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THE Scariff Show will be celebrat- ing 65 years on the go this year, and plans are already afoot to make it the biggest and best show yet.

It’s hoped to hold the landmark event in the showgrounds again this year. A spokeswoman for the show committee said, “Most of our suc- cess is down to the support and en- couragement we receive from our sponsors and the local support of people who come on the day.

“This will be an important show because it is the 65th birthday and we have a couple of members who remember the first Scariff Show, so that will be very special.”

As well as the usual show dance, this year the committee is marking the special birthday with a dinner dance later on in the year.

“We’re hoping to make it bigger and better than ever,’ the spokes-

woman said.

There are loads of activities at the planning stage this year. Last year, the committee introduced bouncy castles, a funfair and some new trade stands along with all the old reliables. The vintage display was a particular hit last year as was the crowning of the Queen of the Plough, a compe- tition kindly sponsored by Michael Ryan of Scariff.

One of the most popular events is the dog show, with lots of novelty classes as well as the usual variety classes and the indoor section has classes for adults and children.

The horse classes include mare and foal, young horses, jumping, show hunter and working hunter, pony classes, side saddle, donkey and sheep sections.

The Donkey Derby, best dressed lady, best dressed child and fancy- dressed child as well as the bonniest baby are all great fun on the day.

FINE Gael in Clare is preparing to hold its last three conventions for the local elections within the month.

On Friday, February 20, the most talked about convention of the lo- cal elections so far will take place in west Clare as the candidates for the Kilrush electoral area will be se- lected.

It is still unknown, even among those within the party, who will run in the electoral area that will be re- duced from seven seats to six.

Meanwhile, on Monday next, Fine Gael will select its candidates for Kilkee Town Council at 8.30pm in Stella Marris.

Sitting Fine Gael councillor Michael Martin has decided not to run for the town council on this occasion.

His fellow councillor Brian Keane is expected, however, to put his name

forward.

In total, six people are believed to be considering standing for Fine Gael in Kilkee, and if all six con- tenders still wish to run on Monday, it is very likely they will be allowed to do so.

Among those thought to be in the running are former councillor Paddy Collins and the niece of former coun- cillor Frank Murnane, Karen Reilly.

Among the new faces interested are Elaine Haugh-Hayes, Joanne Dillion and Cillian Murphy.

On Tuesday next, delegates will meet in the Shannon Oaks at 8.30pm to select the Fine Gael candidates for the Shannon Town Council election.

Four names will be put forward on the night, including the two sitting councillors, Tony Mulcahy and Sean McLoughlin.

They will be joined by Michael Flemming and Mary Brennan.

AVENUE United issued a firm re- minder of their title ambitions with a convincing victory over Bridge Celtic on Sunday.

The win moves Avenue into sec- ond place, eight points behind league leaders Bunratty.

Avenue have the same amount of points, 18, as Lifford and Bridge Celtic but have two have less games played. Crucially, they have three games in hand on Bunratty.

They would rather have the points but Avenue know that if they can maintain the kind of form they showed against Bridge then they can make life uncomfortable at the top for Bunratty.

Their win also checked Bridge Celtic’s gathering momentum. John- ny Flynn’s side have been in very im- pressive form of late but looked like a shadow of the side that recently beat Lifford 2-1.

Bridge trailed to Gary Flynn’s 54th minute goal before being reduced to ten men. Celtic’s chances of retriev- ing anything evaporated when Trevor Howard was sent off.

Ciaran McManus struck twice late on to make sure of that.

McManus’ late arrival meant that Avenue actually started the game with ten players.

Not that you would have noticed. Playing upfront his own, the talented and seriously quick David Smyth caused Bridge plenty of problems.

David Russell and David Herlihy came closest to breaking the dead- lock for Avenue, the latter with a well-executed bicycle kick that flew just over the bar.

Bridge were struggling to break Av- enue down when Barry O’Connell’s through ball was intercepted by Rob- ert Forde in the 29th minute.

When goalkeeper John Healy de- cided to pick up the ball, referee Pa- draig Sutton blew for an indirect free

kick inside the Avenue box. Avenue survived when Ger O’Connell’s shot was cleared of the line.

Forde succumbed to injury soon af- ter and was replaced by David Mon- aghan. The re-alignment saw Dean Ryan move to centre back, Smyth come out to the right wing and Mon- aghan partner McManus up front.

The substitute was instantly in- volved when he played in Russell who lifted over the bar just before half time.

It wasn’t until the 54th minute that Avenue’s ascendancy was reflected on the scoreboard. Herlihy’s throw on the right was worked on by Rus- sell and Monaghan for Flynn to ram home from close range.

