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CLARE musicians were among the top prizewinners at the 2008 Fleadh Cheoil Na hEireann in Tullamore over the weekend. Ruan fiddle player Eimear Arkins took home one of the competition’s major individual prizes by coming first in the under 18 fiddle slow airs.

Eimear has 11 All-Ireland med- als and holds solo All-Ireland titles in Fiddle Slow Airs, English Sing- ing, Sean Nos Singing, Lilting and Comhra, as well as Bands and Grupa Ceoil.

Eimear had toured with Comhaltas in the 2007 Tour of Ireland and the 2008 Tour of Britain. She will be touring with Comhaltas in the 2008 North American tour during October no. ;

Eimear is also a member of Inis Og Ceili band who won the prestigious under 18 bands competition.

Other individual Clare winners in Tullamore included Aisling Hunt representing the Tulla branch of com- haltas in the under 12-button accor- dion; Siobhain Ni Ogain represent- ing the Corofin branch in the senior whistle category and Fergal Breen from the Doora-Barefield branch in the under 12 ulieann pipes.

Clare performed well across the cat- egories. The banner enjoyed success

in the under 12 instrumental groups section with Grupa Ceoil Burren and Grupa Ceoil Tigh na Coille finishing second and third respectively.

There was also a strong Clare showing in the dance competitions. St Mary’s took first place in the un- der 12 all-girls. In the mixed under 12-category St Joseph’s finished in third position while in the mixed un- der 15s St Michaels took first place.

The other west Clare set dancers taking part in the All-Ireland senior competition, Diabhliocht na hOige, also did the county proud by finish- ing second behind the other Clare set Kincora.

A KILRUSH area councillor has warned that more money will have to be allocated to hedge cutting in the west, if a major accident is to be avoided.

Concerned councillor Oliver Garry (FG) said a mere €40,000 had been allocated to cutting hedges on all re- gional and local roads in west Clare, which he estimates at 1,000 km.

Clare County Council carries out all of its heavy growth hedge cutting between the months of September and April. Verge cutting can take place year around.

This year the policy of the coun-

cil is to cut all the national and sec- ondary roads, junctions and long bends on regional roads, dangerous junctions on local county roads, ap- proaches to towns and villages and amenity locations.

Cllr Garry said that school routes were also once a priority.

‘There 1s no visibility around bends and people are inclined to keep to the centre of the road. It is a danger for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and truck drivers,’ he said.

‘There is a huge risk of accidents or people being knocked down.

“You have a lot of people walk- ing for exercise in the evenings,’ he Sr nLOe

‘The council are forcing farmers to cut the hedges but they are only cut- ting them from the inside. On a three to four metre wide road you have a danger of hedges closing them in.

“We will have a major problem if more money is not put into this.”

He said the cost of cutting hedges is estimated at €180 per kilometre and argued that the allocated funds will run out soon.

“The problem is that the money is not there to cut all the hedges on ru- ral roads, unless it comes out of other road maintenance grants.”

There is a separate fund for nation- al roads and urban areas.

‘Rural people should be treated the

same as people living in urban areas and those living on national roads. We as rural people pay our taxes and as such get the same service,’ he said.

“Why can’t we have the same stand- ard in rural areas as in urban areas,” he said.

“T feel very strongly that there should be a more significant alloca- tion put aside for hedge cutting.”

The Fine Gael councillor said that just €200,000 is set aside to cut the hedges on rural and secondary roads throughout the county

“We need double that funding to give any form of decent standard of service to those roads.”

AN Ennis woman has moved to overturn a Clare County Council decision to refuse planning permis- sion for 16 luxury homes on a site she purchased for €1.8 million.

Last month, planning permission was refused to Therese McCarthy, a daughter of a well-known Ennis builder, Jack McCarthy, to construct 16 homes at Ballybeg on the out-

skirts of Ennis.

The purchase of the site was the sub- ject of a long-running legal wrangle that ended up in the Supreme Court which confirmed Ms McCarthy as the legal owner after she agreed to pay €1.8 million for the site.

