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IT IS only a matter of time before someone is killed at Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon, which was described yesterday as “the most dangerous junction in Clare” by a local coun- cillor.

At yesterday’s local area meet- ing of Clare Council Council it was confirmed that the local authority had purchased the Blake property at the notorious junction and are in the process of purchasing the Linnane property.

Both properties, which are listed buildings, will be knocked and built a distance away from the current

junction, allowing the road to be widened in the area.

“T propose that we contact the NRA as a matter of urgency to in- sure that when the second property become savailable that we have the neccessary funding to be ready to go as soon as possible,” said Cllr Rich- ~Nue NE: Ted oe

It was proposed last year that the listed buildings be painted with bright yellow luminous stripes to prevent road accidents taking place at the site.

“We are only counting down the weeks until someone is killed at the place,’ said Cllr Martin Conway Cs6))

“It is probably the most dangerous junction in County Clare at the mo- ment. Old people are terrified when they are going to mass and I would urge urgency when dealing with Webel

Meanwhile, councillors have called for a clarification of the different heritage projects currently proposed in the Burren. At the moment the Burren is being put forward as a World Heritage Site while there is also a campaign underway to gain Geopark status for the area.

“There is a multiplicity of bodies in the Burren, people are wondering what is going on and will the Bur- ren be sterilised? I’d like to be able

to say to the people that their money is being well spent and will bring in more than is being spent on it,” said Cllr Michael Kelly (FF).

“I am happy that these projects are going ahead but I believe that it is my duty to keep my constituents informed of the cost of these public services. But the costing is not there. This year has seen severe pressures on our budget so we will have to take a good look at what can and cannot be done.

‘IT am in favour of projects like this and see the benefits of tourism but I need to be able to update the people of north Clare as to where their mon- ey 1S going.”

SHANNON-BASED Mentor Graph- ics (Ireland) Ltd reported a sharp in- crease in operating profits last year to €3.4 million.

Accounts lodged with the compa- nies office, show that the company increased operating profits from €33,000 in 2007 to €3.4 million.

The software manufacturer that deals in electronic design automa- tion (EDA) for electrical engineering and electronics had a 2% increase in turnover from €381 million in 2007 to €390 million in 2008.

The company and its subsidiaries based in Poland, Hungary, the Unit- ed Kingdom, Sweden and Pakistan are engaged in the research, develop- ment and manufacture of software and the distribution of its software in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific area.

The company is headquartered in Oregon in the US and employs 4,000 worldwide. Mentor Graphic’s Shan- non site is the International Services and Distribution centre for Informa- tion Technology, order fulfillment, finance, purchasing, facilities, con- sulting, customer support, legal and human resources for the European, Middle Eastern and Asian business.

The company enjoyed a 32% in- crease in gross profit, increasing from €67 million to €89 million.

A directors’ report attached to the accounts, state that it is their inten- tion to continue to develop the cur- rent activities of the company.

However, the 2008 figures show a pre-tax loss of €4 million after an exceptional item costed at €13 mil- lion were charged to the accounts.

A note attached to the accounts in- dicates that the €13 million impair- ment charge arose on the permanent diminuation in the value of part of the company’s investment in a sub- sidiary undertaking, Volcano Com- munications Technology AB.

At the end of January 2008, the company employed 352 people with 193 engaged in R&D, 77 in Admin- istration, Sales and Marketing in 55 and 27 in Management.

Staff costs increased in 2008 from €32.7 million to €35.9 million while the company had shareholder funds of €9.3 million at the end of Janu- ary 2008.

Directors’ salaries were €329,000; pension contributions of €80,000 and other emoluments of €33,000.

THREE UL Limerick students make up half of Team Ireland that flew to Perth, Australia on Monday to compete in the World Team Sailing Championships.

Darragh O’Connor (21, 4th year Engineering Education student, UL) and Katie Tingle (18, Ist year Pri- mary Teacher, Mary I) and Conor

Byrne, (25, UL alumni) qualified for the team through a process of trials last summer. They have since been training and competing all winter, in all weathers, around Ireland and the UK. O’Connor and Byrne are both former captains of the UL Sailing Club, which train in Killaloe. O’Connor spent the summer in the USA, to learn from the American teams, current World Champions.

