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East Clare gearing up for St Patrick’s Day

CLARE County Council has serious concerns over plans to construct a €12 million eight turbine windfarm in an upland area of east Clare.

In December, SWS Energy Ltd lodged plans with the council for the 350 metre high windfarm to the south of the Maghera Mountain range and seven kilometres from Tulla.

In the Environmental Impact State- ment (EIS) lodged with the plan- ning application, SWS Energy Ltd claimed that the potential impacts associated with a wind energy devel- opment of this size and layout could be absorbed and accommodated without significant impairment of the existing environment.

However, the Department of the Environment told Clare County Council that the proposal “on its own and in combination with other plans and projects, had the potential to have significant effects on the Spe- cial Protection Area (SPA) and its conservations objectives.”

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) said it couldn’t sup- port the development as it would be adjacent to Glendree Bog Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and would negatively affect its conserva- tion status by affecting the hydrol- ogy of the site, its biodiversity and its habitat.

Numerous local objections were also lodged against the plan.

In response, the council has put the plan on hold requiring additional further information.

The council stated that, “A number of serious concerns arise in terms of the geotechnical qualities and the stability of the site and the impact that the proposed development, both during construction phases and op- erational phases, may have on this.

The council has also stated that three breeding pairs of Hen Harriers were recorded within five kilometres of the site and that this is significant from a local and national perspec- tive.

The council added that the site is a known roosting site for the Green- land White Fronted goose.

“The proposed development has the potential to have significant ef- fects on the Special Protection Area and/or the Special Area of Conser- vation and their conservation objec- tives. Accordingly, a EU Habitats Directive ‘Appropriate Assessment’ is required by way of further infor- mation.”

In its objection, the IPCC stated that, “With the aim of protecting the rare and threatened blanket bog habitat of Glendreee Bog SAC, the proposed development should not be permitted.

“IPCC would consider approval of this development to be setting a very bad example for nature conserva- tion and could compromise Ireland’s commitment to conserving not only Glendree Bog SAC, but SACs throughout the country.”

GERRY Adams has said that voters are “waking up to the fact that they have been fooled” as he set the elec- tion machine in motion at the week- end in Clare.

The Sinn Féin leader was in town for the Ennis Book Club Festival but he also met the party’s local election and European candidates and appear at a public meeting.

Speaking in a one-on-one inter- view with

THE NATIONAL Water Activity Centre at Killaloe is celebrating a new arrival this week.

In January the NWAC received an amazing piece of luck when a very kind benefactor decided to donate a yacht to the centre for the training of young people. The centre is used by scouts and sea-scouts from all over the mid-west.

The NWAC camp chief, secretary and quartermaster took a trip to Skibbereen, in County Cork, to see ‘An Ron’ in the flesh and plan how it could be transferred to Lough Derg.

After some discussion it was de- cided to have the boat transferred on a specialist low-loader with inbuilt crane. The boat was lifted on to the truck and An Ron started the long journey to the mid-west. After an overnight stop in Patrickswell, it was at Lough Derg marina for transfer to new waters.

The newly acquired vessel was transferred to the lake by crane and sling and An Ron was soon floating in Lough Derg.

An Ron made it’s maiden voyage in freshwater without a hitch and is now is moored at the NWAC, ready for eager young hands to learn how to crew a Sail vessel.

“When our benefactor offered us the boat, we thought he was giving us a row-boat so we were stunned when we realised what it actually was,” a spokesman for the centre said. “His own children had grown up and he wanted the boat to be put to good use teaching young people, so that was our good luck.”

ARGUABLY the most valuable three points of the season for league lead- ers Bunratty, who got back on track in the race for their first Premier D1- vision title in eight years. Earlier in the campaign when they were flying high at the top and not really threat- ened by the chasing pack, Bunratty’s confidence allowed them to carve out comfortable victories. However, a re- cent slide in which they only claimed one point out of a possible six had made them jittery, especially since one of those games was a 3-2 defeat to main title rivals Avenue Utd. The Ennis side had their own setback by losing to Moher Celtic a week later so Bunratty needed a win here to steady the ship and send out a mes- sage of intent.

Bridge Utd craved the three points just as much at the other end to give them some breathing space in their fight to avoid relegation and therefore a scrappy battle ensued, much like their last meeting at the beginning of January. The conditions were equally as bad as that 1-O victory to Bunratty in Sixmilebridge two months previ- ous, with a whole spectrum of weath-

er spells from sunshine to hail.

Considering all these factors, it was never going to be a classic as oppor- tunities on goal were few and far be- tween. In saying that, both sides hit the crossbar in the opening period with Bunratty’s Peter Ballough miss- ing an open goal while a opportun- istic chip from Bridge’s Derek Fahy eluded goalkeeper Gary McGettrick but not the woodwork.

