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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.

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.

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.

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.

THERE has never been a better op- portunity for first-time buyers in Ennis to enter the property market. That’s the opinion of Michael Ley- den of Leyden Auctioneers.

There are now approximately 150 newly built houses for sale in Ennis and he says that if people don’t buy now there is every chance that they could again be priced out of the mar- ket.

‘First time buyers have everything going for them at the moment. They don’t have to pay stamp duty on new or second hand homes assuming they are going to be owner-occupiers, there is a €10,000 room rent allow- ance available and there has been a substantial increase in owner-occu- pier’s mortgage interest relief. With conditions as they are at present, first-time buyers should be much more active in the housing market.

“There are statistics coming from the financial institutions to say that they are receiving as many applica- tions as before, however, there is less of an uptake on these. They are get- ting approval for mortgages, but they are waiting and waiting and waiting

for something to happen. The prices are as low as they are going to go and now is the time to act,” said Leyden.

With the advancement of the Budget date there are two schools of thought among those involved in the prop- erty market. Some are of the opinion that they should rush in to buy now before the budget announcements, in case they cause a shake-up in the house market that would lead to a rise in prices. The other school is that potential buyers should wait until af- ter the Budget and reap the benefit of possible incentives that the Govern- ment may offer.

“Ennis is bucking the trend at the moment. Other towns of the same size are not in the same situation. Some of them have a large amount of houses for sale. Despite all the furore regarding over-supply of new homes in the Ennis property market, Leyden Auctioneers have established after research that there are approximately 150 new homes built and ready for sale in Ennis town and it’s environs.

“This is alarming considering that around 450 students sit the leaving certificate in Ennis each year, mi- grants and returned immigrants can account for up to another 200 people,

and it is estimated that the popula- tion of Ennis will increase to 36,000 people in 2014 from a current 28,700. Also if there is a rebound in the mar- ket it will take builders at least a year to catch up, therefore a shortage is already looming,” said Leyden.

This shortage is coming on the back of market conditions, but Ley- den warns that if the market doesn’t kick-start itself soon, there will be a serious shortfall between supply and demand.

Padraig Howard of Drumquin Con- struction is of the opinion that we are very close to this. “The builders have cut back the amount of projects they are involved in. The number of starts next year will be negligible. Homebond registrations are down by something in the region of 80 per cent this year. This is the lowest level of housing starts in County Clare since 1994. We are now talking in single figures.”

There are certain factors that are stopping the market from kicking back into life, and while stamp duty doesn’t affect first-time buyers, ac- cording to Leyden, it has the biggest effect on the market.

“I feel that the 7 per cent rate

of stamp duty on purchases over €125,000 is penal and crippling and should be revisited. My view would be that a 4 per cent band should be introduced between €125,000 and €750,000 and a 7.5 per cent band over €750,000. The middle market and investment market are suffering because of the current 7 per cent and 9 per cent rates.”

Both Leyden and Howard are ada- mant that neither the building trade nor the auctioneering trade want to see house prices rise to the levels that they were at 18 months ago.

“We need a stable market. Drum- quin Construction was selling three houses a week in 2006. Now we are selling one every two months. The demand is there, but buyers aren’t taking the plunge. A microcosm of this happened in 2002 when buyers stopped buying for 12 months,” said Howard.

“Tf there is a rebound in the market, it will take the building trade 12 to 18 months to catch up to demand. There is a lot of planning in the pipeline, but due to the effective embargo on planning by Clare County Council development can’t start. From the date that planning gets the go ahead,

it will take a year to a year and a half until they are ready for sale. Next year the market 1s going to be in lim- bo and it will be 2010 before we see any serious action,’ says Leyden.

Howard agrees with this statement saying, “If this happens you’re going to have increased demand, but with no supply.”

Nobody wants to see history repeat itself and despite issuing warnings about the future of the property mar- ket, the pair are upbeat about what is ELOVb OTM UL

“The economic outlook isn’t so bad. There will be lower interest rates, it is rumoured that the budget will provide serious incentives for buyers and it is hoped that the credit crunch will be receeding,” concluded averore

LIMERICK ‘scumbags’ are not wel- come in Shannon – that is the stark warning delivered by local town councillors. Members of Shannon Town Council have opposed plans for a Regional Housing Strategy between Clare and Limerick, amid concerns it would result in undesir- able people from troubled areas such as Moyross and Southill moving to the town.

During a debate on the issue last week, Councillor Mike McKee (Ind) said, “We have had scumbags out from these areas, very nasty scum- bags that come out here because they see this as an open market.”

He said that a member of his fam- ily – and stressed it was not his son – was recently knocked unconscious, having been assaulted by “a member

involved in the feuding gangs”.

Councillors agreed that they would not oppose people moving to the town from Limerick, but would not accept criminal elements moving to SJetveveleee

Councillor Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said she was shocked and horrified to receive the circular about the strat- egy. Councillor Tony Mulcahy (FG) said that the regional housing policy proposal “struck me as a bit like the Heathrow bank holiday situation” last year.

