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CLARE manager Colm Hanley’s track record at this level speaks for itself. Two years, two All-Ireland Junior finals but after suffering heart- break in injury time of last year’s decider against Derry, the road to recovery for Clare this year has been rather smooth. That’s not to say that there weren’t scares along the way, there was in the form of Sunday’s op- ponents Offaly, Antrim and Laois but the initial aim has now been achieved and after a year’s more experience, Hanley reckons that his side are bet- ter equipped this season.

‘The aim for the year as I have said in the past was to get back to Croke Park and once we got there, then to take care of business. There is a mas- sive difference between last year and this year. We are a stronger team this year, there is no doubt about it. The likes of Laura Linnane and Claire McMahon coming back into it are massive additions and not just them alone. Also the likes of Carina (Ro- seingrave), Kate (Lynch) and Chloe Morey and the rest of the minor girls who are now a year older again after playing last year. It has stood to them massively. You can see it even in their minor performances. They are as good a player as there is anywhere in the country.We might have fallen over the line in the semi-final but overall as a team, they are flying it. We also have Fiona Lafferty back af- ter injury and things are falling into place at the right time and hopefully

that is a good sign.”

One of those scares came in their opening championship game against Offaly when they were sternly tested by the resurgent 2001 finalists. Clare eventually weathered the storm in the final quarter and emerged 0-10 to 0-07 winners but Hanley feels that this game was the making of Clare this year as they found an extra bat-

tling dimension that hadn’t existed previously.

“There is no doubt that we were lucky to come out of that game. With- out a shadow of a doubt, the perform- ance wasn’t great and it wasn’t helped by the fact that there was a twelve week lay-off between the league final and that game and without competi- tive matches, it is tough to raise your

game but the performance wasn’t up to par and the girls know that. How- ever, the great thing that we found out that day that we hadn’t last year was this fighting spirit that they pro- duced. The last five or ten minutes they dug in and carved out a result. Last year and maybe in years gone by, things have come a bit too easy for them. Leading into last year’s

final, we had a very handy route to the final, winning games by ten or twelve points so when it was put up to us 1n the final, we couldn’t deliver because we weren’t used to being in that situation.

“This year, every single game has been tough with maybe the excep- tion being the Down match and we have had to grind out results. We travelled to Antrim and had to re- ally dig in and eventually came out with a seven point win, although it was a much tighter game than that. Again in the semi-final, Laois played similarly to Offaly and made it fierce awkward for us but again we man- aged to win.”

And that new found appetite has carried them back to Croke Park for the second successive year and Hanley is determined to finish the job this time around.

‘Everyone in the county knows that this team has the hurling, and mas- sive ability but now they have found this bit of bite and desire and that comes from hunger. After years of losing finals and losing finals, it has to come right eventually and I have no doubt that it will on Sunday.”

His confidence and positivity 1s consuming. And to think he even had to re-apply for his position at the start of the year.

THE allocation of almost €140.000 to two historic town projects in En- nis and Kilrush will enable the town councils provide a range of tourist signage, including orientation, in- terpretive and information boards, along the designated

historic trails.

€112,760 has been allocated to the Ennis Historic ‘Town Trail and €27,080 to the Kilrush Historic Town Trail under Failte Ire- land’s Historic Towns Initiative.

Welcoming the al- location, Munister of State Tony Killeen (right) said the initiative is aimed at the develop- ment of a series of historic walking trails in up to 100 towns around the country and the grants would assist in maximising the tourism potential of Kilrush and Ennis.

“T hope that funding will enhance the overall experience of those who visit Kilrush and Ennis. Clare 1s for- tunate to possess so many important heritage sites. Therefore, we must do everything possible to make them more accessible to members of the local community and visitors to the

respective towns.”

The Historic ‘Towns Initiative forms part of the Tourism Product Development and Infrastructure sub- programme of the National Develop- ment Plan 2007-13. It is also a com- ponent of the Tourism Infrastructure Fund, which supports local authori-

ties and other infra- structure providers to develop facilities for RO) UONMEUG MEE KEYEIe ing and cycling routes, jetties and moorings, angling stands, and ac- cess paths to areas of environmental and sce- nic interest. The funding was also welcomed by Deputy Timmy Dooley who said that the historic town trails were very popular with tourists in other parts of the country and should lead to more tourists coming to visit Clare.

“Tt will also be good news for any businesses along the trail and will help provide an extra boost to the local economies. I hope that other Clare towns will also be considered for other historic trails and I plan to raise this with Minister Cullen and the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism,’ Deputy Dooley conclud- ed.