Now in an appeal against the plan- ning refusal, Leahy and Conway Architects, on behalf of Ms McCa- rthy state that the reasons given for refusal of permission are “not sus-

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One of the reasons cited for refusal was the lack of sewage treatment to accommodate the scheme but Ms McCarthy claims that at a pre-plan- ning discussion with the council she was informed that there would be ca- pacity for an extra 20 houses within the existing sewage system.

‘There 1s a need in Ennis for larger houses with reasonable access to the town centre. There are many peo-

ple who have the desire to construct larger houses and it is important to make provision for them.

‘We think this approach is accepted by Clare County Council. We do not wish to develop a standard housing estate. We feel there is a need for the provision of the house type we pro- pose in the order of 2,500 to 3,500 square feet.

“We believe that the proposal now before An Bord Pleanala would be a

significant contribution to the devel- opment of Ennis in that it would pro- vide for a type of development which is recognized as being necessary and which will take pressure off demand for urban generated rural housing.

“Our site is contained entirely with- in zoned land and the development we propose is the most appropriate type of development for this site.

A decision is due on the appeal later this year.

IRISH airlines have welcomed the British Competition Commission’s initial ruling that could end BAA’s monopoly ownership of London’s biggest airports.

Ryanair has called on the Govern- ment to move on the separation of Dublin, Shannon and Cork from the ruling hand of the Dublin Airport

Authority.

“The British Competition Commis- sion has confirmed that monopoly airports and an inadequate regulator has damaged the consumer interest in the UK,” said Ryanair’s director of legal and regulatory affairs, Jim CRE Yd ste

“Sadly, Ireland has followed this same failed model, which is why Dublin Airport provides such atro-

cious customer service at ever in- creasing costs to passengers.”

Mr Callaghan said that Ryanair has “no interest” in Owning any part of Stanstead, the airline’s biggest base, if itis sold but added that the airline will work in tandem with any new owner.

He added that Ryanair would also benefit from the sale of either Glas- gow or Edinburgh airports.

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus has also welcomed the British commission’s announcement.

A break up of the monopoly would result in lower landing costs for air- lines and this could be passed on in benefits to passengers, a spokesman for the airline said.

LAST year music classes were in- troduced to the Ellen (Nell) Galvin traditional music weekend.

The classes proved so successful that they will become one of the main features of the growing festival during the first weekend in Septem- ber. The sixth year of this annual event will be held at Clancy’s Bar, Moyasta from Friday, September 5, to Sunday, September 7.

On Friday the official opening will be carried out by well-known fiddler Vincent Griffin of Feakle at 8.30pm.

This will be followed by music Sessions with Vincent Griffin, Peter

O’Loughlin, Maeve Donnelly, John Kelly, Seamus Walshe, Frank Custy, Patrick O’Loughlin and other visit- ing musicians. There will be a ceili in Clancy’s Bar with music by the Four Courts Céili Band starting at 10.30pm.

On Saturday the free classes and lessons will begining in Clancy’s.

Tin whistle and bodhran for be- ginners and improvers with Karen McInerney, flute classes with Paul Smith beginners and improvers and JOLG COU Commel Ecco ISM VAD CCo) LMG OUERENN for beginners and improvers.

Sean nos dancing and concertina classes will also take place with Mairead Considine and set dancing

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That night visitors and locals can enjoy sessions again with local and visiting musicians.

On Sunday, the now traditional Mass in Lisdeen Church will take place at 9.30am followed by a visit to EGFR Greece re Nelo rm Oontt etry weather permitting. There will be an afternoon session in Clancy’s Bar from noon.

The festival began in 2002 in mem- ory of local woman Nell Galvin.

Born Ellen McCarthy, in Bally- dinneen Knockalough on March 1, 1887, she learned to play the fiddle under the watchful eye of blind piper Garrett Barry.

She could also play the concertina but concentrated on the fiddle.

Nell was the first Clare woman to broadcast traditional Irish Music from Raidio Eireann known at the time as 2 RN.

At the age of 14 the blind piper in- sisted that she would be entered for her first feis in Ennis and she won the competition playing the fiddle.

At the age of 18 she was again en- tered for the Munster Championships in Ennis on both the fiddle and con- certina, as she was undecided as to which instrument she would devote her time. She won a remarkable dou- ble. She died on September 5, 1961, aged 74 years.

