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A CLARE athlete, who won five medals at the World Transplant Games last year, is to seek interna- tional glory once again — and she has been boosted by a recent victory in her local golf club’s captain’s prize.

Lahinch woman Marie O’Connor arrived home from the Bangkok Games last September with two gold medals for golf, two silver medals for squash and the 200m, and a bronze for the 100m — and now she’s off to Wurzburg Germany, for the Euro- pean Transplant Games.

Ireland will send 24 athletes to the Games in Wurzburg, from August 31 to September 6, and they will be joined by family and friends. “It’s not about the medals, but about the chance to celebrate the gift of life. That’s what makes these Games so special,’ said team manager Colin AW avin

Marie stresses the importance of organ donors and the need to create a greater awareness of the benefit of organ donation. She underwent her second kidney transplant in 1998 after an unsuccessful transplant in 1996.

“IT was quite competitive before I got sick. I played football and cam- ogie. When the doctors said I said I couldn’t play contact sport I was dev- astated,’ she said.

“But my motto in life is that you don’t give up. I started to play golf and I really enjoy it.”

Just recently, she won the captain’s prize at the local golf club and she hopes this is a good omen in advance of the European Games, which aim to highlight the importance of organ donation and the benefits of healthy IVovauetoadevneletca omy ole) um

They also allow the athletes an op- portunity to give thanks for the gift of their transplants.

Marie first became sick just before Christmas in 1990. She was three months in hospital before her kidney problems were diagnosed.

After three and a half years on dialysis Marie received a kidney in 1996. “The dialysis is tough but you get used to it, it becomes a part of your life,” she said.

Unfortunately the transplant did not take, and the Clare received a second kidney donation in 1998. This year she will celebrate the tenth anniver- sary of the second transplant.

“I live for the moment. That’s what I have learned. You enjoy every day,’ added Marie.

For organ donor cards free text the word *“DONOR’ to 50050 or log on to www.ika.ie for more information.

You can follow the progress of the Irish team at the Games on www. transplantteamireland.com.

I went to get in that way. When I in his sister’s living room waiting to pulled the latch, the glass broke.” loLome DU KINO MANS OMON eA ArT OBA VOOR A JUDGE yesterday jailed a man for He told the court that the window “He is very apologetic. He didn’t four months for breaking a window __ had been cracked before he broke it. | mean to break the window and im- in his sister’s house. Gardai agreed that Maughan was mediately said he would pay for it as

Michael Maughan (34) with ad- dresses at 18 Beechwood, Clare- castle and 20 Stone Court, Ennis pleaded guilty but said breaking the window at his sister’s house at Station Court Road on August 24 was an accident.

He told Judge Leo Malone that he had been staying with his sister and there were some papers at her house which he needed to bring to Bushy Park where he is trying to get a place to deal with his drink problem.

“I knocked at the door but there was no answer and I know she leaves the back window open so

soon as possible,’ Maughan’s so- licitor, Tara Godfrey said.

Maughan, who has more than 30 previous convictions, had ap- peared before the same court last week on charges of theft and as- sault on a staff member at Dunnes NIKO tee

Judge Leo Malone had imposed fines and a suspended sentence on that occasion but said that he “gave this man a chance on sub- stantial charges last week. I won’t be giving him another one.”

NEW recycling services are to be installed in Quin with a new bottle bank facility to be set up in the vil- lage.

The bank will be located near Has- sett’s Pun in Quin at a site offered by local publican Malachy Hassett. It is anticipated that the bank will be open and ready for use by the local community within the next month.

According to local Fine Gael coun- cilor Sonny Scanlon, the facility 1s

a welcome development given the growing population in Quin and the Surrounding areas.

He explained, “It was something we have been looking for, for a long time. Its well known that the popula- tion in Quin has been increasing for some time and we needed a facility like this”.

Cllr Scanlon thanked Malachy Has- sett for providing the space needed for the bottle bank. “I would like to thank Malachy for providing the bit of land for it, we couldn’t have got his

up and going without his help. We would expect that the place would be open by September”’.

Cllr Scanlon added that the provi- sion of long overdue recycling serv- ices in Quin were an important step in keeping and maintaining the ap- pearance of the village.

“Its great that we are finally getting it. As I said before its been coming a long time and it is something we have needed. We have a growing population and developments like this are important in ensuring Quin

stays tidy”’.

