Category: Uncategorized

TRADING stalls at the Matchmak- ing Festival in Lisdoonvarna could be a thing of the past as Clare Coun- ty Council is preparing to severely curtail casual trading licences issued in the area this year and are to ex- amine a complete ban on traders in the square.

Following a proposal put forward at yesterday’s north Clare area meet- ing of Clare County Council, the lo-

cal authority is to arrange a meeting with local business people and the Gardai to discuss how to limit li- oiler

Speaking on the proposal, Cllr Ri- chard Nagle (FF), said that a number of tourists visiting Lisdoonvarna have had to leave their hotels in the middle of the night because of noise and disruption coming from the trad- ase

“The business community of the town need to be consulted on this.

There is a lot of noise and distur- bances from the traders and this is giving a very bad impression of Lis- doonvarna,” he said.

“T would propose that only a few licences should be given out and no licences be given in the area of the square. I know that visitors were so disturbed by the noise that they said that they would not come back to the town and demanded their money back for their accommodation.

“A meeting must take place with

the business people in Lisdoonvarna but it is important that the Gardai are at that meeting. In the past the Gardai have said that they are not in a position to move the people who are causing a nuisance on but under the new by-laws that does not seem to be the case.

“It seems that everyone who wants to come and park up in the middle of Lisdoonvarna has the right to do it. When there is an idea out there that there is no laws then people will treat

it as such.”

According to James Barry, Senior Staff Officer of the Ennistymon Area Office, new by-laws introduced last year mean that the council and the Gardai now have the power to drasti- cally reduce the number of licences and add a number of conditions to each license.

Despite this however, fortune tell- ers will be allowed to continue in Lisdoonvarna as they do not fall un- der the remit of the new by-laws.

BARON de Coubertin’s Olympic ideals of “Stronger, Faster, Higher” could well have been borrowed by the other Olympic on Sunday morn- ing — the Shannon version that is, as they sent shock waves around the county in dumping eight times cham- pions and competition favourites Av- enue United out of this year’s Clare Cup race.

“Everything clicked for us,” said manager Jason Stretton afterwards. “We put everything into it and it hap- pened for us,” added the former Clare Cup winner with Newtown.

Conversely, it didn’t happen for Avenue United as their roller coast- er form of the past month contin- ued over a depressing 90 minutes. Dumped out of the cup at the last 16 stage and facing an uphill battle to prevent Bunratty from claiming the league title, 1t could be another trophy-less year for the bluebloods of the Clare game.

Olympic, meanwhile, are now genuine contenders for the cup title, while they’re hot on the heels of cur- rent champions Rock Rovers in the promotion race out of Division 1.

This cup tie effectively turned seis- mically in Olympic’s favour in the first half — a chance missed at one end by Avenue and an amazing goal

down the other end by Olympic.

Opportunity knocked for the home side after 25 minutes when star at- tacker Mikey Mahony burst into the area — on another day Mahony would have applied a clinical finish, but on this day he was thwarted by Kieran McCarthy.

From Avenue’s point of view this miss was compounded 15 minutes later when Wayne Regan whipped a right footed inswinging corner from the left all the way into the top corner of the net beyond the flailing arms of Colin Smyth.

It was a hammer blow, but one Av-

enue looked like recovering from when they dominated the early ex- changes of the second half. Ten min- utes in Eamon O’Reilly was denied by the crossbar, while in the resulting scramble the ball was cleared off the line.

It was as close as Avenue came to

levelling things up — the Olympic defence in which Paul O’Connor and Jan Hogan were outstanding soaked up everything Avenue could throw at them before they broke out of de- fence and struck for the all-important second goal ten minutes from time.

With centre-forward James Fit- zgerald causing Avenue endless problems, a second goal was always likely, but in the end a mistake by Eamon O’Reilly let in Ray Quigley who skipped past a few defenders be- fore rolling the ball underneath Co- lin Smyth to book Olympic’s quarter- final place.