EXTRA parking in the town of Kil- laloe is vital if the town is to continue to grow and prosper, a local council- lor has said.

Cllr Tony O’Brien asked at a meet- ing of the Killaloe area committee of the council about progress on plans to provide extra spaces for cars while people shop, socialise or visit the amenities in the riverside town.

“We’re not gong to go anywhere

without parking. The centre is con- gested and we’re doing our best to get business into the town but without parking, people are not going to find Killaloe an attractive place to come and do their business or to visit.”

Cllr O’ Brien said traders and resi- dents want to see more facilities to park.

Senior Executive Engineer, Sean Lenihan, said that a potential site has been identified in the town and plans for parking facilities have been drawn

up. He said that funding would have to be provided from the development levy fund and that he is following this up with the relevant person.

‘This is one of a number of things that the development plan clearly outlines the need for. It’s certainly a priority of mine and I have made recommendations that a site be ac- quired”, said Mr Lenihan.

He told the meeting of elected rep- resentatives that he would “raise the matter again and I would hope to

have more information in the com- ing days.”

Cllr O’Brien thanked the execu- tive engineer for his attention in the matter and added that it would be of great importance to the people of Killaloe that they make progress on this issue.

“It’s very important, from every point of view whether it’s busi- ness, residents in the town or people coming to enjoy the amenities, he stressed

THIS is the Banner side’s fourth attempt at winning this final since 2003. Having drawn two of those de- ciders in Croke Park to Dublin and Galway only to lose in the replays and who in the camogie world will forget the heartbreak of last year’s defeat to Derry when Clare looked to have the work done. They were un- able to hold out though for the eight minutes of injury time played on the day and a lucky shot from Derry found the net to deny Clare their mo- ment in the sun.

Clare though will take note of the determination of last year’s victors. That was Derry’s second attempt at the final in successive years, having lost the previous year. Clare have now managed to do what Derry did last year and despite some tough battles this year, the Clare girls are back again in Croke Park. That was the aim from the start of the year to get back to the ultimate stage and then take things from there. Clare have worked hard in this quest. The Banner took a step up in the League campaign choosing to go from Di- vision 3 to Division 2. This was in search of games that would test the squad and get competition going ear- ly in the year to build strength, both physically and mentally. This move has certainly paid off so far as Clare went undefeated in the League beat- ing Cork, Kilkenny and Waterford on their way to the final where they had a hard fought win over last years victor’s Derry. This gave silverware to the girls, exacted some revenge for last year’s All-Ireland defeat and provided encouragement for the rest of the year.

Clare have remained unbeaten since. They have had tough encoun- ters but have always managed to grind out that win. With group wins over Offaly, Down and Antrim and a Semi-final win over Laois, the Ban- ner girls now find themselves back in Croke Park facing first round oppo- nents Offaly.

Clare had a tough opening round game against the girls from the faith- ful county, who this year have been working under Joachim Kelly. Clare found the Offaly girls hard to shake off but did in the end come out three

point winners. Clare will know go- ing into this final that they will not have things all their own way from the opposition. Offaly had a strong win over Waterford in their semi-fi- nal and have a lot of hard work put into this campaign. They also have six of their minor side who recently won the minor B All-Ireland final over Waterford. This will give Offaly a huge boost going into the game and while they will be ranked as under-

dogs, they know that they will have nothing to lose on the day and will throw all they have at the Banner. They were unlucky to have been de- feated in the replay of the Division 3 league final to Antrim but have grown in strength and determination since then.

Clare for their part have the expe- rience of playing in Croke Park last year. While last year was not the first time in recent years for the Banner to

be participating on All-Ireland final day, it was the first time for a large number of the panel. Those new members will now have last year’s experience to build on and also have suffered a second final defeat just two weeks ago to the hands of Kilkenny in the U18 A final. These girls will not want to repeat that losing feel- NITcar DOCCMMY SUSSMAN LOM MUI RUUO NUE CNTe game against Cork intermediates under their belts, the final touches

will have begun in earnest within the Clare camp.

On thing is for certain. Clare cap- tain Deirdre Murphy has stood in the winning and losing dressing room on final day twelve months ago and will not want to have to sense the losing dressing room from a Clare perspec- tive this time round. She will be us- ing all within her to lead by example and help to drive the team forward. Murphy has been the building block on which a lot of hard won victories for Clare have been built on this year and her presence will help to steady those around her. The team as a whole are very focused this year on what they want to achieve and with the groundwork done, there is just 60 minutes separating Clare and that Junior title which has eluded them so often over the last number of years.

