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Concern over coaching

CLARE people from all over the county, and the country, gathered in Dublin’s City West at the week- end for the 72nd Fianna Fail Ard Witahe

One man with more than a passing interest in proceedings was former security garda to the late Taoiseach

Charles Haughey and Miltown Mal- bay man, Martin Vaughan.

The retired Garda is now the driver for Charles Haughey’s son and jun- ior Minister Sean Haughey.

A keen tug-of-war man and boxer, Mr Vaughan began working for the late Taoiseach in 1979, providing se- curity outside his family home.

During his long service, he got to

know the family well, later attend- ing family weddings and becoming a driver to a TD he knew since he was a Schoolboy.

The west Clare man also met his current boss’s grandfather, Sean Le- mass, while he was on duty during the official opening of the Tayto fac- tory in Coolock.

He recalled pleasant memories of

working for the Haughey family, particularly during Charles Haugh- ey’s time as Taoiseach.

“He was a friendly man. He would walk up and down the avenue talk- ing to us. You had to be on the ball though. A few people tried to come in, even the press,” he said with a smile.

The west Clare man is also well

known in tug-of-war circles in OE Iccr

He set up the first Comhairle team in Dublin, which won five All Ire- land Men’s titles.

He also coached the women’s team to 11 All Ireland Titles.

He was also the anchor on the garda team that won the world champion- ship in 1989.

CLARE soccer saw red on Sunday when referee Padraig Sutton refused to play the Premier Division tie be- tween Burren United and Lifford in Doolin, because both sides togged out wearing the same colour socks.

Red was the offending colour, as Sutton who is a League of Ireland referee called time on the game just before the tip off, much to the dismay of both sides. It brought to an end a strange week for the ever-eventful Clare League — a week that saw Tulla Utd allowed back into the Clare Cup after they had inadvertently fielded an illegal player in their second round win over Shannon Olympic.

Sutton was adhering to Football Association of Ireland rules when refusing to play the game with both sides wearing the same colour socks, but it provoked much disappointment from within the ranks of both Lifford and Burren United.

“It’s a new thing to me,” Burren United manager Donie Garrihy told

ROWAN ‘Tree Hostel located in the heart of Ennis will open its doors on the March 17, following an extensive two year re-development project.

The work involved a major resto- ration of the 17th century Georgian building; including preservation of the original hand carved wooden staircase, entrance pillars and main fireplace. In addition, an extension featuring 28 purpose-built rooms with ensuite facilities has been built.

The original building overlooking the River Fergus is one of the oldest buildings in Ennis and is of histori- cal significance. Built around 1740 it was the County Club for the lords and gentry of the land and the Bull Hall was used for lavish balls and occasions. In the 1940s it was used by the military as barracks. It then became the Club House Hotel and most recently operated as the Abbey Tourist Hostel.

Under the management of experi- enced hostellers, Brian O’Neill and Marianne Maurer, the hostel has a capacity for 140. With a variety of rooms including double, twin and multi-bedded dorms sleeping up to 14, Rowan Tree will appeal to both groups and individuals.

Guest facilities are brand new and include a fully equipped self-cater- ing kitchen, coffee shop, outdoor pa- tio, recreational lounges, television

and free WIFI and Internet access.

A licensed café bar on the premises will provide a relaxed setting for so- cialising and meeting guests.

“We are excited to be reopening a hostel in Ennis with all new modern facilities’, says Brian O’ Neill, Man- aging Director of Rowan Tree Hos- tel. “There is a real need for quality budget accommodation in Ennis and we are filling that gap by providing a friendly hostel that will appeal to a wide range of people including;

international backpackers, groups, families and the younger business person. Additionally, we will be cre- ating up to 20 jobs for people in the local area.”

Welcoming the new venture, Siob- han King, Shannon Development Tourism Officer for County Clare said, “Shannon Development is de- lighted to see the reopening of this much needed hostel accommoda- tion in Ennis, the gateway to County Clare. The new hostel will comple-

ment the existing variety of accom- modation in the county”

Beds start at €16 per night and include a free light breakfast. For more information visit www.row- antreehostel.ie.

SCOIL Mhuire Secondary School in Ennistymon was valued at just under €1 million when it was transferred to the state as part of the church sex abuse scandal in 2002, it was re- vealed last week.

While the transfer of a number of properties is yet to take place, it has now been revealed that the Sisters of Mercy struck a deal with the Depart- ment of Education to value the north Clare property at £980,000.

The school was one of a number of properties transferred to state control as part of a controversial deal with the 18 Irish religious orders involved in child sex-abuse scandals.

This agreement, which was one of the last pieces of legislation signed by former Minister of Education Michael Woods (FF), limited the li- ability of the religious orders to vic- tims of abuse to just €128 million.

However, it is now estimated that the total compensation to the victims of child abuse could run as high as €1.1 billion, leaving the tax payers to foot the bill for almost 90 per cent of the compensation.

The church organisations has com- mitted to handing over €66 million worth of properties, €52 million in cash and €10 million in counselling services under the €128 million in- demnity deal. To date however only 21 properties out of a total of 64 have been given transferred to the state.