Bridge lost Trevor Howard in the 74th minute. Down a man and chas- ing an equaliser, Bridge inevitably left space at the back. They did and Avenue exploited it.

Herlihy released Monaghan down the right who squared the ball to

McManus to roll home in the 84th minute.

McManus grabbed his second of the game when he latched onto Brati- Slav’s flick on, raced clear and buried his shot.

UNDERAGE football development in Clare took a significant step last Thursday with the official announce- ment of the appointment of two new full-time football coaches in the county. This forward-thinking plan was initiated by the Clare Football Supporters Club, and in conjunc- tion with the Clare county board and Bord na nOg, the project proposes to divide the county into three regions, West Clare, North Clare and Mid- East Clare, each having their own full-time coach. Currently the Clare County board employ one full-time coach, former Kilkee and county player, “Baby’ John Enright but through an interview process, head- ed by Munster Council’s coaching and games development officer and former Kerry senior football manag- er, Pat O’Shea, it is hoped that three full-time coaches will be in place in the coming months.

Details of this scheme were an- nounced at a press conference held in Murty Browne’s Pub in Tullycrine last Thursday, with representation from all three parties as well as vari- ous media outlets in attendence. Pat Cotter, John O’Brien, Paudie Neylon and Martin Keogh of The Clare Foot- ball Supporters Club, county chair- man Michael O’Neill and Michael O’Connor of the county board and Anne Hayes and Liam Woulfe from Bord na nOg Peil were all present on the night as the meeting chairman, Pat Cotter outlined the evolution of the significant underage project for clubs and schools.

“We decided at the beginning of the year that the standard in Clare foot- ball had reached an all-time low and it was time to do something to address the issue. So under the efforts of the Clare Football Supporters Club, we

decided to redirect whatever monies we had collected towards underage football and in a lot of discussion with the county board and lots of other people, we decided the best ap- proach would be to divide the county into three — West Clare, North Clare and Mid-East Clare. “Baby’ John En- right is in place in West Clare coach- ing so the idea then would be to put a full-time coach into the other two regions as well. The Football Sup- porters Club would finance one, the County Board would finance the oth- er and Baby John 1s already in place so then we would have three full- time coaches looking after the game at a very young level, from eight up at club and schools level. That is the best way we feel we can make a con- tribution to the standard of football in Clare” |

Bord na nOg Peil’s Liam Woulfe pledged their total support to the initiative, revealing plans to com- mit €5,000 to the enterprise while County Chairman Michael O’Neill also endorsed the project but stressed the need for clubs to play a more ac- tive part to aid the coaches’ work.

“We have sat down with the lads over the last number of months in a way as to how we can help out and it’s really about everybody working together to up the standard of foot- ball in the schools and clubs. There are massive restraints on schools and clubs at the moment but we can’t be concentrating on the nega- tives, we have to look at the positives and I suppose football needs a bit of a lift, starting at the bottom re- ally in conjunction with Bord na nOg and putting in the coaching officers where we feel they are necessary, and in conjunction with the clubs. So the schools play a vital part but the most important thing as well in this is that they are not a substitute

for the clubs and we always keep say- ing that. The coaches are a back-up to anything that the clubs themselves might do and that’s probably some- thing that hasn’t happened over the last couple of years. In the past, if a coach entered a school, some clubs took it for granted that the kids were being coached sufficiently. However, one or two people would only scratch the surface at the end of the day, it’s up to the clubs to get someone in there with them. Two or three people if possible are necessary, in conjunc- tion with the school obviously and bring that back to the club afterwards or the clubs if the schools cover more than one club.”

To provide further information to the clubs, three additional regional meetings will be held in the coming week, with Pat O’Shea, also address- ing each meeting.

A HISTORIC first ever Dr Harty Cup final place awaited the winners but neither side were willing to yield as St Caimin’s came from behind to snatch a draw in Meelick on Satur- Cr MA

The stakes were high but the inten- sity never wilted and really it could have gone either way in what was a tension-filled final twenty minutes.

That nervousness probably con- tributed to the majority of the scores coming from frees, with Sixmilebri- dge’s Patrick Sheehan unerring free- taking matched by Ard Scoil Ris’ Kevin Downes and Declan Hannon. In all, the Shannon school only man- aged three scores from play while Ard Scoil only fared slightly better with six but it didn’t take from the entertainment as both sides went all out in their quest to forge history.

To add even more bite to the occa- sion, club players from the county found themselves in the unique po- sition of having to play against their club-mates with Cratloe split by St Caimin’s representatives of Enda Boyce, Sean Hynan, Padraic Collins and Joe Conroy on one side while Ard Scoil Ris had Conor Ryan and Cathal McInerney in their ranks. Equally Ard Scoil Ris’ 14 year old substitute Jamie Shanahan, had to contend with Sixmilebridge team- mates Noel Purcell, Kevin Lynch, Patrick Sheehan, Alan Mulready and Timmy Crowe.