Bottle banks and recycling centre, operated by Clare County Council, have become regular features in vil- lages and towns around the county.

The council operates recycling cen- tres in Ennis, Shannon, the Lisdeen recycling centre and transfer station, Kilkee and at the Scariff recycling centre and transfer station.

In an effort to halt the incidents of illegal dumping, many of the stations are monitored by closed circuit tel- evision cameras.

CLARE County Council has already refused planning permission to one park and ride scheme for the Cliffs of Moher and opposition is mounting against two others planned for the north Clare area.

Last week, the council turned down planning permission to At- lantis Development for a park and ride at Roadford, Doolin. This was the third application from the north

Clare company with the other two proposals for Liscannor and Coogy- ulla, Doolin facing strong local op- position.

Atlantis subsequently withdrew these applications and _ re-lodged them last month.

An objection to the Coogyulla pro- posal signed by 20 local residents, states that Doolin suffers from being so spread out and lacking a strong central focus and the development of a facility so far outside the village

will exacerbate this lack of focus and result in a lost opportunity for the community.

“The development will draw the village further to this location as fur- ther projects locate around the park and ride facility. No justification has been put forward for the selection of this site for the facility. What makes it suitable and what will the impact be on Doolin and its environs?

‘There is no rural park and ride fa- cility of the nature and type that is

now proposed and where it 1s not run by the operator of the tourist facility which it serves.

“Insufficient information has been lodged with the application to enable the full planning implications and impacts of the development to be considered.

“The application should include an EIS given its nature, extent and con- text. The location is being put for- ward without any assessment of its impact on the sustainable develop-

ment of Doolin and its environs.

‘This trial system was never oper- ated and no one knows exactly how it will work. It also appears now that the development of park n ride is not going to be operated by the Council, but is to be left to private enterprise both in Doolin and Liscannor,”’ the objection concludes.

The proposal for Liscannor has also attracted a lot of opposition within the village and decisions are due next month.

A DRUMBIGGLE man, who took a Swipe at a Garda patrol car with an axe, has a history of mental difficul- ties a judge was told.

34-year-old Sean Sullivan of 16 Waterpark Heights, Drumbiggle, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Firearms Act when he appeared before Ennis District Court yester- day.

The court heard evidence that gardai were called to Waterpark on May 2, 2007, where they found Sulli- van in conversation with his mother.

A Garda witness told the court that as they arrived on the scene “Sul- livan had his back to us. When he turned around he was holding an axe and when he spotted us, he rushed at the patrol car and swung the axe.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.”

Sullivan’s solicitor, Tara Godfrey produced letters from a consultant psychiatrist and told the court that her client had a history of depression and manic episodes.

He had been diagnosed with At- tention Deficit Disorder and has been suffering the negative effects of being cared for in institutions as PO NEen

“He goes through periods where he is stabilised and is quite able to cope. We would ask the court to ex- tend bail conditions but if a sentence is being imposed we would ask that it not be too long a sentence, as it 1s virtually impossible for him to re- ceive proper treatment for his prob- lems 1n prison.”

Judge Leo Malone imposed a two month jail sentence.

CLARE Youth Service in Shannon is looking for volunteers to work with young people. There are several vol- unteering opportunities for anyone aged 21 or over interested in working with young people aged 12 to 25.

There are opportunities in both Youth Clubs, Drumgeely and Sky- view which will be re-opening in September when the schools return. There are also volunteers needed to help supervise and work with young people in the Kick Back Youth Cafe and Shannon Music Project at week- ends.

The Youth Service will be sending

a flyer to homes in the area with the September newsletter, outlining de- tails of what’s involved.

There are new developments in ac- tivities for young people in the town also. Five-a-side Basketball and soc- cer nights are planned for Shannon Leisure Centre in September.

‘The hall has been booked for four weeks initially and if the program takes off it is hoped that the weekly Wednesday slot will continue and this will benefit those who are inter- ested in sport and keeping fit as well as keeping the youth workers fit,” a spokesman for the Youth Service Cr HKOR

The cost is €2 per night as it is sub-

sidised by the Youth Service and they are looking for 10 to 15 people to sign up and commit to the four weeks of it. Anyone interested should contact Cathal or Pat in the Youth Office to register their name.

