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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.

THE nursing home operator headed up by Shannon Airport Authority Chairman Pat Shanahan increased the size of its business by almost one third and returned to profit last year.

According to recent returns to the Companies Office, Mowlam Health- care increased its turnover from €14.2 million to €18 million.

The country’s largest nursing home operator — which is to open a new nursing home and retirement village in Ennis and Kilrush shortly — re- turned a pre-tax profit of €680,000 .

This followed losses of €387,000 in 2006 and €335,462 in 2005. Last year’s profit allowed the company re- duce accumulated losses from €1.29 million to €678,000.

Mowlaw Healthcare operates 12 nursing homes providing long-term, convalescent and respite care for the elderly throughout Ireland. The new retirement villages in Kilrush and Ennis are set to create 100 new jobs.

During 2006, Mr Shanahan in- creased his shareholding in Mowlam from 22.5 per cent to 33.3 per cent and last year he resigned his post as executive chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority.

This was in protest over the fail- ure of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to inform him and the SAA

of Aer Lingus plans to end the Shan- non-Heathrow route.

Two years ago, Mowlam Health- care secured €100 million funding to increase the number of homes in its ownership to 20, with more than 1,000 beds in total.

In 2005, the company employed 430 and this increased to 525 last year with staff costs amounting to €10.6 million. Directors’ aggregate emolu- ments were last year £100,000.

Pairc na Coille retirement village is located in Drumbiggle, Ennis and has 27 houses, 35 apartments and a 60 bed nursing home. Riverwood re- tirement village, located in Kilrush consists of 15 houses, 16 apartments and a 46 bed nursing home.

Mr Shanahan, who formerly worked as Vice President of the US owned Tellabs in the Shannon Free Zone said, “We are really proud of the standard of all our homes and re- tirement villages, and Riverwood is no exception.

“It is located in beautifully land- scaped grounds, designed with the residents’ enjoyment, security, and CLOyenieneu lose Ceromm un mpeenenlen

“We are committed to enhancing the quality of life for all our resi- dents, and deliver high-quality care which is focused on those who live in Riverwood and in our other homes throughout the country.”

AS THE Scariff based Every Mo- ment Counts Youth Group (EMC) heads into its third year, a special plea is being made for helpers and youth leaders.

The club has gone from strength to strength, getting involved in all kinds of entertaining and develop- mental activities but unless parents, aunts, uncles and other adults vol- unteer some time this year, the club could be in trouble.

Said Youth Leader Tracey Doyle, “we’re bound by health and safety regulations as well as insurance and child protection laws. We have to

have one adult for every ten young people. We currently have 42 mem- bers in the club and just three lead- ers. We’ve been lucky in that not all the members turn up together every night but if we are to have any new members this year then the club has to have more adult supervision.”

The club members have been in- volved in schemes such as “Drums not Drugs” , where they learned hand-drumming and eventually per- formed in Croke Park.

A spin off of the club, “Youth Ex- press” in which youngsters learned how to express ideas through art and crafts was set up. The young mem- bers even organised their own youth

music festival this year.

The new youth club year starts on Thursday September 11 and goes on each Thursday between from 7pm- 9pm at Youthreach, Scarriff next to library.

“If parents don’t come along on September 11 to register as helpers, then we simply won’t be able to take in any new members”, said Tracey. Clare Youth Service will train new leaders and the commitment in- volved does not include having to or- ganise outings or paperwork “but it would be great if people would come along, get involved with the activities at club level and come with us to help on outings. We particularly need

people who might be able to bring some activity for young lads. A cou- ple of men would be very welcome’, said ‘Tracey.

Annual membership costs ©25 and includes insurance for all activities.

Weekly admission is ©2 per per- ete

All parents of members are re- quired to come on registration night and sign up to a volunteer rota.

“If enough parents sign up they will only be required to volunteer once every six to eight weeks”, said Tracey. Volunteers can come along in Thursday week or contact the club by email at emcyouthgroup@hotmaiul. com.

that the election process be- ing used “does not allow for adequate communication on a countywide ba- sis between various and community groups that make up the voluntary community pillar in county Clare.” Three members from the public and community groups will make up part of the board, but the selection of these three members is by invitation of nominees rather than using the voluntary and public umbrella group. He also questioned the potential geo- graphic balance in the system used. Clare Community Forum was set up by the Department of Local

Government to represent the com- munity-voluntary pillar, and today represents approximately 500 groups on a number of state and semi-state bodies.

“This was set up by the Government but another hand of the Government is choosing to ignore it,” he said.

“If it was set up as acommunity and voluntary pillar to be part of all bod- ies, why is it not there for all bodies? Why is one body choosing to ignore it?” asked Mr Cahill.

“And why is it being allowed to?”

CLDC has meanwhile reminded community and voluntary groups around the county that the deadline is approaching for receipt of nomina- tions and voter registration forms for electing three community and volun- tary Directors to the Board.

“A good deal of interest has already been shown by the community and voluntary sector in the election,” a statement said.

Monday, September 8, at noon is the deadline for receipt of nomina- tion and registration forms. Groups who have an interest in rural devel- opment, social inclusion, the envi- ronment, culture and community development are being encouraged to get their forms in on time and get involved in the election.

Ballot papers will be sent out by post to registered groups after Sep- 00 aoe