THE third annual Clare Shout Festi- val is expected to attract thousands of visitors to Kilkishen on the weekend of September 19, 20 and 21 next.

The highlight of the weekend will be the competition to find the person who can best demonstrate the tradi- tional Clare Shout which is believed to date back to the first settlers in the Banner county.

The winner will be presented with a perpetual challenge cup along with a cash prize and the competition will be open to men and women of all aoe

The weekend will be opened with a cheese and wine reception on Friday night, September 19. This will be fol-

lowed by the keynote lecture Clare Heroes of the Caman and the Bow, by traditional music expert Seamus Mac Mathuna.

In his lecture Mr Mac Mathuna, a talented musician and composer, will pay tribute to some of the most famous Clare musicians and hurlers such as Willie Clancy, Paddy Canny, Tommy Daly, Jimmy Smyth, Brian Lohan and others.

The weekend will be packed with indoor and outdoor events to suit all ages. Full details will be announced later.

PROSPECTS of Aer Lingus revers- ing its controversial decision to aban- don its Shannon/Heathrow service in favour of Belfast have received a ma- jor setback with latest figures show- ing that the Belfast service now lags only 2,258 passengers behind the figures for Shannon.

UK Civil Aviation Authority fig- ures for July show that 29,962 pas- sengers travelled on the new Belfast/ Heathrow route last month compared

to 32,220 on the Shannon/Heathrow route for the same month last year.

Through aggressive pricing and marketing, Aer Lingus is heading towards recapturing the passenger numbers it had on the Shannon route less than six months after the launch of the Belfast service.

The gap of 10,009 for the month of June between the two services year on year was closed by 7,751 in favour of Belfast last month.

Aer Lingus spokesman, Enda Cor- neille said they were very encouraged

by the figures which were consistent with what the airline been saying all ~NKeyatee

Load factor for July on the Belfast route was 74 per cent and Mr Cor- neille said, “We are pleased with the load factor and that traffic 1s building month on month and shows that the business case of setting up the Bel- fast/Heathrow route is sound.”

“You can’t compare the Shannon service to the Belfast service as the Shannon service was in place for a number of years and the Belfast

service 18 only in place a number of ne Levels else

He said the Belfast service had gone from zero to a load factor of 74 per cent in a matter of months.

“We are pleased with the perform- ance of all our new routes at our Bel- fast base, but especially the Heath- row route.”

Figures for the first seven months show that 139,271 passengers used the Belfast/Heathrow service — 62,000 behind in passenger numbers on the Shannon/Heathrow service

for the same period last year.

202,219 passengers used the Shan- non/Heathrow service for the first seven months of last year.

At a Dail Transport Committee hearing last month, Aer Lingus chief executive, Dermot Mannion said he regretted the damage that was caused to the airline’s reputation in the Shan- non area during three or four months of last year. He later added that, “we have not ruled out any future short- haul operations from Shannon Auir- port”.

A YOUNG ‘Tuamgraney show jumper, who is being hailed as an Irish hope for the next Olympics, is Supporting a new event at one of the county’s best-loved agricultural shows.

David Blake, and his _ parents, Michael and Mary, who run the East Clare Equestrian Centre, are delight- ed to see that for the first time this year, sportsman classes will be part of the Scariff Show.

Until now, families who have sev- eral children owning one pony could only enter one child in the show jumping events.

The new class means that the pony can be entered several times with

different riders, giving all of the chil- dren a chance to experience jump- ing and opening the field for more youngsters to follow in talented Dav- id’s footsteps.

18-year-old David achieved a suc- cessful leaving cert last year but opt- ed to follow a showjumping career.

He will be competing at the Na- tional showjumping championships in Barnadown, County Wexford, oy WLeto) @

He is just back from Prague where he represented Ireland at the Euro- pean Championships. He won the opening class seeing off 105 com- petitors and produced the best Irish performance in the team event with just a single mistake in each round from his horse, Killard Horizon.

He was selected to compete at the Dublin Horse Show at Senior Inter- national level, the youngest to be se- lected since 1974.

David’s mother, Mary said that there is a keen interest in jumping among the students who come to the centre.