THE parents of Roman Vysochan, the Ukrainian teenager who was al- legedly stabbed to death in Corbally last year, were present in Limerick District Court yesterday where two people were charged with the murder of their son.

The 16-year-old was found dead at the entrance of Carraig Midhe on the night of May 10, 2008 after suc- cumbing to his injuries allegedly in- flicted at a house in the estate.

John O’Loughlin, 20, with address- es at Cecil Street and Carraig Midhe, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified, were charged with the murder of the teenager. The pair are also accused of assaulting another 16-year-old boy on the same date.

Detective Garda Enda Haugh from

Mayorstone Garda Station gave evi- dence of arresting Mr O’Loughlin at an address at Cecil Street at 7.50am yesterday morning. Det Garda Haugh told the court that the accused gave no reply to the charge when cau- tioned at Mayorstone Garda Station.

The 20-year-old was granted legal aid and John Devane was assigned his defence solicitor.

Detective Garda Kieran Crowley gave evidence of arresting the 17- year-old boy at 8.l5am at Bishop Street. The teenager also made no reply to the charge after caution.

He was also granted legal aid and Ted McCarthy was assigned his de- fence solicitor.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded the pair in custody to appear before the court again this Thursday, March 26.

WITH their hopes of retaining their league title all but over, the cup now becomes the main priority for New- market Celtic. The ten times winners may not have been in the winners enclosure since 2000 but they eased their passage into the last eight on Sunday with a comfortable victory over Bridge Celtic B.

Off the back of two battling results against fellow title contenders Av- enue Utd and Lifford, and barring the shock of the tournament, New- market were always fancied to easily account for the third division side as they had already beaten Celtic’s first side in the previous round. However, it did given stand-in manager Paudie Cullinan the opportunity to test out some of his fringe players and they responded with an assured display.

Still, Bridge Celtic’s second string didn’t make it easy for their Premier Division opposition and while they never really looked like breaking the deadlock themselves, they did frus- trate Newmarket sufficiently in the first half. Had they held out until the break, it would have given them great confidence but a Keith Power goal just before half-time, finally settled Newmarket and from that point on, it was only damage limitation for the O’Briensbridge side.

Eased by that breakthrough goal, the floodgates opened for Newmar- ket in the second period with two Siullery headers and a second from

Power guiding them to a 4-0 advan- tage. Worse was to follow for Bridge Celtic when the impressive Sillery was taken down in the area and Sea- mus Considine converted the penalty and Newmarket’s Grand Slam Sun- day was completed when substitute Jimmy Houlihan grabbed the sixth.

With Avenue’s surprise exit to Shannon Olympic on Sunday, New- market are now installed amongst the favourites for this year’s Clare Cup along with Lifford and holders Rock Rovers. From here on in, it will come down to the luck of the Friday night’s draw as Newmarket look to secure some silverware out of the Tere) IF

A FUNDRAISING initative to help a new service developed by the Brothers of Charity is a walk in the park – or in the Burren, to be more sepecific.

Walkers are asked to help raise funds for Home Share Clare by tak- ing part in a six- or nine-kilometre sponsored walk from Flaggy Shore, Newquay on Sunday next.

Registration for the event is at 12pm.

Sponsorship cards are _ avail- able from Patricia O’Meara on 0876680081 or those taking part can make donations on the day.

By spending the extra hour this weekend on the walk, participants are supporting Home Share Clare, a service developed by the Brothers of Charity.

The service offers respite and holi- day breaks to children and adults with an intellectual disability. The uniqueness of this service is that it is provided by families in their own

home as opposed to residential res- pite group homes. The family takes a child or adult with a learning disabil- ity into their own home for a short period of time.

The child/adult will enjoy a break or a holiday in a homely atmosphere and their parents and siblings will have a break from their full-time or Nu patea Ke) lon

Home Sharers get the opportunity to learn more about disability while caring and sharing in their own teva ston

Home Share families are assessed and supported by Home Share Clare. Each child or adult is matched care- fully to the caregivers and strong relationships can develop. Home Share Clare has successfully placed a number of adults and children with JeTeOb UB Cone

This service is open to anyone with a learning disability. It is hoped that families who offer to Home Share can do this for overnight stays, week- ends, short breaks or a weeks holi- days.

