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GOVERNMENT regulations which require shopkeepers to place all to- bacco products under the counter and completely out of sight of their cus- tomers will deal the final death blow to local convenience shops according to a prominent Ennis retailer.

Jim O’Dowd who is a member of the Convenience Stores and Newsa- gents Association (CSNA) and own- er of O’Dowds Convenience Store at

the Turnpike in Ennis claims that if civil servants have their way, small newsagents will face higher costs and fewer customers because of the way new rules restricting the sale of tobacco are enforced.

“No-one will have a clue whether we even Sell tobacco or not,’ he HOR

Under the new rules, customers who want to buy tobacco have to ask for a special menu and shopkeepers fear their turnover will be dramati-

cally reduced as frustrated custom- ers queue to view a menu and then wait while the shopkeeper retrieves the tobacco.

“Our shops are all about speed and convenience for the customer. If you take that away you are destroying our business model and taking the last advantage we have left”, the En- nis shopkeeper said.

Shopkeepers say there is al- ready a simple solution to the problem. The Bill passed by the Dail

that restricts tobacco advertising does not insist that all products are put out of sight; it allows for a sample pack of each product to be displayed behind the counter to provide cus- tomer information.

“Our members will have to foot the bill to train staff how to use the new system – couple this with the fact that it will now take us twice as long to stocktake and you have a huge im- position on local shop owners,” said Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive of

the CSNA.

‘Furthermore, there is no way that all the shops in Ireland can possibly be re-fitted in time for the supposed deadline of next summer. This will leave shops exposed to prosecution that could devastate their business at a time when they are already under severe economic pressure.”

Minister Mary Wallace is due to decide whether to impose the single pack or the stricter menu option in October.

CROKE Park is a place for winners — losers tend to blend into the back- ground, forgotten in the euphoria of others, save the post-match ritual of winning captains calling for those three cheers.

Those cheers and the stock in GAA trade of ‘is mor an ondir dom an chorn seo a ghlacadh….’ are two staples of All-Ireland finals days, whatever the code and whatever the grade.

So it was on Sunday afternoon when the Clare ladies inhabited this lonely existence. The week before it was Kerry who lost an All-Ireland they were supposed to win; Clare now knew how their neigbours on

the southern bank of the estuary felt, because this was an All-Ireland they were supposed to win.

But like Kerry, there were no ex- cuses. Only grace and humility in defeat.

“In fairness to Tipperary they de- Served to win,’ said team trainer David O’Brien. “We were talking about it during the week that you might dream all your life of having the game of your life in an All-Ire- land final, but it doesn’t usually hap- pen. World records aren’t usually broken in Olympic finals.

“But look at Tipperary. In fairness to them, probably eight, nine or ten players had the games of their life. We didn’t have anyone who could

come off the field and say that ‘that was the best game I ever played’.

“Things didn’t happen for us and a lot of breaks went against us, but Tip- perary still deserved to win. We’re not going to say that this went against us, or that went against us. The team that deserved to win won it — that’s being totally honest about it.”

There was nothing else that needed to be said. This was Clare’s darkest hour, but they have to look to the dawn and come back.

And, like Kerry they will be back.

SCHOOL sports fans are a step clos- er to being able to play the games they love all year round, thanks to the support of local people in Scariff and the Clare VEC.

Scariff Community College has long enjoyed having two playing pitches for their sports periods, games and practice but the pitches have only been of use for a few weeks every year, because they are too wet to play on.

But recent fund-raising efforts with

a race night which raised €15,000 and a contribution of €10,000 for the VEC have enabled the school to call in the contractors and begin the process of draining one pitch.

“The first part of the drainage scheme is done, with the pipes down and the next step is to sand and level the pitch and re-plant it” said school principal Sean Daly.

“We decided to go for making one of the two pitches an all-weather pitch so that we can play year round. We have very active hurling and Camogie teams at the moment but

the long term plan is to have a run- ning track around the other pitch and maybe have a permanent long jump and facilities for other sports and ALO eN Col eee

To complete work on the current pitch, the school will be seeking help from the Munster Council of the GAA as well as running more fun- draisers.

Scariff residents are no strangers to raising money to help their chil- dren get a rounded education. The two pitches were bought with money raised locally in 1991 for the then

princely sum of €50,000.

The efforts at drainage won’t be wasted with numbers at the popular secondary school rising all the time. This year, there are 312 young people studying for their exams in compari- son to 264 last year.

THE dangers associated with swim- ming at unguarded beaches have been highlighted, in the wake of two dramatic rescues at Spanish Point over the past week.

