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JAMES Hanrahan’s return to his na- tive club this year has had a profound effect on the footballing fortunes of St Joseph’s. Last year, uncertainites over the senior management struc- ture left their footballers with little preparation approaching the champ1- onship but his switch from Eire Og, after a successful stint both on and

off the field, has given St Joseph’s much needed guidance this year.

The emphasis at senior level was on youth and bringing through the un- doubted underage talent that exists in Wome bee

Ten of that senior side were eligi- ble for Saturday’s replay against the current holders Kilmurry Ibrickane and it was that added experience and balance that Hanrahan felt eventual

won the club it’s first Under 21 cham- pionship.

“I thought we played well and de- served it on the day. We played some excellent football.

“We probably knew coming in that fellas were disappointed from the last day and I don’t think it was that we didn’t win the game the last day, I think they were more disappointed that we didn’t play well so we turned

that around today.

“We moved the ball a little bit quicker. A lot of fellas have played Under 21 games when we haven’t played well whereas in the senior, we have been playing at a different pace so I think we brought that pace into the game tonight and I think that was the difference.”

Hunger was a key factor in Satur- day’s victory. An appetite that Han-

rahan explains has accumulated from being on the losing side too many times at underage level

“We have had so much heartbreak in the last few years losing underage finals so maybe if they had won a couple of those they would have been as hungry as they were out there to- day but you could see that they want- ed to win and that was the difference between the teams.”

A MOTORIST who was under the influence of alcohol panicked when he saw a garda patrol car and hit it, a court has heard.

Gary O’Donnell (20), of Cross- roads, Thomondgate, Limerick, pleaded guilty to a number of mo- toring offences, including dangerous driving and drink driving, in Shan- non, at 3am on May 12 last.

Inspector John Galvin told Shannon District Court that gardai followed a car from Limerick and it drove dan- gerously through a roundabout at Tullyglass, Shannon, before striking an unmarked garda patrol car.

He said the driver was arrested and analysis of a specimen of breath pro- vided showed a reading of 55 mgms of alcohol per 1OOmls of breath.

O’Donnell’s solicitor said her cli- ent had been in town on the night in

question and “for no particular rea- son, he drove the car. When he saw the garda van he panicked. It was a case of blind panic.

‘He was under the influence of al- cohol.”

She said that only minor damage had been done to the patrol car. “It was a once-off thing. He will not be before the court again,” she said.

Judge Joseph Mangan disquali- fied O’Donnell from driving for two years and fined him €600.

He adjourned the case for payment of compensation of €953.62 and im- posed several bail conditions.

These included that the accused abide by a curfew, between 11pm and 6am; report to a garda station four times a week; abstain from alcohol and stay out of licensed premises.

He ordered that a probation report be carried out in advance of the next court hearing.

THEY are going to have a lot to shout about in Kilkishen next weekend.

The third annual Clare Shout Festi- val takes place over three days in the east Clare village from Friday next September 19 to Sunday September 21.

While the highlight of the festival will be the Clare Shout Competi- tion on Saturday night, a packed programme has been organised for the whole weekend, starting with a cheese and wine reception in the lo- cal GAA clubhouse on Friday night at 7.30 pm.

The opening lecture will be de- livered by Seamus MacMathuna of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann on ‘Clare Heroes of the Bow and the Caman’, a tribute in song, in music

and in words to the hurlers and mu- sicians of the Banner County. That takes place at 8.30 pm on Friday in the local GAA clubhouse.

The main event of the weekend will, of course, be the Clare Shout Competition on Saturday night in the village street. This year there will also be a competition for those under 16 and that takes place on Sunday be- tween 2 and 6 pm in the local GAA nto ee

Other events of the weekend will in- clude traditional music and singing, a spectacular fireworks display, photo competition, puppet show, novelty races for children and for their par- ents, a dog show, magician, fortune teller, hurling skills competition, turf packing, clothes line dash, parade led by Tulla Pipers’ Band, face paint- ing, welly throwing, snail racing and

much more.

The history of the Clare shout is shrouded in mystery but is believed to date back to pre-Celtic times in Ireland. Older people in parts of Clare recall watching people of an even older generaton facing the set- ting sun on fine autumn evenings while giving vent to a double-echo shout. This has led to the theory that the Clare shout may have been a form of autumnal worship in pagan times.

The shout is unique to Clare. It was a rallying cry that echoed around Clontarf when Brian Boru led the clans of Dal gCais into battle against the Danes on Good Friday 1014.

It was also raised as a war cry by the men of Clare’s Dragoons at Fon- tenoy and on other European battle fields. In later years it greeted the great Liberator Daniel O’Connell

when the people of Clare elected him as the first Catholic member of the British House of Commons.