Interested people from a wide range of backgrounds can apply and Home Sharers can be single, married, older, younger working or retired. Formal qualifications are not necessary but it is desirable to have qualities such as common sense, warmth, patience and flexibility. An allowance is paid to families who participate in Home Share Clare.

Home Share Clare receives no stat- utory funding. It is totally reliant on charitable donations, which are man- aged by the Clare Federation of Vol-

FOR the second successive match, Cratloe held the upper hand in this local derby but they had to endure a real scare before finally collecting the Opening points of the season. With both clubs still involved in the Under 21 championship and county senior action dominating the weekend’s fixtures, selections were hampered but it was Sixmilebridge who missed their big guns most as Cratloe dom1- nated for the majority. From the out- set, Cratloe were hungry and sharp while the Bridge appeared sluggish and at times static when striking and that combination meant that Cratloe were never behind over the hour and at times looked all too comfortable.

However, after building up a 0-13 to O-08 advantage by the 40th minute, perhaps a grain of complacency crept in as a rejuvinated Sixmilebridge tacked over five unanswered points to draw level by the 55th minute. They couldn’t take full advantage though as Cratloe finally recovered to score the final three points and avoid a ma- jor slip-up.

The early season rustiness was ful- ly evident throughout the match, em- pitomised by the amount of needless and lazy frees given away on both

sides that rival marksmen Damien Browne and Stiofan Fitzpatrick gob- bled up with ease. However, aside from Fitzpatrick and occasionally Danny Morey, Sixmilebridge never really carried a threat up front and had too many passengers while Crat- loe had a strong launching pad from their half-back line and midfield and seemed to have more options in the final third. That was essentially the difference in the first half as Cratloe, despite facing into the breeze, took the game to the Bridge and had six different scorers in their 0-10 to O-7 half-time lead while all but one point from the Bridge came from Fitz- patrick’s placed balls.

Sixmilebridge made changes at the break, introducing John Reddan at centre-forward and pushing Fitz- patrick to full-forward and that part- nership would prove fruitful later in the game. However, it would get a lot worse before it would improve for the Bridge as two Browne °65’s and a point from Gearoid Ryan cancelled out Danny Morey opening point and gave the home side a O-13 to 0-8 cushion by the 40th minute.

Then out of nothing, the game be- gan to turn. An Adrian Chaplin pull was excellently blocked by goal- keeper Hayes, John Reddan began

to win vital possession around the centre and Stiofan Fitzpatrick looked increasingly threatening inside and it gave the Bridge momentum as the lead began to topple. Points from Fit-

Zpatrick (3), Danny Morey and sub- stitute Eoin Quinn restored parity by the 55th minute and all of a sudden, it was the Bridge who looked the more likely winners.

However, ringing the changes and finally coming to life once more, Cratloe hit back and it was Gearoid Ryan who eased the tension in injury time when he pointed over his shoul- der and that relief was manifested further when Damien Browne was presented with two easy frees to ce- ment the win and continue their new- found hold over their local rivals.

PLEAS are being made in the Dail to extend time for tourism projects ap- plying for financial aid because the investors are being frozen out in the credit crunch.

Up to 30 schemes seeking tax breaks under the Mid-Shannon Tour- ism Investment Scheme were to have their applications completed by June 1 of this year.

But the credit squeeze means that most of those schemes cannot guar- antee their end of the funding, rul- ing them out of applying for the tax relief which has been built into their

oF Nerv E-haloyetcy

The Dail heard from Fine Gael TDs and senators in the mid-west that in- vestors are being hit in relation to their applications by the paralysis in the lending system.

The financial support announced in the 2007 budget was to provide tax breaks spread over seven years for new and refurbished tourism facili- ties other than accommodation.