Clare will know that to overcome that final hurdle, all members will have to perform to their best. Down the middle Siobhan Lafferty, Dee Corcoran Sharon McMahon and Claire McMahon have worked well this year with Laura Linnane, Claire Commane, Shonagh Enright and Carina Roseingrave adding strength and pace to the wings. Deirdre Mur- phy has worked well with Chloe Mo- USA TOON COCIOCs)(emr-TeLOMNeCoM sr-UEMey:(eqbntTe has worked hard with Kate Lynch and Jane Scanlon flanking Corcoran. Competition for places is intense in the full-back line with Any Colleran, Aimee McInerney and Cathy Halley fighting it out for the two corner posi- tions and whoever loses out will be unlucky to do so. They also have sev- eral options on the bench with Aoife Ryan, Fiona Lafferty, Aine O’Brien, Aiveen O’Shea and Aoife Griffin able to help out in any sector and adding the depth that is needed to any team in winning an All-Ireland title.

Clare will certainly be hoping to put the thoughts of last year out of their heads and will be hoping that they will be returning home as All- Ireland champions next Monday.

THE Tourist Information Office at Killaloe has become the latest cas- ualty in the cuts which are seeing tourism attractions and facilities all over Clare shut up shop early.

The office on the bridge would nor- mally continue to provide services and information for visitors until the end of September, but it has been an- nounced that the facility will now close for the winter season much ear- lier than that.

It is the latest in a number of early closures, with Craggaunowen’s “The Living Past Experience’ closing several weeks earlier than normal and Bunratty Folk Park bringing in weekday winter opening times in September.

And this week, Killaloe councillor, Tony O’Brien (FF), called on Clare County Council to negotiate with Shannon Heritage to try to keep the tourism office open.

“This 1s a serious blow to people involved in tourism in east Clare,” he told a meeting of councillors for the Killaloe area.

‘We need the opening of that office extended, not curtailed.’

Smaller visitor numbers and a sea- son which is petering out early are the factors being blamed for the early AON Kee

Shannon Development’s Nandi O’Sullivan said that the move is “just good business sense. It’s a little bit quieter and there isn’t a need to open for an extra half hour. But the attrac-

tion will remain open at the week- end.”

Last month, when it was announced that Craggaunowen was to shut up shop early, a spokesman for Shannon Heritage said that a number of factors had affected the decision. “Easter came almost three weeks early this year so we had in fact opened that bit earlier. It is a challenging year gener- NO AA

To combat dwindling tourism num- bers, Shannon Development, in con- junction with the tourism and travel trade has been involved in a number of strategies to get more visitors into the region.

One plan has already seen 20,000 additional bed nightsbrought to the region. This involved negotiating working partnership arrangements with 15 travel operators in the US, including 13 tour operators sell- ing dedicated Ireland holiday pro- grammes in the US market.

The organisation is also working with Tourism Ireland and other tour- ism authorities on the €3 million Discover Ireland’s Wonderful West campaign.

Included in the campaign are US print, radio and online advertising with carriers.

IT costs some €20,000 to run Bun- ratty Search and Rescue annually and the service is heavily dependent on fundraising. The money raised for the group by gardai on Saturday will be put to good use.

Bunratty is one of seven water- based emergency services across the county to benefit from the 20th an- nual Garda Charity Cycle. Dozens of gardai will cycle the 130 kilometres trek starting in Ennis and finish- ing up in Twomilegate in Killaloe, throughout the day on Saturday.

The club recently spent more than €30,000 refurbishing the boathouse in Bunratty and it intends to put the money collected by the gardai to- wards the upkeep of the building. When the boathouse was built in 1998, the club had very little money at its disposal. Over the years, damp- ness came through, so the outside walls had to be realigned.

The only funding the club receives is 2,000 from Clare County Coun- cil every year. Aside from that, the club carries out its own fundraising.

“We have a lot of collection boxes in pubs in Limerick and Bunratty,

while families of people who have been recovered from the water ar- range functions and send us money. We also receive donations,’ said club treasurer Bob Potter.

While the regular income is low, the expenditure is high as much needs to be purchased to keep the club in existence. Money is spent on petrol, insurance, heating, lighting, phone bills, wetsuits, body bags, welling- tons, cradles, while the two boat’s engines have to be serviced on a reg- ular basis. Training programmes are essential and also cost money to run.

As treasurer since 1989, Mr Potter

knows at first hand the significance of ensuring there is enough money to keep the club running. “The club is always in the red because we plan ahead and watch the pennies,’ he Cr nCee

“Locally, the support is excellent,” he added.