Had either of those chances gone in, it could have been a different game but instead, both sides plugged away without making much headway in the final third. The home side always looked the more likely to break the deadlock though and in keeping with the game when it did finally arrive, it had to come from a set-piece. Time was ticking away for Bunratty until Peter Ballough’s corner was expertly headed to the net by Shane O’Connor in the 72nd minute. From that point on, it was really a game of cat and mouse but substitute Chris Griffin could have cemented victory long before the final whistle when put through one-on-one with Paul Tuohy but he failed to score. As it turned out, Bunratty didn’t need a second goal as they clung on for victory but

even though, they are eight points clear with five games to go, the title race is far from settled yet. Joint sec- ond place sides Avenue and Lifford both have games in hand, with Ave- nue able to leap-frog Bunratty if they win all three. This weekend’s game will tell a lot but Avenue know from experience that it’s better to have the points on the board than have a sur- plus amount of games-in-hand.

, edited by Gerard Madden of East Clare Heritage, again provides a valuable insight into unexplored areas of east Clare’s local history.

Michael Coffey, who lives in Mer- seyside, writes about a Clare land

dispute in Ballyvannon, Tuamgraney that came before the House of Lords in 1819, while Alfie O’Brien from Whitegate discusses the Ballinruane estate of Clanricarde, with a map and comments.

Lorna Moloney from Feakle, who lectures in the history department in the University of Limerick writes

about sex and marriage in medieval Thomond. The magnificent stained glass windows of Josh- ua and Harry Clarke in St Flannan’s Church,

Killaloe receive at- tention from Donncha MacGabhann.

Padraig G Lane, a retired history teacher from Rochestown, County Cork has done extensive research on Fenianism, the Land Question, and the Rural Labour Movement and

has contributed an article on Clare rural local organization and constab- ulary intelligence 1881-1901.

Other areas include the Clare Gold Cup by well-known historian, Kieran Sheedy, the killing of civilians by the military in Bodyke in 1817 by Denis Moloney and the coming of electric- ity to Scariff by Michael O’Gorman.

TWO games and no points but Clare senior and intermediate manager Bertie Sherlock was far from disillu- sioned from his opening competitive outing in his native Tipperary. Quite the opposite in fact as he consoled and encouraged his downhearted players leaving the field before wax- ing lyrical about both squads’ effort and commitment.

‘The two sides I thought were un- real today. The intermediates were

brilliant and then the seniors came out facing Tipp, who were back-to- back All-Ireland champions not so long ago and still amongst the top three or four teams in the country, and really put it up to them today. The players will go away disappoint- ed today because we should have won this game but in saying that, they were absolutely brilliant. Every girl worked like beavers, hooking and blocking in the air or on the ground, you couldn’t ask for anymore. I was over the moon with them.”

Sherlock’s long afternoon began with the intermediate game, a match that will be remembered as much for the snowstorms as the play but the Toomevara refused to use the condi- tions as an excuse for the defeat.

“It was unfortunate really. We had snow throughout the first half and it was a struggle. We were already play- ing into a strong wind and we clawed them back inch by inch but still, Tip- perary came out on top. In saying that, what’s good for the goose was good for the gander today because

the wind didn’t make any difference with the conditions. That’s just the way it goes but I’m still overjoyed by the attitude.” However, it was in the senior game that Clare really ex- celled, stiffling the home side with a spirited hard working performance, only to see victory dashed by a soft late goal. Sherlock though is con- vinced that this game will stand to Eee eyr es KoeNerKCe

“The girls have gone into the dress- ing rooms fierce disappointed but really they needn’t be disappointed

because they didn’t let down Clare today, they had great pride in the jer- sey. I really thought they were out- standing.”

And with Kilkenny to come this weekend, there 1s no time to dwell on those defeats.

“Those performances there today will be huge for Clare camogie as it shows that they can compete at the top with the best. The confidence gained from today will be very im- portant going forward and they will fear no-one.

Killeen tells of his cancer battle

CLARE intermediates had a lot to contend with in their maiden voyage as a second string side. Not alone was it the majority of this young side’s first adult outing at inter-county lev- el but facing into driving wind and rain and then a torrential blizzard of snow in the first half, it was arguably a proposition unlike anything experi- enced before.

In the end, Tipperary’s nine point haul in that first period along with a touch more experience carried them through and while Clare per- haps needed more of a cutting edge up front, manager Bertie Sherlock should be generally satisfied with the attitude and commitment for the en- tire sixty minutes on Sunday.

