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KILMALEY established themselves as the kingpins of Clare camogie after another successful year on the playing field. For the second year in succession, they captured the senior championship and there was also much promise for the future as their minor team also secured a champi- onship for the second time in three years.

However, unlike 2008, they didn’t have it all their own way this year. Newmarket managed to break Kil- maley’s stranglehold of domestic titles with a win over the defending champions at the second attempt. Two high intensity matches could have gone either way but after losing out in both the league and champi- onship finals last year, Newmarket’s added determination saw them re- gain the coveted title.

Unfortunately for the Newmarket Blues, that victory only inspired Kil- maley to re-evaluate their position and refocus for the championship and they duly responded by gaining revenge over their great rivals at the semi-final stage by 3-8 to 2-9 to set up a unique final against an emerging Sixmulebridge side.

The final itself was a dour affair that Kilmaley eventually edged by O- 7 to O-5 in Clarecastle but although defeat was Sixmilebridge’s lot on the day, their potential indicates that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years. After all, they have dominated the underage scene in recent years, compiling an impres- sive haul of titles in 2007 (Under 11 ground camogie), Under 12A, Under 14A, Feile, Under 16A and Minor B) and 2008 (Under 11 ground camogie, Feile, Under 16A and Minor A) and with leaders like 16 year old Chloe Morey who was deservedly awarded the Clare FM Player of the Match award at the county final, it seems

only a matter of time before they are back on the winners podium.

2009 was also noteworthy for the introduction of The Glenorma Shield Senior B Competition, donated by the Broadford club. Indeed, it was fit- ting that in the first year, Broadford would make it to the final, however on the day they were comprehensive- ly beaten by Clooney/Quin, inspired by Clare camogie captain Deirdre AY Logo) ens

Due to the unanimous support of

the clubs involved, the Intermediate Loy oaolo1H U8 CO) MCLE RV oLO MAYA 100 MERE CoMmECT: BO NTS structure as 2008. All the teams played each other on a round robin basis for the championship and it proved to be an extremely tight divi- sion with only a point or two divid- ing the top teams. The top four teams entered into the championship semi- finals while the next four entered the shield semi-finals.

There was only one score divid- ing the teams in the two semi-finals.

Corofin had a one point victory over St Josephs while Kilkishen advanced thanks to an extra-time goal against Truagh. Kilkishen, after the disap- pointment of last year’s champion- ship semi-final defeat, eventually took the honours after a great final against last year’s beaten finalists Corofin played in front of a huge crowd in Tulla.

In the Intermediate shield semi finals, Clarecastle overcame White- gate and Scariff managed to see off

neighbours Ogonnelloe. The transfer of Carina Roseingrave from Kilna- mona to Clarecastle proved to be a great asset to Clarecastle and she was instrumental in their final win against Scariff to take the shield.

The Junior League went the way of Feakle who took the honours from Inagh. It was also an important year for Crusheen who entered their first adult team and had two wins against St. Josephs and Eire Og that was not enough for them to reach the final. In the Junior Championship, Inagh got over their disappointment of their league final defeat when they beat Feakle in the semi-final and Killane- na in the final.

So what of 2010? Can Kilmaley make it three-in-a-row? Can New- market build on their league title? Will another year prove beneficial to Sixmilebridge’s young squad? Can Clooney finally make the break- through on the back of their senior B title or will Kilnamona bounce back after a two year absense?

The answer will be revealed in due course but one thing is for certain, it promises to be the most competi- tive senior championship in quite a number of years.

AS Waterford senior hurling manag- er, David Fitzgerald will be trying to plot the downfall of his native county in this year’s Munster senior hurling Semi-final, but at the same time he’ll be trying to plot a successful senior championship year back home in OK

All because the two-time All-Ire- land winner and three-time All Star is set to operate a dual management/ coaching mandate in 2010, having committed to throwing in his lot with Inagh/Kilnamona for a second successive year.