It has been delayed for most of a year, going through the vetting proc- ess necessary with the EU.

Deputy Pat Breen (FG) said it was ‘‘a major blow for those caught in the situation. It is lunacy to jeopardise

projects like these which have the potential to create jobs in an eco- nomic crisis.”

The threat to the tourism projects 1s the second to emerge in recent times in relation to tourism earnings from Lough Derg.

East Clare’s most important source of income – tourism – could be seri- ously compromised if plans go ahead to take millions of litres of water out of the Shannon and Lough Derg to feed Dublin’s needs.

A presentation by Dublin City Council’s consultants on the pro- posed project did nothing to calm fears in the mid-west about plans to

drain 340 million litres of water a day out of the Shannon system.

The extra water is needed to meet the projected demand from Dublin up to 2031 and beyond.

Local representatives, ecologists, fisheries groups and the ESB have all added their voices to the concerns being expressed about the project.

“We don’t have anything like enough information about the im- pact which this could have on our water-ways,” said Killaloe council- lor, Tony O’Brien.

BEATING Kilkenny at any level is a memorable feat. Beating the cur- rent All-Ireland intermediate cham- pions Kilkenny in only their second game therefore has to go down as a momentous achievement and finally gives the management, players and even the county board justification for their forward planning of enter- ing a second team.

This was as good and surprisingly comfortable as it 1s every going to get for Clare’s second string. Last time out, they perhaps lacked some leadership as Tipperary eased to a seven point victory but that fraility was rectified on Sunday with the in- troduction of six new starters. Carol O’Leary, Aiveen O’Shea, Niamh Corry, Louise Hayes, Aine O’Brien, Chloe Morey and Roisin O’Brien were all brought in to add more ex- perience and balance to the side and it certainly had the desired effect as Clare were far superior and sharp- er than their Leinster opponents throughout.

Chloe Morey, who was playing her second game in as many days, was utilised as a third midfielder and along with partners Louise Hayes

and Niamh Corry, Clare really con- trolled this tie. Another highlight was the performance of Carol Kaiser who really began to come into her own when switched to centre-back to curtail Kilkenny’s playmaker Eileen Fitzpatrick, who had got Kilkenny’s only score of the game in the 34th minute.

Aside from that scare, it was a straightforward stroll to victory as Kilkenny’s expected fightback never really materialised. Clare can only beat what’s put in front of them though and really that fear of a Kil- kenny recovery benfitted Clare who remained focused right up to the fi- nal whistle.

Clare were 0-6 to 0-0 ahead at the break, taking advantage of a slight breeze that blew towards Limerick. Danielle Sheedy opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a free and inadvertently turned provider for the second, sending in another long free that was batted by goalkeeper Siob- han Murphy to Roisin O’Brien who continued her impressive scoring run with a point. In all, the Ogonnelloe player hit four points of Clare’s to- tal, making her Clare’s only scorer from play in the league so far with Six points.

Danielle Sheedy almost secured a goal for her side in the 10th minute when she caught a Niamh Corry pass over the top of the Kilkenny defence and took on her marker before un- leashing a shot but it was saved by Murphy for a *45 that Chloe Morey converted.

Kilkenny did have their fair share of possession but a lack of a reliable freetaker and some aimless shooting frustrated them in their endeavours. Instead, Clare kept plugging away and frees from Morey, Sheedy and an injury time point from O’Brien eased Clare to a six point half-time lead.

The only real tension for Clare came four minutes after half-time when a revitalised Kilkenny attempted to grab a lifeline. Three early wides were eventually made up for when Niamh Byrne’s shot was saved by Denise Lynch and Eileen Fitzpatrick was on hand to hit the rebound to the am

Fitzpatrick was by now starting to pull the strings for the Leinster side and had another shot on goal in the 38th minute but this time Lynch was equal to the effort. It caused Clare to switch Carol Kaiser to centre-back and it proved to be the turning point

of the game as the Newmarket player nullified her threat for the remain- der.