That rivalry was empitomised by the respective captains Sean Hynan

and Conor Ryan, who were in direct opposition from the throw-in. Supporters had barely found a po- sition on the hill before St Caimin’s stormed into a early lead, grabbing 1-2 in less than three minutes. A Patrick Sheehan free either side of Alan Mulready’s second minute goal blazed a trail for the Shannon side, with goal-poacher Mulready getting on the end of a breaking ball from fellow Bridgeman Timmy Crowe to UUM romeeemiam It took Ard Scoil Ris five minutes to open their account but once Kevin Downes converted a free after Niall Kennedy had been fouled, it was the start of a fruitful period for the Lim- erick side, who had the experience of two extremely difficult ties with St Flannan’s in the previous fortnight. Six points out of the next seven spearheaded their recovery by the 23rd minute, with Downes the chief marksman with three placed balls. Now on the backfoot, Caimin’s retreated further and Ard Scoil Ris took the opportunity to strike a de- cisive blow. It came after Brendan O’Connor’s shot was blocked by cor- ner-back Colm McCaul and as goal- keeper Tommy Griffin attempted to scramble the ball clear, O’Connor stepped forward again to strike to the net. St Caimin’s reply was swift and almost as effective but Sheehan’s 20 metre free was saved by goalkeeper PJ Hall and on the rebound, Timmy Crowe had to be content with a point to cut the deficit to two at 1-7 to 1-5. That response was shortlived how- ever as Downes converted two more

frees before the break to extend Ard Scoil Ris’ to three.

It would get worse before it would get better for St Caimin’s as Ard Scoil’s Shane Dowling made it I- 10 to 1-06 by the 38th minute, after Sheehan and Declan Hannon had ex- changed frees.

However, they dug in superbly and upping their challenge a gear over the next seventeen minutes, they held their opponents scoreless on their way to cancelling out the lead with four unanswered Sheehan placed balls by the 55th minute.

The final score came after Padraic Collins blocked goalkeeper PJ Hall’s clearance and the ball broke to Tim- my Crowe whose shot for goal was somehow defected for a ’65 by Meel- ick’s Eanna Mulvihill

The tension was almost palpable now as Kevin Downes hit two frees wide and they needed some inspira- tion to reignite their challenge. That spur came from wing-back Cathal McInerney who played a one-two with fellow Cratloe player Conor Ryan before hitting a monster point from half-way.

From the puck-out, Kevin Downes, now operating deeper, gathered and hit it back over goalkeeper Tommy Griffin’s head and now two points clear entering the final minute of nor- mal time, it appeared that Ard Scoil were heading towards the final.

St Caimin’s refused to be beaten though and after Patrick Sheehan held his nerve to point a free from half-way, up stepped Wolfe Tones’ John Guilfoyle to save the day with

a point on the run. St Caimin’s did have two late chances but after com- ing from behind, a draw was argu- ably the fairest result in the end. Mock exams, football commit- ments and a mid-term break mean that the replay will now take place on Saturday week, with the final against Thurles CBS down for March 8.

Members of Clare County Council expressed shock yesterday to learn that the local authority has increased the number of staff it employs during the recession.

According to figures secured by

HE’S GOT his back to the unplas- tered wall outside the dressing room door and is, by now, changed out of his match day clothes. Addressing the assembled media and playing ab- sent-mindedly with a pair of glasses, Mike McNamara resembles a poet philosophising to a group of stu- dents. His zen-like reaction to the 70 minutes of hurling just passed simply re-enforces his status as laureate-in- chief of Clare hurling and he’s not getting overly-excited by an open- ing game that promised two league points but delivered defeat.

“You know what,” he says, “there’s a difference between the Crystal Cup and a game in the league in the Gaelic Grounds against our friendly neighbours. They’re two different Web eetSace

In the cold gloaming of an early February Sunday, perspective is as valuable as foresight and McNamara takes us back to last year, when Clare travelled to Limerick and returned home, tail firmly between legs.

“The last time, we came out of here with something like a nine or ten point drubbing, maybe going no place, maybe drifting aimlessly to

wherever people drift to,” he said, cryptically enough. “So we’ll take the positives out of today. It was a strange game but when you come to Limerick, as we know to our cost, you can’t just expect to win. It’s a very difficult place to win and that has been proven over the years.”

As for the Clare comeback in the final stages of the game, McNamara was inclined to give little away, say- ing simply that they sat down at half- time, drank a cup of tea and vowed to plough on.