He also represented Ireland at the previous World Championships, as Captain of the youth team in Spain, 2007, where they finished ninth. Katie Tingle is fresh to the team- sailing scene, having achieved great Irish and International success in the Optimist, Laser and 420 classes be- fore being chosen to join the team. Her experience of different boats will be valuable when the team step

aboard in Perth.

Temperatures in Perth are expected to be 35 degrees Celsius, and winds 25 knots. The team raised all fund- ing from private donations, after many companies pulled sponsorship deals. The total cost to get there is €14,000.

The 12 foot ‘Pacer’ dinghies loaned at the venue are unusual outside Aus- tralia, but the Irish found a few old

training boats very cheap on Ebay UK, and travelled across the water to collect. This forethought gives them the edge over the rest of the World.

Other team members are Marty O’Leary (22, Dublin), Brian Fenlon (28, Wexford) and Emer McNally (20, Dublin). All-Ireland Champion Nicholas O’ Leary (22, Cork) 1s trav- elling with them as coach.

ST FLANNAN’S stayed alive in the Harty Cup by the skin of their teeth on Wednesday as their never-say- die attitude saw them dig out a draw against Ard Scoil Ris at the refixed venue of the LIT grounds. In truth, in what was a nervy final quarter, the Ennis school’s survival instincts and character alone to keep their heads up despite having to repeatedly fight for parity earned them their second bite at the tie. However, they were extremely fortunate as Niall Arthur’s free in the 63rd minute to level it up for the fifth time in 20 minutes could have gone the other way as the Inagh/Kilnamona player appeared to pick the ball off the ground and then in a last gasp attack to steal vic- tory, Ard Scoil Ris subtitute Brendan O’Connor made a great catch from Kevin Downes’ pass and looked to be wrestled to the ground as he turned for goal only for referee Wil- lie Barrett to allow play to continue and a relieved Flannan’s cleared the ball to the welcoming sound of the nUOT-U MAYA euKialoe

On the flip side, it was a disappoint- ing result for the Limerick school, who were never behind once St Flan- nan’s conceded an extremely soft goal in the 11th minute, scored by Cratloe’s Conor Ryan. Captain Ryan and fellow clubmate Cathal MclIner- ney were instrumental in building up Ard Scoil Ris’ first half lead along with Meelick’s Eanna Mulvihill and the stylish 16 year old Declan Han- non at centre-back. For Flannan’s, Niall Arthur’s unerring freetaking

was a major factor in their survival along with a solid defensive unit and midfield.

Indeed, St Flannan’s had made a positive start hitting three succes- sive wides before opening up a O-3 to Q-1 lead by the 9th minute, all from the stick of Arthur, who was equally impressive from frees as he was as a P-NEXoL BOUT TIS URC MN YCO)IM LOMO) mr DUMN Slo DE endevour were finding it difficult to penetrate the Flannan’s defence, only scoring from a Declan Hannon free from half-way in that period.

The goal though changed the pat- tern of the game, coming from a hopeful punt from halfway by cap- tain Ryan, whose effort caught goal- keeper Niall Woods wrongtooted and the ball slipped from his grasp into the net.

Bouyed by this, the Limerick side took up the ascendancy, although they didn’t score for twelve minutes due to some dogged defending by the Ennis side. First, a superb hook by wing-back Stephen O’Halloran denied a goalscoring opportunity for Kevin Downes who was baring down on goal and then an outstanding re- deeming save from Woods from a Pat McCarthy bullet kept Ard Scoil Ris from building up an command- ing lead.

However, a much more physically strong Ard Scoil Ris side did receive a further boost before half-time, af- ter Downes and Arthur had swapped points, when a Niall Kennedy ball in- side was broke and flicked to the net by centre-forward James O’Brien. Niall Arthur, St Flannan’s only first half scorer, did add another free in

injury time to leave the half-time OKs KO One

A retvitalised St Flannan’s side emerged for the second period and in fact, opened the scoring through mid- fielder Alan Leamy after only 35 sec- onds, only to see that score rebuffed by points from substitute Kevin Keane and Robert Henehan to open up a four point advantage. However, not content to lie down, St Flannan’s regrouped and found some success when driving at the Ard Scoil Ris’ defence with successive scores from Arthur, Leamy and Conor O’ Donnell by the 39th minute. James O’Brien did reply only a minute later but by now, the Ennis side could smell blood and two Arthur frees cancelled out the lead by the 43rd minute.