The Clare shout was a particular favourite of the former President and Taoiseach Eamonn de Valera, TD for Clare for over 40 years, who was fas- cinatd by its unique double echo.

The famous shout got a great re- vival as Clare hurling shot to the top once again in the mid-nineties.

MORE interpretators are needed to help children and their parents adapt to life in Irish schools, accord- ing to the Teachers Union of Ireland Oued}

Bernie Ruane, Vice-President of the TUI, said the lack of interpreta- tors means misunderstandings and ill-discipline are inevitable.

‘“T read a lot in the papers that there

are always plenty of interpreters in our courts, but if we had a few more available for our schools, maybe we wouldn’t be seeing all these prob- lems in the court,” said Mrs Ruane. “Meetings between parents and teachers can be difficult and when there is a language barrier. Problems can arise and it can lead to ill disci- pline. There is no integration system for education in Ireland. There is no planning. It’s all very piece-meal.”

Mrs Ruane, a teacher at St Patrick’s Comprehensive College, Shannon, said parents are being let down by the government. “There are kids coming into a completely new environment and they are not providing them with anything. The resources to cope are not being provided to schools”.

Mrs Ruane said comments by made by Fine Gael Education spokesper- son Brian Hayes about segregating students were not helpful.

“We don’t support the idea of segre- gation, we would prefer to see more resources allocated for English tui- tion for smaller groups and individu- als. Doing it in a classroom environ- ment sometimes means that other students are being held back, because you are repeating lessons.”

Mrs Ruane also said “serious” health and safety issues were emerg- ing in woodwork rooms and science labs.

AS Doonbeg and Ennistymon filed onto the Miltown pitch on Saturday evening, Tommy Curtin had the lib- erty to sit back and take in the quar- ter-final meeting that would throw forward Liscannor’s opponents in Wem OONEIOITADE

Before that game began, though, Curtin said he was impressed with

Liscannor’s performance, particu- larly their application in seeing off the challenge of pre-match favourites Eire Og.

“We had a quick work there and were delighted with the victory,” he said. “Going into the game, to be honest, we had a few injury prob- lems. But to be fair to the lads, they really stuck at it over the hour.”

He also acknowledged the fact that

Liscannor weren’t given a real fight- ing chance beforehand, but said that was understandable.

“In fairness, it was always going to be a tough game. We were playing against a team that was in the county final these past two seasons and a team that won the championship two years ago.

‘So they’re a good side, a very good side, and we knew we’d have to play

some good football if we were going to come through it.

“We train with a very small panel and we have to believe that in every game, there’s always hope. We train that way and we play that way and we literally have to take every game as it comes.

“But as I said, the lads knuckled down. Our centre-forward was in- jured going into this and he’s a bright

prospect for the future and the lads got stuck in for him.

‘Eire Og would have been the firm favourites going into the game but our ball retention was very good to- day and we were hungry as well. But the game of football is so simple and that’s the way you have to play it.”

With that Tommy stood back to watch the second game unfold.

A SPELL in a detention centre is frightening a 16-year-old Ennis boy, his solicitor has claimed.

The boy, who cannot be named be- cause of his age, had an eight-month sentence confirmed at Ennis Circuit Court in July, for breaking into a bed and breakfast and kicking two car wing mirrors in Ennis last Feb-

MED ee

He appeared before Ennis District Court last Friday, where he admitted a charge of burglary and also plead- ed guilty to public order offences.

Inspector John Galvin told the court that the boy created a nuisance of himself while gardai attended to the scene of a house fire in Clough- leigh, Ennis, on July 2 last.

‘He refused to leave the area. He

encouraged other youths to start chanting ‘“f*** off’ to the guards,’ he said.

Referring to the burglary offence, he said a shop was broken into and valuable items – including a camera, laptop and jewellery – were taken, on May 27 last.

“The accused admitted his role in the burglary,” said Inspector John GPT bane

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said the circuit court had confirmed the eight-month sentence, after not- ing the boy had failed to maintain contact with the probation services.

“It was very sad circumstances for me as a Solicitor to have my client having a district court sentence of eight months confirmed,’ said Ms Godfrey.

“Spending eight months in St

Patrick’s Institution is frightening him. He is very unhappy there. It’s a terrible place for him to be,’ she Sr HKOe

She asked the court not to add to the eight-month term the boy is serv- ing. Judge Leo Malone imposed a four-month term and said it was not more lengthy as the goods that had been taken from the shop were re- Oho Keren

DRIVERS who treat roads in an east Clare estate “like Mondello race track”, have to be stopped, a local councillor has said.