The Waterford supremo linked up with Inagh/Kilnamona last year after Waterford’s exit from the All-Ireland race at the semi-final stage, but club insiders have told The Clare People that Fitzgerald will be with Inagh/ Kilnamona from the word go this

year.

And, Fitzgerald won’t be alone, as former Clare senior camogie manag- er Bertie Sherlock from Toomevara, is also a member of the Iangh/Kilna- mona backroom team for the coming season as they bid to make the big breakthrough at senior champion-

ship level. It will be Inagh/Kilnamona’s third championship season, following

their formation in late 2007 when the Inagh and Kilnamona clubs joined forces under the one banner. In 2008 they got off to a flier when beating reigning county champions Tulla in the first round and went on to reach the knockout stages before being beaten by St Joseph’s Door-a-Bare- field in the quarter-final. Last year they reached the same stage before being edged out by Kilmaley.

AFTER two years of fundraising, the first 50 of the 200 volunteers with the Building of Hope Project have arrived in Kenya.

Fr Martin Keane is pictured laying the foundation stone for the training centre which the Clare volunteers will build over the next eight weeks.

Celebrating Mass for the newly arrived volunteers on Sunday, Fr Martin told them that the founda- tions were made not just of sand and mortar, but of the hope that will help rebuild lives.

The Cranny priest ministers to the poorest of Mombasa’s people in his parish of Migombani.

The centre will be a place where they aquire work skills and qualifi- cations which can rescue them from a life of degradation and hunger.

THE issues of fixtures will be ad- dressed at the upcoming Ladies Football convention. According to the Secretary, Michael Fitzpatrick, fixtures continue to be a problem, particularly at minor level.

“Again this competition [minor] did not finish until November because some clubs did not stick to the fixture plan,” he points out in his report that will be delivered at the annual con- vention on Tuesday.

He said he feels the Junior A cham-

pionship should be played before the B, the intermediate before the junior and senior before the intermediate.

He added that the fixtures com- mittee must look at rule 339 of the official guide of 2007 or rule 347 of 2009, which states ‘A team failing to fulfil a championship fixture may forefit its place in the competition and the game may be awarded to its opponents.”

He also pointed out that the team is liable to a suspension of six months. “As we are on rules another which we may have to look at for 2010 is

rule 156 of 2007 which states that the county committee may fine a club for not attending county board meetings.”

In his report, the secretary points out that some clubs are inclined to play unregistered players at under- age. “This is a very dangerous habit, as if a player should receive an injury and are not registered, they are not covered.”

As part of his report, he will also go through, in detail, the on field mat- ters of ladies football in Clare, which experienced a very successful year.

A CLARE woman yesterday told a court that she had a “volatile” rela- tionship with the man accused of raping her at gunpoint.

She revealed she “stopped count- NOTA DACs OOOO MB DO CommO OCoummO TUN] left her house during the first year of their relationship because “it was getting ridiculous”.

A 44-year-old man has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to three counts of rape, two counts of anal rape, two counts of oral rape and one count each of false imprison-

ment, threatening to kill by shooting, threatening to disfigure with a knife, ageravated burglary and possessing a shotgun with intent to endanger life. He pleaded guilty in December 2008 to assaulting the woman but CLSeDCe Me OUIABU NISMO MMU BINOME NO CoMEcAIDO yA UE| the offences are alleged to have oc- curred at her Clare home on Septem- ber 9, 2007.

Under cross-examination yester- day, the woman agreed that there were many “fallings out” between her and her ex-partner which were generally followed by their love life resuming.

She denied she was drunk during their first argument around Christ- mas 2004 shortly after he had moved in with her and she had told him she “felt” pregnant with their child.

She denied she hit the man with a brush on that occasion but admitted throwing one at him around the time of the alleged rape when he turned up at her house without her consent.

