They fear the Ryan factor in Fianna Fail — and are determined that by letting this fear be known, he too may receive that kiss of death, the safe seat curse.

Even with the securing of a much needed town candidate in this elec- tion, the ‘Soldiers of Destiny’ will struggle to double their seats from one to two.

The big hope for the party is Patrick

O’Gorman, who was close to being elected to the council four years ago when he lost his seat, but who is in a new electoral area this time around.

With the transfer of Cratloe and Killeely into the Shannon area, the former councillor will be hoping to secure the majority of that vote to see him back in Clare County Council’s chamber.

Fine Gael is running three candi- dates, well aware that the extra seat is there for the taking.

Having nominated sitting council- lors Tony Mulcahy and John Crowe from the start, it later added Marcella

Rafftery Frost to the ticket.

A smart move — the party picked from a strong Fine Gael pedigree. Ms Rafftery Frost is the niece of former MEP Tom Rafftery, and is living in Bunratty.

A strong Independent and Labour support base has always been part of Shannon.

Cllrs McCarthy and Flynn have proved high-profile and _ popular campaigners in the last five years, and both were mayors of Shannon Town, with Cllr McCarthy the first woman to be selected as mayor of Orie

Another woman contesting the Shannon area is Cathy McCafferty from Sinn Fein. While there are high hopes for the Shannon woman in the town council election, her first out- ing in a county council election four years ago had her eliminated in the third count.

With a new seat for the taking in the Shannon area, however, the final shake down is anyone’s guess.

JOHN McIntyre has been known for his straight talking — whether as an analyst looking in or a manager on the sideline he calls it as it is.

Cue his remarks after the Dub- lin game when his side were on the wrong end of a comprehensive beat- ing.

Same when he was a staunch admir- er of Clare in different times — those days when they won Munster and All-Ireland titles and even in recent years when they put it up to Cork and Kilkenny in Croke Park.

It’s why MclIntyre’s verdict on Clare was important to hear in the after- math of Galway’s second half demo- lition job on Sunday. There was al- ways the chance that McIntyre might offer some crumb of comfort for the championship summer ahead.

He did.

“Clare will just write off the league,” he said. ““The one county that seem to be able to put a bad league cam- paign behind them and get ready for the championship is Clare. Clare are always dangerous against that back- ground, but have a lot of work to do, like Galway,” he added.

What he didn’t say is that Galway look to have more to work with. And, it’s work that made this victory important — that’s the gospel from McIntyre at any rate as he reflected on his side’s nine-point win.

“It doesn’t change anything in terms of our league position or in terms of trying to qualify for a league final, but anytime you win is a good day. We came up here today hoping to win and drove the message home to players that there’s nothing better for confidence than winning.

“You can train like dogs for ten weeks in a row and go home with a

spring in your step after every train- ing session and talk about unity and passion and pride and all that, but one win is nearly worth all that,’ he revealed.

“The bottom line is that we’re af- ter winning three out of our last four league games — lost a game against Tipperary that we maybe could have won, so it does give us a little bit of momentum going into the champion- ship, but that will be at a different level altogether and we have a lot of work to do.

“It’s going to an historic occasion for Galway going into Leinster — I would be hoping that the lads would be inspired by the sense of history. Hopefully it will help reinvogorate hurling as well. Not everyone in Gal- way is happy about participating in Leinster but we’ll get on with it — the players are looking forward to it,” he added.

THE Mayor of Clare has said it is imperative that the Criminal Justice Surveillance Bill be quickly imple- mented in an effort to bring crimi- nals to justice.

Councillor Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) was speaking as she launched the International Police Association (IPA) annual conference in Ennisty- mon at the weekend, which was at- tended by the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy.

Police from Luxembourg, Poland, USA and the UK attended the two- day conference, which is one of the major events of the IPA (Irish sec- tion).

She spoke of the importance of the police force in the community and said the new bill — the details of which were announced by the Gov- ernment last week — would provide much assistance to gardai.

She said that the community has a crucial role to play in the detection and prevention of crime.

‘The co-operation of the public re- lating to crime is essential for crime detection and prevention. We cannot afford to remove ourselves when we have knowledge or sightings of acts or behaviour that could be helpful to police investigations.

“Democracy is based on_ the strength of the security of our citi- zens. The public and gardai are in- terdependent. We are secure because of their presence and they can only

be as effective as the public enable them to be,” she said.

She said the IPA should be com- mended for the work it carries out at local, national and international levels.

“The building of transnational rela- tionships between current and retired members of police forces across the world greatly assists and enhances the work of Interpol and other inter- national police organisations. It also serves to assist the members’ under- standing of other cultures, traditions

and police practices in the many na- tions represented,’ she said.

Retired Garda Sergeant and presi- dent of the IPA (Irish section), Billy Saunderson said the conference pre- sented members with the opportunity to discuss matters of mutual personal and professional concern.

Mr Saunderson, who was based in Ennistymon for a number of years, said members of the IPA have the op- portunity to avail of support during difficult times.

‘There are many benefits for retired

and serving members of An Garda Siochana in joining the organisation. Members are provided with immedi- ate support at times of crisis while at home or abroad. The children of members engage in international cultural gatherings and exchanges, and members engage in fundraising for local and community causes,” he said.

CLARE hurlers will be a very differ- ent proposition when they play either Cork or Tipperary in the Munster Semi-Final on June 21st.

This verdict was delivered by man- ager Mike McNamara and his Gal- way counterpart John McIntyre after Clare’s depressing National League campaign ended with a 4-16 to 0-19 defeat to the Tribesmen in Cusack Park.