Cars are tearing along a straight stretch of road in Westbury, endan- gering life and property, Cllr Cathal Crowe told a meeting of the Killa- loe committee of the Clare County SBE MWe.

“There one straight road that’s raced on like it’s Mondello Park at evenings and weekends’, he said.

Cllr Crowe was calling on the coun- cil’s road engineers and the develop- ers to put their heads together and

come up with traffic calming meas- ures for the estate, where there are a number of treacherous stretches, the councillor said.

“On two occasions, cars ploughed through hedges into the boundary of a house. There are a lot of green spaces where children play. This 1s “a ticking timebomb’”, the councillor said. Cllr Crowe was supported in his call by Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald who said there had been a third incident last week in which a car ploughed beers 0 8

“The traffic corps have come out but there’s little they can do. There are some very dangerous areas in this estate and the problem needs to

be addressed before there is a trag- edy.”

Councillors were told that the de- velopers have planned to put pinch points in to slow traffic in the estate but the local authority’s hands are tied until such time as the estate is finished and taken into Clare County Council’s charge, senior executive engineer, Sean Lenihan said.

He warned that the council “is not going to take it in charge if it’s not up to a standard we can live with”.

Mr Lenihan said that it had been hoped earlier this year that it would be taken in charge by Christmas but difficulties with the decommission- ing of the sewerage plant meant that

this now won’t happen’.

Councillors had earlier raised the issue of the traffic lights on the main road causing massive delays to com- muters trying to get out of Westbury, particularly in the morning rush telune

Cll Pascal Fitzgerald said that the timing of the lights meant “very long delays for people trying to get to work. I think the sequencing should be examined again. I have had nu- merous complaints”.

Cllr Cathal Crowe said that the population of Westbury “rivals that of a small town yet it has only one exit. We need a united voice on this. Another access road is needed.”

CLARE’s motor racing season hits top gear this weekend with the stag- ing of the showpiece event of the year, the Clare Stages Rally. A total of 161 cars will take part, while there will be 42 Clare crews in action over the two days.

The Clare Stages Rally is Round 9 of the” Dunlop National Champi- onship’, which is decided over ten rounds and clare welcomes the newly crowned 08 dunlop national cham- pion Patrick Elliott who clinched his first ever national title driving his Subaru Impreza WRC S12B on the previous round the Galway Sum- mer Rally a few weeks ago. Here in Clare his co-driver Paul Goodman can take a major step and possibly secure the Noel Smith Award for the top co-driver.

Patrick won the Clare Stages Rally back in 2006 with Rory Kennedy

also driving a Subaru.Patrick and Paul are seeded at no.2

Topping this years entry list is last years Clare Stages winners Tim Mc- Nulty and Eugene O’Donnell (Sub- aru Impreza WRC S12B). By the end of last years eight stage event, they finished 22 seconds ahead of newly crowned 07 Dunlop Champion, Aar- on MacHale (Ford Focus WRC).

The rally is also Round 5 of “The Top Part West Coast Rally Champi- onship”, which consists of rallies run in Birr, Kerry, Limerick, Galway and ETc

The Clare rally also includes a jun- ior section and this has attracted an extra seventeen entries. The Club have received a huge local entry with a total of Forty two Clare Motor Club Crews taking part.

Topping the list is Ruan’s Anthony O’Halloran with Ennis man Charlie McEnery calling the notes in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. Anthony

and Charlie finished the top two Wheel drive car and best Clare club crew on last years rally in their Opel Manta but for the 2008 season they have made the change over to more modern machinery with the Mit- subishi Lancer Evo 9. The car has been built from scratch at Anthony’s workshop in Ruan. Anthony will be very determined to be on the pace in eroup N and will also be hoping to finish the top Clare driver in order to claim the most sought after award in the club for the best Clare crew on the day, “The Noel McCullagh Award” which is presented in memory of an outstanding club member who was killed in an industrial accident back in 1990. Mike Moloney and Marie Casey will also be fighting for that top clare driver in their mazda rotary engined escort. Mike crashed out on the very first stage on last years eNO Ae

Kilmurry’s Alan O’Callaghan will

also be trying for a top place in this years rally, having already finished 16th overall in Birr, 20th in Kerry and 3lst in Munster so far this sea- SO)0F

Other Clare competitors like Christy Carey, Edward Cogan, R1- chard Casey, Pa Malone, Alan Kel- ly, Martin O’Halloran, Joe Baker, John Leirnihan, Tommy Flanagan, Michael Rodgers, Martin Kelly, Robert Ryan, Al and Pat Meaney, Tom Ryan and Michael Fitzgibbon and also the return of Ruan’s Pat Ca- sey will all be fighting for honours in their various classes.