CRATLOE and Sixmilebridge go back a long way, their hurling rivalry is immense, albeit that it has been somewhat lopsided in the “Bridge’s favour down the generations. Until now that is as the boys in Blue bask in the glory of beating their near neighbours.

“It’s been a long time coming,” commented one spectator in the Eire Og Grounds on Friday night after Cratloe had their own little play on the biblical story about David taking a catapult to Goliath.

That’s just what they did in coming from ten points adrift in the second half to bring Sixmilebridge’s hurling world crashing in around them. No wonder some Cratloe folk let them- selves go.

“There won’t be any cutting posts down now,” said one historian on site, going all the way back to more tempestuous times when in the dark of night some disgruntled hurling folk were accused of cutting down goalposts to make them look like soccer goals.

Representatives of both parties say it never happened, but there are those who swear it’s true after the fall-out of an intermediate semi-final be- tween the clubs in 1970 when Sixmi- lebridge won by a couple of points only to lose it afterwards to an objec- tion after that they had a number of soccer player in their ranks.

All that history welled up in Crat- loe folk finally burst free as they cut

down Sixmiulebridge for the first time ever at senior championship level.

This was for ’95 when the ‘Bridge beat them by over a point a man in the county semi-final; for 90 when a last minute goal deprived them of the intermediate title.

The victory was the big story of the weekend, even if it wasn’t the only story. Newmarket-on-Fergus fired a warning shot in the direction of every other club in Clare thanks to their demolition job on county cham- pions Tulla; St Joseph’s Doora-Bare- field, Inagh/Kilnamona and Kilma- ley booked their quarter-final spots; Crusheen made it four wins from four outings.

But it was hard to get away from the “Bridge — the most storied club in Clare hurling since Mikey Whyte got that point in the ’77 final in Dr Daly Park — who suffered their third championship defeat on the bounce.

It has never happened before, but then again strange things have hap- pened in the Canon Hamilton race thus far. Tubber beating the ‘Bridge; Clarecastle hanging on for dear life; Tulla being beaten by 21 points by a rampant Newmarket-on-Fergus; Inagh/Kilnamona taking to the soft ground of the championship for the first time like veterans….

For sure, there’ll be plenty more twists and turns before the race is fi- nally finished.

on

think it’s much better to engage.” After councillors opposed a pro- posal to participate in such a strategy, Mr Fleming, who 1s a director on the Limerick Regeneration Board, said, ‘There are several different strands to it. A lot has to do with upgrading

housing,” he said.

“The issues that are causing con- cern relate to social housing for peo- ple in the various areas of Limerick, specifically the small number of peo- ple associated with criminal activity. That effectively is the big worry,’ said Mr Fleming.

He said that people on the move can avail of houses under three different schemes – through purchasing them, through benefit from the Health Serv- ice Executive (HSE) or through so- cial housing. He confirmed that Lim- erick corporation bought 17 houses in Clare to provide social housing.

He said some houses in Shannon

were allocated through the HSE, which was an alternative scheme.

“T have advised the councillors we should engage in a regional housing strategy so we can have an input. My recommendation will be to engage so that each council will have responsi- bility for social housing in their own areas,” said Mr Fleming.

At last Tuesday’s meeting of Shan- non Town Council, Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said Mr Fleming was living in “cloud cuckoo land. He has not sold it to me and he has not sold it to the general public.” Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) said the manager wouldn’t have to take

phone calls in the early hours of the morning as he had, over the August bank holiday weekend. “Who will take complaints in the early hours of the morning as I had to at 1.40am on bank holiday weekend about a gouri- er who had moved in? There wasn’t a social worker to be found,’ he said.

However Mr Fleming said he did not take the comments personally. “T don’t take it as personal criticism. People have concerns and I totally understand. A lot of the fears may not come to pass. We should try and see if we can get protocols in place and control as much as possible,” said Mr Fleming.

IT STARTED with the disappear- ance of four duck shooters who went missing on the River Fergus in 1981 and has never since looked back.

That fateful day was devastating in many ways, but in one way marked the birth of an invaluable asset — Bunratty Search and Rescue.

That search in 1981 was the first of its kind in the Bunratty area and was followed by several other searches in the years that followed. Then, eight years later, in 1989, a committee was formed and the group was formally Set up.

Two boats and a wide array of equipment were purchased, while a

small boathouse was built.

Over time, the club has grown con- siderably and currently there are 27 members.

Bunratty Search and Rescue not only provides an invaluable service to the local community, but it is of immense assistance to the families of so many people who go missing in the waters.