Mantfacturing facility to change hands

THE world-famous London Sym- phony Chorus will make it first ever Irish appearance this year when they perform as special guests of the Lis- morahaun Singers in Ennistymon.

More than 200 singers and musi- cians from the London Symphony Chorus, the Lismorahaun Singers and the City of Dublin Concert Orchestra will perform Mozart’s ‘Great Mass in C Minor’ in honour of north Clare author and poet John O’ Donohue.

The author, who passed away in early 2008, was born just beside the townland of Lismourahaun in Lis- doonvarna and was the man respon- sible for naming the choir.

The concert also marks the tenth anniversary of the Lismorahaun NTIS ESE

“This is the London Symphony Chorus’ first ever visit to Ireland and they are not going to Dublin or Bel- fast or Cork or Limerick – they are coming to north Clare,” said Archie Simpson, founder of the Lismoura- haun Singers.

“They are so excited about the prospect of singing with us – about the prospect of performing with real people and in front of a real commu- nity. I think the fact that they have decided to make Ennistymon their first ever port of call says a lot about both choirs.”

The London Symphony Chorus is one of the world’s premier choral en- sembles and already has more than

100 recordings to its name.

The Lismorahaun Singers will wel- come back some of its most high- profile exports for this concert, in- cluding Naomi O’Connell who is currently studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and Peter O’Donohue, nephew of the late John O’Donohue.

“John has meant a lot to the choir personally over the years. He was al- ways So supportive of us and indeed it was him who first gave us our name,” continued Archie. “When we sang in the early days, we didn’t have a name but John invited us to sing at one of his Masses and introduced us as the Lismorahaun Singers. The name just stuck after that.”

The concert will take place on April 17 in the Church of Saint Michael in Ennistymon.

Tickets, at a cost of €40, will be available from March 6 at Scéal Eile in Ennis, Crosbies in Ennistymon, Jordans in Lisdoonvarna and Moon- eys in Ballyvaughan. For credit card bookings, contact the Burren Col- lege of Art in Ballyvaughan on 065 7077200.

THERE has been a wide welcome in Clare for the announcement that In- tel will create 134 new jobs over the next four years.

Junior Minister Tony Killeen TD has described Intel’s decision to in- vest €50 million in a major expan- sion at its Shannon Free Zone op- eration as a “major boost” for the mid-west region’s information and communication technology sector.

““Intel’s decision to invest further in its Shannon operations confirms the Free Zone’s position as the flagship location for international industry in this region,” he said.

The Clare TD noted that knowl- edge was now the key to competitive advantage in smart economies.

“Growing the level of Research and Development investment by new and existing multinationals in Ireland is a key Government priority. Intel’s investment gives very real meaning to our ambition to develop Ireland’s smart economy, and is a wonder- ful testament to the highly talented skills base at Intel Shannon.”

Deputy Joe Carey(FG) TD said, “This 1s a welcome announcement, following a series of difficult closures in the region over the past twelve months. These are the types of jobs which will sustain our economy in

the future. The announcement today hints at the region’s potential for fu- ture development.”

Deputy Pat Breen (FG) said that “it is now very important for the Government to refocus their atten- tion on investing in R&D projects”. Deputy Breen went on to say that “if we invest today, we will reap the benefits tomorrow” and he is urging the Government to provide the nec- essary resources to the Third Level Institutions in this region so that they can “continue the production line of science graduates”.

Attending the formal announce- ment, IBEC Director for the mid- west region Chris O’Donovan com-

mented,

‘This is a significant investment by a successful and ambitious company, which is among Ireland’s most 1m- portant business sectors.

“The announcement today, gives a clear signal that Ireland continues to have the skills and strengths re- quired to support global technology businesses.”

He added: “The expansion was secured by Shannon Development and I want to commend the agency for their efforts in this regard. Over 7,000 people are employed in over 100 companies at the Shannon Free Zone, which is managed by the De- velopment Agency.”

TANAISTE and Minister for Enter- prise, Mary Coughlan paid tribute to the workers and the organisations in the Shannon Free Zone when she came to announce a €50 million in- vestment at Intel last week.

“It is down to the calibre of the people on this site in Shannon that they have been able to get this invest- ment…investment in our people and our skills is how we are going to re- main competitive.”

She added that the gain of up to 134 jobs in research and develop- ment are the result of the “smart economy building on the knowledge economy .

Intel will invest more than €50 mil-

lion in a major expansion, supported by Shannon Development, over the next four years, bringing the total employment to approximately 300. Congratulating Intel on theirinvest- ment the Tanaiste said, “Knowledge is now the key to competitive advan- tage in smart economies. Growing the level of R and D investment by new and existing multi-nationals in Ireland is a key Government priority. Today’s investment announcement by Intel gives very real meaning to our ambition to develop Ireland’s smart economy, and is a wonder- ful testament to the highly talented skills base at Intel Shannon.” Welcoming the announcement Vincent Cunnane, Chief Execu- tive of Shannon Development said,

“This major investment at the Shan- non Free Zone is a further vote of confidence in Shannon as a competi- tive location for high tech knowledge based investment on a global scale. We are delighted to have secured this expansion for Shannon, in collabora- tion with IDA Ireland.”