Clerk of the course for the event is Jim Casey from Ennis and together with his organising team have set out four challenging stages which will be repeated twice, two in the Kildysart/ Ballinacally area in the morning and two in the Ruan/Kilnamona area in the afternoon.

The public will also be able to meet

the famous Russell Brooks who will be competing as OOI course car.

The 63-year-old English driver has been invited over by the Clare Club and he will assist in the running of the event by driving as OO1 course car which is the last car to travel through the stages before the first competing car.

Russell will drive his original Sun- beam Lotus which he used in 1980 and 1981. The car (KK V 394V) was originally built for Russell to use in the 1981 Lombard RAC Rally. Brooks won the 1977 & 1985 British Rally Championships driving a Ford Escort RS1800 and an Opel Manta 400 respectively.He was also Welsh Rally Champion in 1973 and Irish Tarmac Rally Champion in 1989.

FEARS were raised yesterday that Clare County Council may not be able to furnish the debt entered into in order to construct the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience. Responding to a motion put forward by Cllr Martin Conway (FF), the lo- cal authority revealed that visitor numbers at the world famous tour- ism site have dropped by more than

14 per cent all ready this year.

This represents a year-on-year drop of almost 100,000 visitors during August, June and July this year.

Questions have now been raised concerning the local authority’s abil- ity to furnish the debt should the cen- tre struggle to break even this year.

“The Cliffs of Moher has suffered badly because of the global down- turn. In May of this year there was a year-on-year drop of more than

5,000 people. In June that drop has risen to 34,000; more than 30,000 in July and 25,000 in August. This is a massive massive drop of 14 per cent,” said Cllr Conway.

“IT am concerned about this for a number of reasons. Last year the visi- tors experience just broke even. Now with the downturn in the economy and especially in tourism, is there a plan in place to deal with this situ- ation?”

“IT am also very concerned that this is the start of a serious downward trend and I would like to know what the directors are doing. Are they re- marketing this more for an Irish or UK visitor rather than for the Ameri- can visitor?

“Is there a contingency plan to deal with the new private park and ride facility? If that is built 1s there a plan to deal with the financial implica- tions of this? I would hope that we would give this private company stiff competition and seriously consider lowering our prices to make parking very competitive at the cliffs.”

Groresvaaternlebercameyemm seu immosCOla (erm Ovens Joe Arkins (FG) raised questions both about the local authorities abil- ity to furnish the borrowing under- taking as part of the Cliffs of Moher project and the future viability of this Nur

In response, a spokeswoman from Clare County Council said that they were monitoring the situation.

‘The trend here reflects what is hap- pening nationally and internationally at the moment,’ she said.

“We have revisited the marketing strategy and we are looking at under- taking a number of joint promotional initiatives. We are looking at promot- ing the cliffs in France and Germany through the Clare Tourist Forum and also in America.”

THE LIMBS are limbered, the de- termination and focus has been pulled together and if all that fails, participants in next week’s inaugural Scariff 10k will take heart in the fact that a very good cause will benefit.

What could be nicer in the lovely autumnal light than a – admittedly lively – stroll or run in the beautiful surrounds of Lough Derg.

Scariff Community Council – who are hosting the 10k in conjunction with Derg Credit Union and Clare Athletics Association – say they are

‘delighted”’ with the response so far to entries for the challenge on Sep- tember 14. The beneficiaries of the day will be the Raheen Hospice, an institution which has helped many very ill patients and their families from east Clare cope with dignity during difficult times.

“We want everyone to enjoy the day and for the entire community to get involved . This will be a commu- nity event and we welcome all run- ners and walkers, young and old to come out on the day. We don’t expect people to break any records. You can jog, run walk – whatever you like but

come out on the day and enjoy some magnificent views of Lough Derg along the route. All proceeds from the event will go to our local and very worthy cause, the Raheen Hos- pice,’ said Martin Hartigan, one of the organising team.

The route will start at the Scar- iff GAA grounds, up towards Cap- pabane, Sheeaun, Moynoe, Mount Shannon Road and back into Scariff with the finishing line located near the GAA grounds.

Registration forms for the event are available in O’ Meara’s pharmacy or Rodgers Centra shop in Scariff,

online at www.scariff.com ,email scarifflOk@hotmail.com or by post to Scariff Community Council, Market House, Scariff. Registration is €10 per person. Late registration will be accepted on the 14th Septem- ber up to 1:30 PM at a cost of €15 per person.

Details and forms can be had from other members of the organising committee also. They are Eugene Moroney, Eileen Crotty, Paula Har- tigan, Sheila Mulvihill and Marie Crowe. The event starts at 2 pm sharp so all entrants should be assembled by 1:45 PM at the GAA grounds.