It was put to the woman that gardai intervened during another “furious argument” with the accused about selling property on eBay around eight months after the birth of their oF

The woman agreed the accused phoned gardai after she had kicked some of the property arranged on the living room floor, but explained she did no damage and smashed her own vase against the kitchen wall in reac- tion to the Garda summons.

She said that she and the accused had been in financial trouble at the time and that she was “extremely an- noyed” with him selling the property since he had already spent the sales money on a motorbike and used car.

She said a neighbour dropped her baby back to the house after she locked her ex-partner outside and

when gardai arrived he “gave them the impression” she’d locked both fa- ther and child out.

She agreed that gardai let her choose between letting the child stay with a social worker or giving the baby to her partner for the night.

She agreed she had been drinking earlier that day but denied she was drunk. She said it was Garda duty to call a social worker when responding to domestic incidents where there al- cohol is involved.

The trial continues before Mr Jus- tice Paul Carney and a jury of seven women and four men.

THE value of an insightful analyst is immeasurable. That’s why in the lead up to Kilmurry Ibrickane’s All-Ire- land quarter-final clash with Tir Cho- naill Gaels in the Emerald Grounds in Ruislip this weekend, Paul Hehir’s vast knowledge into both sides can- not be overestimated.

For the uninitiated, Hehir has played at the highest level for both Clare and London, was part of the all conquering Doonbeg side that cap- tured several county titles at the turn of the century as well as a Munster crown in 1998. He has also played a sizeable part of his career for Lon- don side Tara also with brother Sen- an, picking up a London and British championship in 2003. Add in the fact that he played against Tir Cho- naill Gaels in this year’s league final and also represented Doonbeg in the 2008 Clare senior championship and it’s abundantly clear that there is no better judge of this game than Hehir.

First to the strengths and weakness- es of Tir Chonaill Gaels.

“Basically they are a just a well or- ganised club and the best run club in London to be honest with you. They have a good backroom staff with regards to the people running the club and have just got the commit- ment from the players really. Their strength mainly lies with their work- rate coming from the back. Their backs are very good and very tidy and they have a good strong mid- field. Basically the only thing they would be lacking really would be a panel of players. They have got a good 13 or 14 good players whereas the Kilmurry lads would have a good bench which will proably be decisive I reckon on the day.”

Having won four out of the last five London championships, the Gaels have ample experience of All-Ireland

quarter-finals but have been rather

unfortunate not to have advanced further, mainly due to a lack of belief according to Hehir.

“It’s a combination of things re- ally. What it really comes down to, just as in the county team, is whether they believe collectively that they can actually beat a team from home. They have come close in the last few years and it’s never easy for a team that comes over to London whether it’s inter-county or a club match and it would be good for London football in general if they did pull off a shock. Although It wouldn’t really be much of a shock in London because they are a good club team. They have got great backs, a good midfield and as I have said three or four decent for- wards. They are also full of inter-

county experience with lads from Roscommon, Leitrim and Donegal, guys who have played at the highest level back home but it’s just about be- lieving that they can win.”

Kilmurry Ibrickane’s chances of advancing to the semi-final stage have been made all the more difficult by the fact that they will have to take on the perennial London champions in their own back yard, a daunting prospect as Hehir outlines from per- sonal experience.

“Coming over to London is never easy for any team. I know that myself when I came over with Clare. You somehow have it in the back of your head that they are still only based in London and that you should be beat- ing them but any team that comes

over to London never has it handy.”

Still when pushed for a verdict, he gives a slight nod to Kilmurry Ibrickane on their strength of their overall squad.