Still, they couldn’t seem to grab a leading score and on four more occa- sions, Ard Scoil Ris pushed slightly ahead only to be dragged back on each occasion. That the Limerick side didn’t cement victory was par- tially due to the amount of wides hit in the second half, a obvious sign of nerves in what was an exceedingly tense finish. Arthur, again was the rock for St Flannan’s hitting three of those equalising scores along with one from Clarecastle’s Aaron Consi- dine. There were some controversial moments towards the finish also with David O’Halloran seemingly taken down in front of goal for St Flan- nan’s while the Limerick side will feel aggrieved to have conceded the last free to Arthur as well as ‘the foul that never was’ on substitute Brendan O’Connor at the death.

All-in-all, a draw was probably the

fairest way to end it as neither side really deserved to lose such a capti- vating tie. In saying that, improving their firepower up front has to be a priority for St Flannan’s manager Jamesie O’Connor while Ard Scoil Ris’ inability to kill off the game certainly cost them a second semi-fi- nal place. Plenty of food for thought ahead of Wednesday’s crunch re-

yee

More travelled to Heathrow from Shannon than Belfast

LAST week the county A doubles juvenile champonships took place at various venues in the county and culminated with the finals on Satur- day and Sunday in Clarecastle and Clooney.

On Saturday in Clarecastle, it was extra busy as the under 11 league commenced. Three teams took part in a round robin fixture namely Clarecastle A & B and Tuamgraney. All the youngsters who participated on the day showed great potential for the game which is an advantage and encouraging for Clare handball. Clarecastle A bt Clarecastle B by 72- 59 and then they beat Tuamgraney OAL

At the same venue two county dou- bles finals were contested, namely the under 12 A and under 14 A. First up was the under 12 competition in which Fergal and Natasha Coughlan of Clooney took on Padraig McNa- mara and Sean Cotter of O’Callaghan Mills. This contest went down to the wire before the O’Callaghan’s Mills pair won the decisive third game by 15-12.

The under 14 A final was more clearcut with Barry Nash and Patrick Fitzgerald of Tuamgraney beating Colin Crehan and Pat McMahon of O’Callaghan’s Mills on a 15-13, 15-8 scoreline.

The under 13 final was an all

O’Callaghan’s Mills affair, with Sean Donnellan and Ciaran Cooney scor- ing a 15-13 and 15-6 win over Jacob Loughnane and Pat O’Brien.

Second up on the card was the un- der 15 A Doubles final which was contested between Evan Corbett and Niall Bolton of Tulla and Keith Hog- an and Orlaith Duggan of Clooney. It went the Tulla pair’s way on a 21-16, 21-10 scoreline.

The final contest of the day saw the big guns of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Chris Ryan and Liam Clancy take on home favourites Ryan O’Neill and Joe Clune.

The Clooney pair held the early advantage until the scales tipped in Newmarket’s favour when Chris Ryan stepped up a gear to clinch the first game on a 21-17 scoreline.

They then added the second on a 21-15 scoreline to clinch the title. The under 16 doubles final was post- poned due to illness of one of the fey anh olein Key Ece

On the adult scene, Shane and Ciaran Walsh of Tuamgraney pro- gressed in the Junior B provincial championships with a well deserved win over Tipperary.

Clare’s John Nihill of Clooney re- ceived a walkover aganist his oppo- nent and proceeds to the next round in the Masters B singles champion- ships when he takes on John Mc- Donagh from Cork in his semi-final Coe

FIGURES released yesterday show that the numbers travelling on the Aer Lingus Belfast-Heathrow route last year fell 22 per cent short of the numbers that travelled on the Heath- row route from Shannon in 2007.

Provisional statistics released by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) show that 257,953 passengers travelled on the Heathrow-Belfast route from January 18 to the end of December.

This compares to the 331,882 pas- sengers on the Shannon-Heathrow route in 2007, which was a 10,594 increase on the 2006 figures.

Last month, Aer Lingus announced the restoration of the Shannon-Hea- throw route from mid-March with a AWA CoROL BIANCO Mis (CSe

Responding to the figures, local county councillor Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said she was not surprised by the figures but the damage Aer Lin- gus did to the region in withdrawing the route was unquantifiable.