“We are delighted with the expan- Sion decision,’ commented Jonathan Walsh, General Manager of Intel Shannon. “It comes as the result of our world class track record of R and D over the last eight years, the highly developed technical market- ing competencies and also our suc- cess in attracting the highest quality research talent, domestically and in- ternationally.”

He predicted Intel “will emerge

from this downturn stronger relative to our competitors than we were go- ing into it”.

The investment is in further de- veloping leading edge 32 nanometre design capabilities for embedded processors.

Intel predicts that there will be 15 billion connected devices by the year 2015. The Intel investment will in- volve two separate R and D projects. The first is a new hardware project involving advanced 32nm _ silicon design and validation, which aims to enable the next generation of products for small- to medium-sized businesses. The second project is a software development project, which will benefit sectors including the au- tomotive and security sectors.

HISTORY in the making as St Caimin’s finally overcame Ard Scoil Ris at the second attempt to reach their first ever Harty Cup final. A ti- gerish display throughout ensured it was the Shannon side who advanced in Meelick on Sunday in a game that was low on scores but high on ten- sion.

In attempting to sum up Sunday’s game, one phrase said it all about St Caimin’s. As the players emerged for the second half, St Caimin’s cen- tre-back Kevin Lynch urged his side that ““Now is the time” and that apt philosophy was the main difference between the sides on Sunday. St Caimin’s appetite for the battle and refusal to allow Ard Scoil Ris any room to manoeuvre rather unnerved the Limerick side and it was obvious that St Caimin’s had done a lot of ex- tra homework since the drawn game.

As aresult, Ard Scoil Ris never re- motely reached the heights of their last three tough encounters against St Flannan’s and St Caimin’s and for long periods, this game somewhat passed them by. The majority of 50- SO balls were won by St Caimin’s who made up for their obvious physi- cal disadvantage by blocking, hook- ing and making life generally dif- ficult for the Limerick side and that perseverence is why St Caimin’s de- servedly prevailed.

In the first meeting between this pair, the Shannon side got off to a blistering start and again that was the formula for success here. In fact, within the first minute, they were awarded a penalty after Alan Mul- ready picked out the unmarked Sean Hynan in front of goal and goalkeep- er PJ Hall had no choice but to bring him down though Patrick Sheehan’s penalty was stopped by Shane Dowl- ing.

That frentic start set the tone for the afternoon but it was to take six min- utes for the opening score through Alan Mulready and the Sixmileb- ridge man was also involved in the second score as he set up fellow club- mate Timmy Crowe to double their lead by the 10th minute.

In contrast, Ard Scoil Ris hit four wides in the same period and in fact, took sixteen minutes to finally grab

their first score through a Kevin Downes free. St Caimin’s however, were backed by a strong breeze and made that advantage count in the final ten minutes of the half, with Patrick Sheehan assuredly convert- ing four frees, with the only reply a similar Downes effort that left the half-time score 0-6 to 0-2.

Ard Scoil Ris had yet to settle but aided by the wind, they threw the game wide open after the restart with a Superb opportunist goal from Kevin Downes. A lofty Conor Ryan lineball from just inside the St Caimin’s half was gathered by Downes who made half a yard for himself before strik-

ing a pin-point shot into the right corner of the net.

Momentum was now firmly with the Limerick side but credit St Caimin’s for digging in and refusing to lie down. They did ride their luck a little as Ard Scoil Ris piled on the pressure in search of an equalising point but four successive wides from the Limerick side including a near miss for goal after James O’Brien got a deft flick to a Declan Hannon long ball, kept St Caimin’s in front.

They weathered the storm though and with Lynch’s words perhaps still ringing in their ears, they did seize the moment, hitting three successive

points to restore their four point lead. Two well-worked scores from Padra- ic Collins and a John Guilfoyle point put the Clare side 0-9 to 1-2 ahead by the 49th minute but Ard Scoil Ris were not finished yet and after Dec- lan Hannon converted a 65, substi- tute Jamie Shanahan burst through on goal but had his shot tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Tommy Grit- neon

Now only trailing by two, Ard Scoil Ris upped the ante and St Caimin’s had Griffin again to thank for keeping out a Brendan O’Connor pull in the 52nd minute. Some great defending from Enda Byoce in par-

ticular kept St Caimin’s heads above water and as Ard Scoil Ris became more desperate and pushed players forward, the Shannon side cleverly picked them off on the break.

In the 54th minute, the ball broke inside the Ard Scoil Ris half where Timmy Crowe and his marker To- mas Nolan were isolated and when Crowe won the race to the ball, No- lan had no option but to pull him down, receiving his second yellow as Sheehan easily converted the free. A similar incident only minutes later involving Padraic Collins and goal- keeper PJ Hall saw Sheehan hit the insurance point for St Caimin’s and create history for the emerging side to reach their first ever Harty decider. The reward for the Shannon school is a clash with Thurles CBS in Nenagh on March 8, a repeat of their first round clash in which the Tipperary side came out on top. However, after coming through these two bruising encounters St Caimin’s won’t fear their more illustrious opponents in their determined charge for success.