Warnings have been issued this week after two young girls were res- cued from the waters last Thursday evening, while a 15-year-old boy was rescued after he got into difficulty while swimming, at the same spot on SLUeE NE

A passer-by grabbed a lifebelt and swam out to the boy who was strug- gling in the water. He was taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. His condition was ini- tially described as serious, but later SPO) DBI oreR

Clare’s Water Safety Officer Liam Griffin said this week that people need to be mindful that the seas are OPT To ROLE

‘When people go to the beach they have to be conscious of where they are. Spanish Point is a surf beach and there are dangerous currents and it

can be difficult to get out of them,” he said.

“If you are not sure of where you are, the advice is not to enter the water. Spanish Point is a dangerous beach. You have to be careful,’ he EHR

He also said that particular notice

should be taken by beach goers, as the beaches are not frequented by lifeguards during the winter. Lifeguards were on duty throughout the summer, but their season came to an end at the end of August. The busier beaches of Lahinch, Spanish Point, Fanore and Kilkee had a life-

guard facility available during the first weekend of September, but the service has now come to a halt for the rest of the year.

“The availability of suitable life- guards is an issue. We apply the high- est standards here in Clare in relation to lifeguards. Nobody has drowned at a guarded beach in Clare in living memory. Lifeguards are for the most part students and are gone back to college in September. At the moment we are planning for the 2009 season. When you are planning, you assume the busy times will be July and Au- gust,” said Mr Griffin.

He said that lifesaving equipment was essential in Sunday’s rescue and appealed to people to respect these. “I would appeal to people to respect that equipment and not vandalise it. There has been vandalism in the En- nis area quite a bit. A ring buoy and rope was used to good effect on Sun- day. Had it not been available, God knows what would have happened,’ added Mr Griffin.

Clare cystic fibrosis branch warns of bogus collector’

KILKEE is today coming to term with the tragic loss of one of the town’s elder statesmen. The body of pension- er Eddie Sweeney (75) was recovered on Sunday afternoon following one of the largest coordinated rescue at- tempts in recent local history.

A retired fisherman, Mr Sweeney has been missing since getting into difficulty while lobster fishing with his friend, Philip Browne, last Thurs- day afternoon.

Mr Browne, who lives in Sixmilebri- dge, survived the accident by remain- ing in a pocket of trapped air under the overturned boat for more than an hour, before being discovered by the rescue services.

The 55-year-old Limerick native had heroically tried to save Mr Sweeney’s life by holding onto him after the boat capsized, however rough waters forced the two men apart. The alarm was raised shortly after 3.30pm when it was reported that a boat had over- turned near the Diamond Rocks in

GU aren

Kilkee Marine Rescue Service and the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter went to the scene and be- gan a search of the area where they discovered a small fishing vessel.

Mr Brown was located under the vessel shortly before 5pm and was airlifted to hospital in Tralee.

More than 200 people took part in the rescue of Mr Sweeney who’s body was discovered by divers from Kilkee Sub-Aqua Club just before lpm on Sunday afternoon. It was discovered

at a depth of 38 metres in an area of Kilkee Bay knows as the Pinnacle. The body was recovered and brought to Ennis General Hospital for a post mortem examination.

The rescue efforts were ham- pered by poor weather condi- tions on Thursday and _ Friday. The search, which was coordinated by Valentia Coast Guard, involved mem- bers from the Kilrush RNLI Lifeboat, the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard, the Naval Service, Garda Wa- ter Unit, Kilkee Marine Rescue Serv-

ice, the Irish Coast Guard helicopter and members of the Civil Defence. Members of diving clubs from as far away as Athlone also took part in the search.

Meanwhile, two wind-surfers had a lucky escape when they got into dif- ficulty in water off Spanish Point on Saturday. The pair were pulled out to sea by strong currents where one man was separated from his board.

The two managed to swim to shore together and are said to be unharmed after the incident.

Gerry even put the loo on a raised

platform to try to solve the difficulty, but nothing has worked.

“T contacted the council but I was told that they can put pipes in for me but until they get a new treatment plant, it will be no good to me. And God knows when that plant will hap- pen.”

Gerry maintains he needs the ground-level loo as the other toilets in his home are upstairs “and you don’t want to drag muck through the whole house if you’re working in the garden’.

Senior Executive Council Engineer, Sean Lenihan, said that the problem lies with the fact that the old main drain is shallow near Mr McNama- ra’s home “and the flow is quite slow. When the new pipes are in they will be buried considerably deeper and steeper and the flow away will be faster.”

The engineer said he would inves- tigate prioritising Mr McNamara’s pipe-work, but warned that it might be some time before he can be con- nected.

“We are waiting for approval for the tenders to upgrade the sewerage treatment plant but if we can make his connection live immediately then we will do that as soon as the neces- sary pipe work is done,’ Mr Lenihan said.

RESIDENTS in Miltown Malbay have supported calls for a law to be introduced that would provide com- munities with information on con- victed sex offenders in their area. They have also called for greater li- aison between gardai and rural local communities.