“IT mean there is no taking away from what Kilmurry Ibrickane have achieved. I think they have only been beaten once in the last two years which says a lot for the quality they have. They have a great youth devel- Opment system coming through and it seems to have extended to the sen- ior team. They have great old heads of Johnny Daly, Odran O’Dwyer and Peter and Michael O’Dwyer as well and then there is the new breed coming through with the likes of Enda Coughlan and Mark McCarthy. There is a great combination and they

seem to mix it very well going all the way up to Micheal McDermott at the atosbene

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be a great game in fairness. They are two good footballing sides, two tough teams and at the end of the day, it’s just going to come down to who wants it more and overall I think that Kilmurry Ibrickane might edge it purely on the strength of the bench they have, despite the massive dent that Odran O’Dwyer’s injury will have.”

THE Slieve Callan Wind Farm will generate more than €750,000 a year for the 30 farmers whose land could form part of the proposed de- velopment. According to documents lodged with Clare County Council last week, the proposed wind farm will generate at least €775,000 for the land owners – who will retain ownership of their land, as well as €40,000 to local community groups and €500,000 for Clare County Council.

This means over the first 20 years of the project the local landowners stand to gain more than €15 million while Clare County Council will benefit to the tune of €10 million.

The proposed development consists of 31 wind turbines, each 80 metres in height and with a three blade ro- tary blade with a diameter of 90 me- BKey

Should this project go ahead in it’s current form it would become the largest wind energy facility on the is- land of Ireland, dwarfing the overall output of the current largest, the Al- tahullion windfarm near Dungiven in Northern Ireland.

According to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) lodged with Clare County Council last week the plant has the ability to generate elec- tricity for 59,189 homes, or roughly the combined number of households in Clare and Limerick City.

This would mean that the entire site would produce roughly the same amount of electricity as the Ard-

nacrusha Hydroelectric plant, which is currently Ireland main source of green energy.

Construction on the site 1s likely to cost in excess of €200 million with more than 40 per cent of this outlay,

or €80 million to be spent in relation to on-site works. It is envisioned that in excess of 250 people will be em- ployed on site during the 18 months of construction.

According to the EIS, the declining population and low socio-economic standing of the Slievecallan study area make it the ideal spot for the de- velopment of such a large scale wind energy facility.

“The analysis of census data for the study area shows that population growth has been significantly lower here than at county and national lev- el, with population decline recorded between 2002 and 2006,” it says.

“Overall, the electoral division that make up the study area were catego- rised as being in the ‘20 per cent most extremely deprived’ and °*20 per cent somewhat deprived’ groupings.”

TEAM coach Liam McHale takes the subs who saw no action for some exercise, while selector James Foran is with those who had game time for some stretches, while Micheal Mc- Dermott stands in between the two different groups and reflects on a very indifferent day.

‘Few positives,” he says cutting to the chase. “It wasn’t a good enough performance for the Clare public coming into Cooraclare to see what Clare football is going to be about in 2010.

“It wasn’t a good performance — we can’t hide behind anything. The one thing that disappointed me the most, and we’ve been working on it a lot in training, is creating goal chances. We never looked like threatening the goal there and maybe it’s a lack of belief in players.”

Some early doom and gloom then, before McDermott reminds himself that Clare are only two weeks into their season, and University College Cork are at it since the start of the new academic year last October.

‘They were much fitter than us, but the purpose of today was that even though it was a losing situation, we have learned a lot. The most impor- tant match we’re facing into was not this McGrath Cup game but the first league game against Wicklow on /eoje)abe- ba aae)

“This was a bigtime learning ex- perience — it was an opportunity for fellas to show that they were of in- ter-county standard, that they going to be ready for the type of game we wanted to play, that they were going to be ready for a battle.

“We learned a lot today and from

that point of view this was beneficial, but we know that we have a hell of a lot of work to do and two weeks training that we’ve had isn’t going to change that.

“Our use of the ball, or forward play was weak and there weren’t enough guys showing for the ball and hungry enough to win it. We started extremely well for ten or 15 minutes but then ran out of steam and the level of fitness was poor. But listen, fitness 1s something you can work on, but football is the most important thing to get right as well.”