“Aer Lingus put a lot of effort into

marketing the Belfast-Heathrow route and the airline was selling tick- ets for £5 which never happened on the Shannon-Heathrow route,’ she SP HLG

The figures indicate that Cork airport was the greatest benefici- ary from the Aer Lingus decision to withdraw the Shannon-Heathrow service with 517,110 travelling on the

Cork-Heathrow route last year com- pared to 470,643 in 2007.

The Belfast-Heathrow _ statistics show that the numbers have been steadily declining since the summer when seasonal factors and the eco- nomic downturn are taken into ac- ore) uh elm

24,817 passengers used the service in September; 24,528 in October; 20,347 in November and 18,967 in December.

Speaking after the restoration of the Shannon-Heathrow service last month, Aer Lingus worker, Brian Slattery said that the company deci- sion to transfer the slots to Belfast “was misguided. It was a bad com- mercial decision. Common _ sense had to prevail and we now need the public support to make these routes AIO Oe ie

He said the restoration of the route was “never mentioned by Aer Lingus management” in the negotiations to achieve cost cutting at Shannon.

2008 will go down in the annals of the club as the year of the breakthrough at senior level — the culmination of a long road travelled since the club had its maiden voyage in 1994.

Under manager Joe Reidy, trainer Gerry Keane and selection commit- tee JJ O’Dea, Patricia Ryan, Dr. Paul McKenna and Pat Crotty the senior team laid down a marker very early on that they meant business.

Undefeated in the senior league the team progressed to a final victory over West Clare Gaels and team cap- tain Michelle Delaney became the first Banner Ladies player to lift a Clare senior trophy.

More was to come however with the club remaining undefeated through- out the Eleven-A-Side Championship which culminated with a Banner La- dies victory over Fergus Rovers on a 4-5 to 2-2 score line.

The Banner Ladies then entered the All Ireland Intermediate Sevens Championship and despite not hav- ing the services of their Clare county panellists the team went all the way to the All Ireland Shield final and were decidedly unlucky to lose to

Cork divisional side Beara on a 4-4 to 4-6 score line.

But best was served last with the crowning glory of the senior county final win over West Clare Gaels. In the group stages victories were

Secured over Miltown, West Clare Gaels and Cooraclare to earn a sem1- final spot. Crusheen were the semi- final opponents and the Banner la- dies emerged victorious on a 4-15 to 3-4 score line.

The club had reached only its sec- ond senior final ever and this time there was to be no regrets as the Banner Ladies overcame final op- ponents West Clare Gaels by 2-10 to Q-8. It was a magnificent sight to see

Michelle Delaney raise the county championship trophy in the spiritual home of Clare ladies football in Co- Oe A elu

TWO Miltown Malbay couples have called for a doctor’s surgery to be closed down as soon as possible.

James and Pauline McMahon and Brendan and Doreen Hughes of Ballard Road made the call as part of their appeal against a decision to grant a two-year planning permis- sion to Dr Maura O’Meara.

Dr O’Meara secured planning re- tention for the surgery from Clare County Council in the face of local Opposition.

In their appeal, the objectors state that the decision to grant a permis- sion “seems to have been made, not on good planning practice but on the grounds that a medical centre was in Operation and was necessary.

“We are of the opinion that if this medical centre is allowed to operate for a further two years, then it will be almost impossible to close down. A commercial enterprise of this nature is not suitable for a wholly residen- tial area. We strongly object to this development even on a temporary basis.”

They also claim that the develop- ment has already interfered with

their quality of life and ask that it be closed as soon as possible.

“This objection is not of a personal nature. We have no desire to harm the practice of either doctor nor to interfere with the medical care of the patients. We feel that the medi- cal centre is located in the wrong place and will devalue properties to the point where they will become un- saleable. The estate is not designed nor laid out to cater for the volume of traffic that would be generated by such an operation.”

The planner’s report noted a sub- mission from Maura O’Meara stat- ing “that this was the only building suitable to her needs as a doctor’s surgery, which was bought after much searching in the area”.

The planner stated, “While I do have some concerns in relation to the location of the surgery this far from the village, I note that such facilities are needed to serve both the village and the rural hinterland.”

The council granted planning per- mission on the basis that the proposed development would not seriously in- jure the amenities of the area.

A decision is due on the appeal later this year.

The Banner raised once more in 2008