The support group One in Four is calling for the Government to con- sider an Irish version of ‘Megan’s re

This proposal is of considerable interest in Miltown Malbay. More than two years ago, locals there were shocked to learn that a 61-year-old man from the UK had been living in rented accommodation in the town, while an international manhunt was UNO Me NA

They were horrified to discover that the man, who was suspected of committing sex crimes, was living in the community for more than two months.

Local councillor Christy Curtin (Independent) said he would support debate on the introduction of the pro- posed legislation.

“Any law that would give people more information on their communi- ties has to be welcomed and at least needs to be considered,’ he said.

“Tf it relates to public safety, it has

to be considered. At the same time, you have to respect privacy. There has to be a balance, but in terms of reassurance, in terms of the commu- nity, everything needs to be consid- ered,” he said.

He said that Garda management must inject resources into increas- ing personnel in rural parts of the county.

“There should be greater liaison between gardai and the community. Gardai should be more accessible to people. Resources are limited. There is an emphasis on urban. I think there needs to be more emphasis on rural policing needs,” he said.

IT’S a dog’s life this Sunday in Crat- loe, when man’s best friends from mutts to blue-bloods will be on pa- 116 lon

The annual Cratloe Fun Doggie Show will be held at the Cratloe GAA pitch.

This years show features 20 differ- ent dog classes including Best 6 legs — Dog & Owner, Best Waggiest Tail, Most Handsome Dog, Dog the Judge would most like to take Home, Sad- dest Eyes, Best Fancy Dress, Prettiest Bitch, Best Pair of Dogs, Best Biscuit Catcher and many more.

Organised by Michael Prior from the Munster Dog Training and Be-

haviour School the show starts at 2 pm. More than 600 dogs entered in 2007 and an even bigger entry is ex- pected this year.

The Robert Manning Perpetual Trophy, sponsored by the Munster Dog School, will be presented to the Overall Best Show Dog.

For those who don’t have four legs, there’s other fun to be had.

Tractor balancing is not for the faint of heart, nor is mini digger golf, though sliothar through the hole, long puck, golf putting, football through the tyre and soccer penalties might suit those more delicate dispositions with dextrous skills.

Other attractions include the pony rides and the organisers said they

wanted to thank Linda Gleeson, Cratloe for supplying and walking the ponies.

A covered giant bouncing castle and slide from Wizards, Shannon will also supply great fun.

Guess the number of items in a jar and win the lot, face painting with Mary Hayes, Butterfly Play School, Cratloe, and a well stocked book stall will complete the other attractions on Si kep

For the hungry, a BBQ will be serv- ing burgers, hot dogs and minerals while tea, coffee and snacks will also be available.

“In advance we would also like to sincerely thank our sponsors for their continued support”, a spokesman for

the organisers said.

Sponsors include, Paws and Claws, Limerick, Precious Pets, Ennis, En- nis Pet Care, Franco Pet Care, Limer- ick and Cecil St Pet Shop, Limerick. Cratloe Meat Market, Abbey Tavern, Quin, Setrights Tavern Cratloe, Café on the Row, Bedford Row, Limerick, Loughrask Kennels, Cratloe, Ais- ling’s Supermarket, Cratloe, Taaffe Construction, Tubber and an anony- mous benefactor.

All funds raised will go to the De- velopment Fund to support the com- pletion of the Community Sports Hall in memory of young club mem- ber Michael Murphy who died play- ing hurling with his Club on April 7 2001.

She added that the wealth of choice is “something which is highlighted through Ennis Fashion Week. In Ennis, we have plenty of quality boutiques and specialist shops and the choice here is complemented by Limerick, who have the British high street stores. We’re realistic and we work hand-in-hand with Limerick and Shannon to offer people choice. The important thing is that people Support business in the mid-west,” the CEO said.

The Ennis chamber spokeswoman made her remarks in the wake of Limerick Chamber President Sean Lally putting out a strong message to businesses and consumers in the region to play their part.

“We are clearly experiencing a slowdown in the economy and in these more challenging times the tendency can be to focus entirely on your immediate business and lose sight of the greater issue for us all, which is securing the future econom-

ic prosperity of the region. This can be done by supporting local busi- nesses wherever we can and focusing on the positives our region has to of- fer,’ Lally said.

“Our city and region has a huge amount to offer and we hope people will look local first before going else- Where. We have world class busi- nesses located here, excellent leisure facilities and our retail offering has improved immensely in the past few years.”

He added that anyone involved in conference organising need look no further than the mid-west.

“We have all the major hotel brands, and fantastic new facilities that will be on offer at Thomond Park. We have a dedicated conference and sports bureau, Meet Limerick Shan- non, which will facilitate any confer- ences or sporting events that want to come to the region.”