“Maybe we’ll have a closer look at the first half as opposed to the second half. We were twelve points down with 25 minutes to go, but we showed the character we’re looking oe

“We might have made a few mis- takes. We might have introduced some of the newer boys who had been showing well. But we decided we’d go with the full array of strength and take it from there. We were looking for opportunities to introduce some of the young fellas as the match went on but it really didn’t transpire, with the exception of John Conlon. We’d have liked to have used Caimin Mo- rey but he has the flu with the last two weeks.”

With regard to the omission of the injured Niall Gilligan, he said on an- other day he might have been risked.

“If this was the championship, maybe we’d have forced Niall out to play. On a day like this, we took the caution of not playing him.”

And the goals’?

“They were unusual things. We got some of those breaks last year, so we’ll take the bad with the good. We’ll mix it all up. They come and they go. We would have to look at it ayer HOO

“If we were Manchester United we’d look at it with in-depth analy- sis. We’d see where the goals came from. Maybe have a look at the pay- packets of some of them. We haven’t that luxury.”

And Waterford next week?

“Me old buddy Davy and myself back again. Maybe they’re in a deep- er hole than us. It’s a difficult thing to come away from an All Ireland final like that when you know you didn’t play well and the opposition played to the maximum. That’s a difficult thing.

MICHAEL Doherty died from a sin- gle stab wound to the left side of the chest, which was inflicted through “moderate force”.

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis carried out a post mortem examination on Mr Doher- ty’s body on June 24, 2007.

He told the trial on Friday morning that the boy had been transfused two units of blood but despite efforts to keep him alive, he was pronounced dead at 12.05am on June 24, less than

an hour after gardai had been called to the incident outside Supermac’s.

He noted that the young boy had been fit and well, was 5’ 9” in height and appeared considerably older than his age. He was of athletic build and had dyed fair hair.

He wore a yellow metal necklace with a pendant, fabric and plastic bracelets and had a condom and a €5 note in the back pocket of his Weel <0 8 Dr Curtis said that Mr Doherty had sustained a single stab wound to the chest, which was located 7.5 centi- metres to the left of the mid line. The wound was horizontally orientated and was three centimetres in length, he said. The stab wound entered the left chest cavity. It entered one wall of the chamber of the heart and went out through the other. “He died as a result of a single stab wound to the chest. It entered the chest on the left and ran from left to right at an angle of 30 degrees from horizontal. It entered the chest cav- ity,’ he said. There were no defence type inju- ries to the body, he said, adding that there had been vigorous efforts to re- suscitate him. Neither alcohol nor drugs were de- tected in the blood or urine. Asked had he drawn any conclu- sions as to the degree of force used, he replied that while he could not answer that in arithmetic terms, “It would require moderate force for this wound to be inflicted” in terms of the scale of mild, moderate, con- siderable and severe. Asked by defence counsel Patrick Gageby SC was the wound consistent with a “swinging” type of motion, Dr Curtis agreed that it was. Mr Gageby also asked had he de- tected any sign of an assault on the face or chin of the deceased and he said he had not. He also said he did not find any wounds or bruising on the boy’s hands. The trial heard details of a state- ment made by a paramedic in Ennis, which stated that the ambulance ar- rived at the scene on O’Connell Street at 11.19pm. CPR was performed en route to hospital and arrival time was 11.26pm.

ENNIS rugby club now have the big guns in their sight. Having travelled to a drenched Newport pitch over the weekend, missing a number of key personnel and having not played since the beginning of January, the odds might have been against an En- nis win, but a disciplined perform- ance saw them overcome Newport.

It sets up a mouth-watering meet- ing with UL Bohemian — one of the favourites to take the Munster Junior Cup — at the beginning of March.

Crucially, the game is to be played at The Showgrounds in Ennis, giv- ing the Clare side a decent chance of causing a significant upset and mak- ing it to the quarter-final stage of the competition.

“IT was anxious enough about the Newport game, simply because play- ers might have been rusty after the few weeks lay off,’ said Ennis coach Richie Murphy

THE trial of a 19-year-old student, accused of murdering Ennis school- boy Michael Doherty, will enter its fifth day today.

John McGovern, of Ballyduff, Barefield, Ennis, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Michael Doherty (14), outside Supermac’s restaurant, O’Connell Street, Ennis, on June 23, 2007. He has also pleaded not guilty to producing a knife in the course of a dispute, on the same date.

The case is being heard at the Cen- tral Criminal Court sitting in En- nis. Over four days last week the trial heard from 47 witnesses. These included gardai, forensic experts, friends of the accused, friends of the deceased and independent witnesses, who were in Ennis on the night of Mr Doherty’s death. The prosecution is expected to conclude its evidence to- day (Tuesday).

The trial, before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of eight men and four women, is due to conclude later this week.