‘There is a passion about hurling in Clare and it’s up to the players that are there to lift it and ignite it and to come out with all guns blazing in June,” said McNamara.

“I don’t think it will be hard to rise a Clare team for championship. When we do well in the league, we don’t do well in championship and vice versa. If that trend continues we ll be smiling,” he added.

‘The one county that seem to be able to put a bad league campaign behind them and get ready for the championship are Clare,” said McIn- tyre. “Clare are always dangerous against that background,” he added.

WEDDINGS in the former “capital of County Clare” are being affected because of a lack of signage on the N18 Ennis bypass, a meeting has heard.

Cllr Bernard Hanrahan (FF) told a meeting of the Ennis electoral area that Clarecastle has become a popu- lar spot for couples tying the knot.

However, Cllr Hanrahan claimed that many people on their way to at- tend weddings in Clarecastle end up in Doora because there is no sign for the village on the N18 Ennis bypass.

“You have people coming into Clarecastle and they end up travel- ling all the way up to Doora because there isn’t a sign on the bypass for Clarecastle,” said Cllr Hanrahan.

He continued, “You have signs for Quin, you have signs for Carrigoran. I mean, what do Quin and Carrigor- an have to offer more than Clarecas- tle? Clarecastle was once the capital of Clare.”

“All I want ye to do is erect sig- nage on the main road. I spoke to the deputy head of the National Road’s Association (NRA) and they were in favour of it,’ added Cllr Hanrahan.

Supporting Cllr Hanrahan’s call, councillors urged Clare County Council to erect signs on the Ennis bypass.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) told yesterday’s meeting that the issue of signage for Clarecastle had been raised repeatedly at area meetings.

“That came up at the last meet- ing. It’s coming up at every meeting. Could we not just put the signs up?” he said.

Cllr Brennan added, “Why can’t we just go ahead and do it?” Cllr Pat Daly (FF) said a sign for Clarecastle should be situated at the roundabout near the Clare Inn hotel.

Cllr Sonny Scanlan (FG) also called for clearer signage along all sections the N18 Ennis bypass.

‘People are going up as far as Bare- field. When you are coming from the other direction, you see signs for Scariff and Tulla and none for Ennis. How are people supposed to know’? It’s a pure joke. We need signs for Clarecastle and we also need them for Ennis as well,’ he said.

, Do- herty cut loose on stay-away players over broken promises, lack of com- mitment, turning up for gear and then saying “good luck” by walking away from the team.

“We have brought people in — I’ve spoken to people that have promised me that they’ll come in and they’ve turned around and walked away, for what reason I have no idea,’ Doherty revealed.

“ve tried to ring them, players have tried to get in touch with them.

It’s crazy stuff. Some players have got the gear, the boots and then said good luck.

“T’m disillusioned with it. I asked an under 21 player this year to come into our set-up. He said yes to me. I rang him afterwards to say where training was on — the same lad was in a pub and he cut the phone off. I know that for a fact,” he added.

He launched his broadside at the close of Clare’s National League campaign in Cusack Park on Satur- day – winning outing by 3-21 to I-7, but a game that served to expose a lack of numbers at the disposal of the Doherty and his fellow selectors Ki- eran Kelleher and James Hanrahan.

Only 19 players were togged for the game – a Shortage of players owing

to injuries, players who have walked away or declined repeated offers to join the panel.

Clare used 33 players during their eight-match National League pro- gramme, but a host of those play- ers are no longer part of the panel. These include Stephen Monaghan (Wolfe Tones), Keith Whelan (St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield, Stephen Moloney and Ian McInerney (Kil- murry Ibrickane).

Meanwhile, other high profile play- ers from the county champions’ side like Mark Killeen, Michael Hogan and Brendan Moloney were invited on to the panel but declined.

“What is it with some people? Ok we re in Division 4 but we want to get out of Division 4. We need help,”

said Doherty. “Within the county we need the players who are playing for clubs to stand up and say ‘let’s get Clare out of Division 4, let’s give the management team a chance of get- ting Clare out of Division 4’,” said Die) oua

“If we had options on the bench and had a full deck to play, then you’d have a shout. Then if we didn’t suc- ceed you could say the management aren’t up to it.

“Players should be putting them- selves forward and saying ‘yes I’m available for Clare’. They’re not do- ing it and I’m scratching my head wondering why. We’re well short of a full deck at the moment,’ he added.

DURING the Celtic Tiger era prop- erty prices in Quin grew exponen- tially. But, those days have gone and even in trendy Quin you can now find some great property bargains.

The pick of the crop this week is on the books with Costelloe Estate Agents. It’s a detached bungalow located in Arbutus Grove, occupy- ing a half acre site, priced at just €285,000.

Arbutus Grove is situated in the heart of the picturesque village of Quin, opposite the post office and overlooking the church.

According to selling agent Noel Moore, “This is a truly well laid out family home with very generous ac- commodation and it is right beside all the key amenities in Quin village, yet the site is private.

The 135.45 square metres (1458 square feet) of internal space com- prises an entrance porch leading into the entrance hall, a good sized sit- ting room, a kitchen/breakfast room, family room, family bathroom, and there are four double bedrooms, with the master bedroom en-suite.

In addition there is a detached ga- rage that incorporates a utility room and WC.

The house occupies a very attrac- tive site with mature gardens. The front and rear, featuring trees, ex- tensive shrubbery, flowerbeds and a

patio area.

“While this property does require some refurbishment and redecora- tion, at this asking price it is an abso- lute bargain buy,” said Noel.

For further information contact

Costelloe Estate Agents on 065 6821299.

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