“They are being housed by the health board and they have rent sub- sidy. I say ‘No, no and no again.’ This is the greatest con job I’ve seen in my life. We cannot accept this and we are not accepting this,” said Cllr YIU er Teh

Labour councillor Tony McMahon said the proposal was an attempt to

“bring in a extension of the Limerick city borders by stealth. These people are going to corrupt where they go and need to be dealt with. We haven’t houses for our own.”

Labour’s Greg Duff said that while Limerick’s problem had to be solved, it was not acceptable that this would be achieved by moving it to Clare. “The people coming in have been creating mayhem. If it continues, it will break down local communities,” he said.

Fianna Fail’s Sean Hillery said it took a long time to solve issues with the travelling community in Shannon and likewise the problem in Limerick would take a considerable period of time to address. “It’s going to take a long number of years to resettle that and the only place that is going to be solved is in Limerick. Any other so- lution is going to fail. Bringing them

out here is not going to solve it,” he Cr HOe

However, the wording of the mo- tion, brought by Cllr Mulcahy – that the council have “no hand, act or part in any regional housing policy that would include the relocation of peo- ple from the Limerick city Regenera- tion project and in particular to Shan- non region – was “discriminatory”, according to Fianna Fail’s Geraldine Lambert. She said the motion should be re-worded to make reference to families causing trouble.

“I have a difficulty with the per- ception going out of here that we wouldn’t want ordinary decent peo- ple moving here,” she said.

The motion was carried after it was supported by six councillors, with three opposing it – Cllrs Duff, Hillery and Lambert – on the grounds of its Oy KON De

THE people of Shannon are being urged not to light bonfires this Hal- loween, after a number of unsavoury incidents occurred last year.

The advance call has come from Labour councillor Greg Duff, who said that a lot of negativity 1s associ- ated with bonfires.

Last year, members of Shannon Fire Brigade were at the receiving end of abuse as they attended to bon- fires at Halloween. They had timber

and eggs thrown at them at a bonfire at Rineanna, while they had bottles thrown at them at a bonfire in New- market-on-Fergus.

Councillor Duff is suggesting, in- stead, that residents’ groups centre their Halloween celebrations around JETOOD UN AOE NACE

This comes in the wake of hassle associated with fires in recent years and he doesn’t want this to happen Noe NUON UISEN( orb

“Last year, young children of eight or nine were transporting items

across the road to the fires and they looked like dumps as people used bonfires to get rid of all types of items, some of which were hazard- ous,’ said Cllr Duff.

He said that various residents groups in Shannon have organ- ised family fun days this year. “We should look at having some events that would take the focus away from having bonfires, around the time,” he SLU TegeZeR Kore

At a meeting of Shannon Town Council last week, he urged his fel-

low councillors to get behind his proposal.

“T think there’s an onus on us as politicians in the town to maybe not solve all the problems associated with Halloween, but to put together a community event,” said the Labour councillor.

‘‘T remember it as a happy event, but now it is an event for some people to Ker: Kom NOE RY O(oIO MAM NoMCT BLOB

Fianna Fail councillor Sean Hillery agreed and said he would support his colleague’s motion.

BUSINESSES in Parnell Street are considering a two-point plan aimed at addressing parking problems in the area.

The plan, drawn up at a recent meeting of representatives from the business community, the Office of Public Works and the Taxi Federa- tion involves the OPW purchasing 30 parking passes for the Market Street multi-storey car park for business permit holders in the Parnell Street area.

Businesses say trade in the area has been adversely affected by the loss of parking spaces resulting from work being carried out by the OPW on the Ennis flood relief scheme.

It also proposes, according to town engineer Tom ‘Tiernan, banning parking permit holders from parking in the Parnell Street area, with a view to making as much parking space as possible available for shoppers and customers. Mr Tiernan outlined the proposal at yesterday’s meeting of the Ennis electoral area where he also defended the decision to re-lo- cate the taxi rank from O’Connell Square to Parnell Street.

He said that during the public con- sultation process, Ennis Town Coun- cil received, “60 or 70 significant submissions and practically all of them supported the move. There has

been a significant improvement with 21 taxi spaces. The queuing system is as it should be, in one straight line. There were no objections to re-locat- ing, which is the first time in this type of process that that has happened.”

However, 1n a motion, Fianna Fail councillor and former Parnell Street resident, Pat Daly called for the council to consider re-locating the rank to other areas of the town.

He described re-locating the taxi rank as a “bad decision’, but conced- ed business owners in the area had made a mistake in not voicing their concerns earlier.

He said, “Business in the area is a disaster. Moving the taxi rank was a bad decision in the first place. One of the major causes is the loss of 30 parking spaces. It should have been re-located to another area, like Bank Place. It would make more sense. It can be a long walk up dark alleys from the Queens nightclub down to Parnell Street.”

Independent councillor Tommy Brennan said agreement over the move had been reached with the Taxi Federation. “There are plans to up- grade O’Connell Square. We need it as a centerpiece for the town,’ said the councillor. Mr Tiernan said he would consider reducing the size of the taxi rank, but added that all alter- native ideas and suggestions for sites had been exhausted.