More than anything else, this was a learning curve for Clare’s second string who had to dig deep to keep the home side at bay, particularly in the opening half. Aided by the gale, Tipperary threatened to run riot early on but some dogged defending from the entire full-back line, Sarah Hoey and Aine O’Brien made sure that this did not happen. Points from Eimear Shanahan, Deirdre Dunne, Jackie O’Connor and a brace from captain Siobhan Ryan opened up a O-5 to 0-1 lead by the 13th minute, with Broad- ford’s Danielle Sheedy getting Clare sole reply from a placed ball.

However, Clare made changes and with Sarah Hoey moving to centre- back and the lively Carol Kaiser switching from the supply starved position of full-forward to the right wing, they ensured it wasn’t all one way traffic until the break.

As conditions worsened and the

snow increasingly hampered vision, Clare pulled a point back through another Sheedy free after Michelle Caulfield was fouled but Tipperary added four more before the interval through Joanne Nolan (2), Jackie O’Connor and Deirdre Dunne and Clare goalkeeper Denise Lynch also had to vigilant to keep out two goal- bound efforts late on, with the high- light being a smothered block on a Brid Byrnes pull.

At0-9 to 0-2, the players re-emerged to a now snow covered field but with no illuminous sliotar in the referee’s armoury, they had to be content to soldier on regardless. Clare made two changes at the break bringing on Kilmaley’s Helen McMahon at wing-back and Ogonnelloe’s Roti- sin McMahon to the forwards and it was the latter’s early sharpness that prompted an encouraging early fight- back. Two points in as many minutes from O’Brien breathed new life into Clare’s challenge but with pockets of sun now melting the ground and the wind dying down, it never really ma- terialised into a full-blown recovery.

Eimear Shanahan opened Tipper- ary’s account in the 35th minute, sandwiched by three Clare wides but as the clock ticked down, it was Tipperary who took advantage. A Deirdre Dunne free and a point from substitute Noreen Flanagan stretched the home side’s lead to eight by the 51st minute and while the result was now realistically inevitable, Tipper- ary manager Eoin Brislane emptied Web mmolone ee

Essentially though, Clare never gave up and that honest effort almost paid dividends late on. Carol Kai- ser started the rebellion in the 57th

minute when she gathered a puck-out and bore down on goal before being fouled and while she should have perhaps been given advantage, Dan- ielle Sheedy stepped up to point the resultant free. Gaining confidence, only minutes later, Danielle Sheedy, now operating in the half-forward line played a ball inside to Roisin O’Brien but again she was taken down, this time for a penalty. Denise Lynch came up from goals to take it but her drive was saved by goalkeep- er Christine Kennelly as Tipperary clung to all the points.

RENEWED calls have been made for the Government to abolish its new air travel tax in a bid to protect hundreds of jobs in Shannon and Dublin airports.

Independent councillor and former Mayor of Clare, Patricia McCarthy issued the plea in response to Rya- nair’s renewed pledge to reverse its decision to axe services at the air- ports should the Government decide to abolish the €10 tax.

Ryanair called on the Government to scrap its flat rate €10 travel tax, which is due to be introduced on April | next.

“This tax will further devastate traffic and tourism at the Irish airports, and will result in major cuts to Ryanair’s flights, schedules and traffic at Cork and Shannon airports,” a spokesman for the airline said.

Ryanair recently announced its decision to reduce services at the airports with the expected loss of at least 300 jobs and a fall of two mil- lion passengers. The low-cost car- rier has publicly blamed the negative impact of the departure tax on travel bookings as the primary reason for its move. Cllr McCarthy said the Government must now immediately clarify whether it intends to remove

or at least reduce the tax.

“It is incumbent on Government to explain to the Irish public to what ex- tent the air travel tax is more benefi- cial to the economy than the signifi- cant jobs and revenue generated by the Ryanair services in question.

If the Government cannot justify this tax, then it should be held ac- countable for the loss of these jobs,” added Cllr McCarthy.

According to the Shannon-based public representative, ““Whether this is a manufactured excuse for with- drawing services or not, the airline has clearly said it will reverse its decision to axe services and jobs if the tax is

abolished. I believe that the benefits for the economy in having these serv- ices retained at Shannon and Dublin far outweigh the benefits associated with keeping this tax in place.”

Commenting on the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan’s proposal to exclude smaller airports from the travel tax, Kieran O’ Donnell TD (FG Limerick East) said that the exclusion of Shannon is potentially hugely de- structive for the airport, Limerick and the entire mid-west region.

“T will be bringing this up in the Dail and I am calling on the Govern- ment to include Shannon Airport in the proposed exemption,” he said.