From that point on, Clare gradually regained their confidence and the trio of Chloe Morey (2), Roisin O’Brien (2) and Danielle Sheedy were again on target as Clare eased up to victo- ry. A significant result that will give Clare great confidence for the rest of the campaign.

THE winter vomiting bug has closed a third-level facility in the mid-west for almost a week.

Last week, a number of students presented themselves to the Med1i- cal Centre at Mary Immaculate Col- lege with gastric flu-like symptoms including diarrhoea and vomiting. The college immediately contacted the HSE who, following their inves- tigations, have confirmed seven in- dividual cases of norovirus (winter vomiting bug) amongst the students.

The college, in consultation with the HSE, moved to control the out- break last Wednesday, suspending all college activities in order to facilitate the intensive cleaning and sanitisa- tion of the campus to prevent a sec- ondary introduction of the virus.

The college expressed their grati- tude to the HSE for the “swift and professional manner in which they dealt with this matter and thanked them for their advice and _ assist- _N Nome

The college will re-open today but student activities, including lectures and tutorials, are postponed until 9am on Wednesday, March 18.

The HSE said that “preliminary results of their investigations sug-

gested that the outbreak of gastroen- teritis at Mary Immaculate College was caused by norovirus, the source of which has not been identified. Precautionary measures are being implemented by Mary Immaculate College to minimise the risk of fur- ther transmission.”

Norovirus is often known as ‘win- ter vomiting disease’. Outbreaks af- fecting hundreds of people have been reported. Cases occur in all seasons although it is true that there is an in- crease in winter.

The illness characteristically starts with the sudden onset of severe and dramatic vomiting. This can occur with such force that it is termed “pro- jectile”. The virus is so small that there are millions of them in parti- cles of vomit which can be widely dispersed in an area.

“Tt is vitally important to clean a very wide area when cleaning up after a person who has vomited,’ a spokes- woman for the HSE said. Some peo- ple also develop diarrhoea.”

In general, the symptoms usually last for about 24 to 36 hours after which the person feels washed out for a day or so. There are no long- term effects of norovirus infection and, even in the frail or elderly, eve- ryone makes a full recovery.

TAKING the medical card office out of Ennis will destroy the flexibility of the service and could leave many people who are entitled to medi- cal cards without them, it has been warned.

The Health Service Executive has announced that it is to close the medical cards office in the Sandfield Centre in Ennis, where 11 staff are currently employed.

The service will be centralised in Dublin as part of the HSE’s plan to Am eKe ys ASF

But Ennis councillor Joe Arkins, has warned that centralising the

service in Ennis will take away vital flexibility.

‘‘A person may be over the earnings limit for a medical card but they may still qualify. If someone lives in Mul- lagh and drives to Ennis to work, that is the kind of thing that can be taken into consideration and that takes lo- cal knowledge. We now have to try to translate that information to some- one in an office in Dublin. It won’t work,” the councillor said.

STAs Cima sc bunce mm sit mmenomm Els. ibility of the service will be seriously WOK oee

‘At present you can go to the office in Ennis, outline your circumstances and have an emergency medical card

in a matter of hours. That will be gone. This is a totally retrograde step and flies in the face of the Govern- ment’s decentralisation policy.”

The decision comes following a stark warning from the head of the HSE, Professor Brendan Drumm, that required cost-cutting measures will soon begin to impact on front- line health services.

11 staff are employed in medical card and drug payment services at the Sandfield centre which is one of 32 offices across the country.

The jobs in Ennis and other centres are now under threat following con- firmation from the HSE that it plans to centralise primary care re-im-

bursement services to Dublin to save €10 million a year with temporary staff to be made redundant and other staff redeployed to other jobs.

Staff in Ennis say they are also concerned about the loss of personal contact with members of the public and IMPACT union spokeswoman for Clare Sinead Wynne said there is more than administration services being lost.

Ennis staff are now looking to their union to open negotiations with the HSE in a bid to reverse the plans and IMPACT has called on the public to support it’s members “before the people of Clare lose another impor- tant service”.