“The sportsman event gives more children and young people a chance to take part in the jumping. A lot of families would own just one pony but might have more than one child who wants to compete’, she said.

Joanne Allen, Show secretary, said that all sizes of pony, 60 cm, 70, cm and 80 cm will be allowed to take part, giving children as young as six years of age their first taste of com- petitive jumping.

“Not a lot of shows have this class and that is all the more reason we are pleased to have it this year,’ said Joanne.

The show, which takes place on September 6 this year will have all of the usual classes and a vintage display, which promises to be hugely popular.

The night would not be complete without the show dance, which is held in Craic n Back at Rodgers in Scaruf.

Any entrants should contact Joanne Allen, Scariff on 061 921687 or email your entry to entry@scariffshow. com. The entry deadline is August 28.

The website www.scariffshow.com has all the details.

A COUPLE have told An Bord Pleanala that the spread of a quarry towards their home must be stopped in order to preserve their sanity. Earlier this year, Clare County Council granted planning to Mc- Grath Quarries to extend its business for another 30 years with a rock re- serve of seven million cubic metres. The move to extend the operation

by 45 acres comes with the company in a very strong financial position.

The most recent accounts to the Companies Office by McGrath (O’Callaghan Mills) Ltd show that the company’s retained profits at the end of March 2006 stood at €5.4 million.

However, the couple, Patrick and Maureen Minogue, living nearest to the multi-million euro quarrying op- eration in east Clare have appealed

to An Bord Pleanala.

In the appeal, they state, ““We have lived in our home since 1975 and the quarry was operational at the time we purchased the home, but at a significantly reduced scale. The quarry area was also a considerable distance…we obviously did not en- visage that the scale of quarrying at the site would develop to its present AoE

“Be that as it may, we do not ob-

ject to the quarrying operation, per se, and accept that the quarry exists at this location. Our main reason for appealing the permission is to main- tain a separation distance between our home and the quarry operation and to protect our water supply

“We submit that taking account of the noise impact associated with drilling, rock breaking haul trucks and their horns, blast vibration, dust emission during blasting, drilling

and hauling — we seek to establish a 250 metre buffer zone between our property and the active quarry area. “We object to the extension area and to the removal of the existing mature trees in this area to protect the integrity of our dwelling, our amenity and our sanity and retain the value of the dwelling. We believe the only realistic way to do this is to condition this separation in clear un- ambiguous terms in the permission.

THE negative effect of the Aer Lin- gus decision to abandon its Shannon/ Heathrow route is highlighted in the latest figures which show the airport losing almost 70,000 passengers on its London routes since the start of the year.

Figures released by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) show that Shannon has lost 68,423 passengers on its London routes for the first sev- en months of the year.

Figures for July show a drop of 16 per cent or 11,423 passengers to and from London on the corresponding period last year when the Heathrow service was in place.

Ryanair has introduced an addi- tional service to try to make up for the shortfall but they are failing to make up the deficit.

Ryanair has increased passenger numbers on its Stansted service from 29,333 to 33,946 for July and also increased its Gatwick number from 10,902 last year to 18,915.

The airline also launched a Luton service that delivered 8,171 in July. However, the new service doesn’t make up for the 32,220 that used the Shannon Heathrow service in July 2007.

Many passengers in the Mid-west are going to Cork to fly to Heath- row and the Cork Airport Authority (CAA) continues to benefit at Shan- non’s expense.

Cork increased its passenger num- bers to and from Heathrow during July by 19 per cent on the corre-

sponding month last year. The airport recorded a 13.5 per cent increase on its London Heathrow service for the first six months, going from 224,669 for the first six months of last year to 255,000 from January to June 2008. The bad news for Shannon was not confined to the London market with the economic downturn contributing to a drop of 11 per cent in passenger numbers to other UK destinations in July. 48,739 passengers used Shan- non to and from other UK destina- tions compared to 55,349 last year.

Routes to show a drop in traffic include Glasgow Prestwick (down 1,558); Nottingham (down 4,142) and Liverpool (down 1,314).

However, other routes performed well including Bournemouth (up 772) and Manchester (up 2,237).

With a number of Ryanair routes not performing as well as they did last year, airport management will be wary of Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s comment that Shannon is only one of two Ryanair basses that is losing money.