And, to get those frontline players on sabbatical, or on Kilmurry Ibrick- ane duty back into the fold by Febru- aoe

“T would like, depending on what’s going to happen with Kilmurry Ibrickane next Sunday — we don’t want to look beyond that but I’d like to have some of those players avail- able for the Wicklow game,” he says

“We need those two points on the board — it’s our first home match of the season and we need to win it. We have a hell of a lot of work to do, but this is where it starts in the next cou- ple of months is going to be vital as regards the future of Clare football for 2010.

“It’s going to be a tough three weeks. We have learned a lot about individual players; we’ve learned a lot about the team as a unit and it’s about getting things right for three weeks and if we come out with two points in Cusack Park against Wick- low in three weeks time, today will all have been worthwhile.”

THE proposed wind farm at Slieve Callan will have a number of “slight” impacts on the elements of the sur- round environment, according to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) lodged with planner at Clare County Council last week.

Along with some short term dif- ficulties during the construction phase the EIS has flagged some

longer term environmental concern in relation to the project.

These concerns are in relation to the noise generated by the windfarms and traffic flow in the Baer.

In addition to this the proposal ar- gues that the windfarm will have a significant positive impact on tour- ism in Clare.

According to the EIS, noise pol- lution from windfarms can come

both from the internal workings of the wind farm as well as the noise of the blades cutting through the wind.

‘Advances in turbine technology and design have resulted in reduced noise emissions. Above wind speeds of eight to twelve metres per second, background noise begins to exceed turbine noise.

“Therefore it is within wind speeds range of four to eight metres per sec-

ond that turbine noise is typically most audible,” read the EIS.

“At wind speeds greater than eight metres per second, noise generated by wind has the effect of largely masking wind turbine noise.”

The document also states that there is a slight possibility of injury to humans as a result of frozen ice building up on the turbines.

“The guidelines state that there is a very remote possibility of injury

to people from flying fragments of ice or from a damaged blade,” read the EIS.

“However, most blades are com- posite structures with no bolts or separate components and the danger is therefore minimised.”

Each windfarm will also be fitted with a special anti-vibration sen- sors, which is designed to detect any imbalance caused by icing on the blades.

A MAIDEN voyage for the good ship Clare under Micheal McDer- mott, Liam McHale and James Foran, but more than that, it was also a maiden voyage for Clare under the new experimental rules in place for the duration of the McGrath Cup and National League.

And, thanks to those new rules implemented by Kerry official John Lynch, Clare can always say that they at least enjoyed one victory on the day — the tag of being more au fait with the rules than their UCC op- ponents.

All because UCC were pulled up on five occasions for handpasses that were given without the closed fist, while Clare only infringed this rule once over the hour. As for the mark, there was a noticeable lack of high fielding on the day, but Clare did edge this stat too by 2-1 thanks to Alan Clohessy and Gary Brennan catching kickouts in the first half.

Still, despite this hollow victory, Clare manager Micheal McDermott believes the mark idea, though good in principle is doomed to failure, gamesmanship even. “The mark is something that I don’t think will

work,’ he says.

“Teams will get clever and there will be more breaking ball than field- ing in the middle of the field. The idea is good to try and introduce high fielding, but I think more teams will concentrate on trying to break the ball to make sure a guy doesn’t catch it and you’re going to be back to the same old situation again.

“But the mark is there for the league and we’ll have to work with it. When you win the mark, you are waiting for the whistle, rather than using the ball quickly. When you do that you give the opposition a chance to fun- nel back. We have no problem with the rule being in place. We have to learn to use the ball quickly when we make a mark. That’s something we have to work on.”

As for the fist pass, the work looks already done. “We were good on the fist pass,” says McDermott, giving the rule the thumbs up. “We worked hard on the fist pass in training, whereas UCC suffered from it be- cause it’s not in place for the Siger- son Cup. But the advantage we got in the game was something we didn’t punish.”

You can’t win them all, one sup- poses.