Its members row in and help fami- lies facing unimaginable trauma when someone goes missing in the Limerick and Clare areas.

The average search lasts for 45 days, during which up to eight personnel are in the boats twice every single day. The shortest search undertaken by Bunratty was 15 days, while the

longest was 83, all done voluntarily by the members. Since 1989, the club has carried out searches for almost 60 bodies, the vast majority of which have been found.

Reflecting on the activities during the summer, club treasurer Bob Pot- ter said, “This year has been relative- ly quiet. I remember in 1997 there were seven bodies in a period of six months. That was the busiest we ever ee laa

Given the frequency of bodies in the water, locals felt it was essential that the service was set up in 1989. “We would hear of somebody go- ing missing and boatmen would get together and walk the banks and we would borrow boats, but we couldn’t

keep borrowing boats. We had to get funding to buy the boats. We start- ed fundraising and it took off from there,” he explained.

The bodies are recovered amidst harrowing circumstances, but occa- sionally the searches result in joy as people are rescued from the water.

The volunteers work on a rota basis and they range in age from mid-twen- ties to 70. Every single search is car- ried out with immense enthusiasm.

‘Each time a boat goes out, it takes between two and_ two-and-a-half hours. That’s a lot of time, given that it takes an average of 45 days to finda body. In winter time, they (the volun- teers) come in here and they are blue with the cold,’ added Mr Potter.

ST JOSEPH’S had twin objectives in mind going into this game. Victory to secure their quarter-final spot was the primary aim but there was also the huge matter of revenge.

Large dollops of tiger balm may have been handed out beforehand, because they certainly had that strong scent of revenge in their nostrils.

It told in the 60 minutes of hurl- ing as St Joseph’s erased last year’s nightmare against Corofin with a very comfortable win which gave further credence to the gathering be- lief that their squad is of champion- ship winning material.

They were asked some _ serious questions by Corofin in the first half when they could only build up a two- point lead with the wind. Then an- other question was asked when Kil- lian Neylon’s goal levelled the game eight minutes into the second half.

Corofin could sense another victory but it was the spark that ignited St Joseph’s. In the final 20 minutes they outscored Corofin by 1-8 to 0-4 to throw down their biggest marker yet to other championship contenders.

Forget the win over Sixmilebridge – we now know how bad things are on the banks of the O’Garney – because this was much better. St Joseph’s combined a steely edge in the backs with an unerring ability to pick off

scores as a host of players stepped up to take responsibility.

Take Seanie McMahon – advancing years mean nothing when you have hands and stickwork as good as one of the greatest to play the game. He played second fiddle to an inspiring Darragh Clancy in the first half, but when he was moved to the corner in the second half he bagged 1-2 from play to win the game.

This was a real contest for three quarters of the hour. The first half

was a shoot-out between Conor Has- sett and Gerry Quinn as both bagged four points each from placed balls.

Quinn’s points gave Corofin a real foothold against the wind. St Joseph’s led O-5 to 0-4 after the first quarter, their points coming from three Has- sett frees and points from play by Seanie McMahon and the industri- ous Greg Lyons.

Points by Gerry Quinn and Kil- lian Neylon then put Corofin a point clear, but St Joseph’s closed out the

half strongly with points from Greg Lyons, Conor Hassett, Michael Mc- Namara and Ivor White to edge 0-9 to 0-7 ahead.

The opening exchanges of the sec- ond half were equally competitive. Ivor White, who had a fine game at midfield, opened the scoring with a point in the first minute, while Gerry Quinn and Michael McNamara trad- ed points by the fifth.

Then came Corofin’s highpoint in the 38th minute when Killian Ney- lon picked up a long free from Gerry Quinn and scrambed the sliotar to the net to level the game 1-8 to O-11.

It was put up to St Joseph’s but they responded in emphatic style – turning on the gas in the closing 20 minutes to win in style and with something to spare.

Seanie McMahon was the man, landing 1-2 in a seven-minute spell. The points came from play while the goal in the 47th minute came after he reacted quickest to a Conor Has- sett free that rebounded off the post, whipping the sliotar to the net from eA T MAE DECKS

St Joseph’s were 1-13 to 1-8 clear and never looked back. Six more points followed in the closing 12 min- utes – Hassett hit four of them while Ivor White and Damian Kennedy also pointed from play.

Corofin’s scores from Killian Neylon, Kevin Heagney and Gerry

Quinn were consolation ones only. Their championship challenge is floundering but they can still force a play-off if they beat Cratloe in their last game.

St Joseph’s, meanwhile, are among the championship favourites. A first county title since 2001 could be clos- er than people think.