The Shannon Music Project has once again availed of the expertise of a local guitar teacher for the coming winter term.

Paul O’ Donoghue (Swive) has again kindly offered his services to the Music Project to teach advanced classes in electric guitar to 10 to 12 young people from the project.

The classes are designed for those who have more than a year’s experi- ence in electric guitar and are inter-

ested in learning new techniques.

The lessons begin Wednesday September 10 at 4:45pm in Respond Building, Rineanna View. They run for 15 weeks at the same time and day each week until December 17.

Anyone interested in signing up for the lessons should contact Ca- thal in Shannon Youth Office 061 364318/087 1374482 before Sep- tember 1 to secure their place in the class.

“The lessons are free of charge and Shannon Music Project would like to thank Swive for volunteering his expertise to the project again this year, it is very much appreciated”, the spokesman said.

THE Mayor of Clare met with the Mayor of Chicago last Tuesday in a bid to strengthen business and tour- ism links between Clare and the US mid-west.

Councillor Madeleine Taylor- Quinn’s meeting with Mayor Rich- ard M Daley in Chicago’s City Hall formed part of a week-long promo- tional trip by Clare County Council to Illinois and Wisconsin.

The council delegation attended the Milwaukee Irish Fest, the world’s largest Irish culture festival, where it

conducted a promotional campaign aimed at highlighting Clare as a tourist destination.

Mayor Taylor-Quinn described her meeting with Mayor Daly, a third- generation Irish American, as ‘pro- ductive’ and added that she was con- fident it would reap benefits for the local economy.

“We agreed that the retention and development of existing air services between Chicago O’Hare Airport and Shannon was a priority for the economies of the regions served by the two airports,” she said.

“T explained how it was imperative

that assurances were sought from airlines operating out of Shannon, especially Aer Lingus, that existing services will be maintained into the GULAbD aoe

“If they are curtailed then I fear that Clare’s economy will suffer immensely with the potential loss of millions of euro and hundreds of jobs,’ continued Mayor ‘Taylor- Quinn.

Both Mayors also discussed the lat- est tourism figures showing that the number of American tourists to Ire- land has fallen dramatically — lead- ing to the first drop in tourist revenue

in four years.

The meeting concluded with Mayor Daley being invited to visit Clare in the near future.

Clare County Manager, Alec Flem- ing said he was delighted Mayor Daley had accepted the council’s invitation to meet with Mayor Tay- lor-Quinn, as part of the delegation’s promotional efforts.

“The meeting was a wonderful op- portunity for the council to showcase Clare’s economic and tourism poten- tial and follows a successful tourism promotional campaign undertaken by the delegation at the Milwaukee

Irish Fest.’

“It is anticipated that work car- ried out by the Clare delegation at this year’s festival will help build on the estimated 3,000 US tourists who holidayed in the west of Ireland as a result of our promotional campaign in Wisconsin last year,’ concluded Mr Fleming.

Over 140,000 people attend the Milwaukee Irish Fest, which show- cased Irish music, history, dance, sports and various other aspects of the Irish culture. Among the featured acts at the festival were the Kilfenora Céili Band.

A DRIVER who was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving on the Kilrush road offered a doctor his big toe to take a blood alcohol sample from, a judge was told.

James Marrinan, a native of west Clare now living at 169 Denton Road in London, failed a random alcohol

breath test at the side of the road on August 24, Ennis District Court heard.

When he was brought to the Garda station he agreed to a specimen of blood being taken for analysis but offered the doctor his big toe for the test. Garda evidence was that when the charge was read to him Marrinan said, “I didn’t refuse’.

He pleaded guilty before Ennis District Court yesterday to refusing to provide a sample.

The court heard that the 49-year- old, who works for a London local authority, wanted to apologise to the court.

Judge Leo Malone imposed a four year driving ban and fined him ©400 which had to be paid on the spot.

CLARE motorists are getting free NCT’s with the Ennis testing centre snowed under by requests for tests.

There is currently a waiting list for NCT appointments in Ennis and a back-up team has been brought in to keep the tests rolling over.

But delays of more than four weeks in giving applicants a test appoint- ment are resulting is some drivers getting their tests free of charge, in line with NCT policy on customer os at (een

Drivers who ring the national test appointment line are being told that there are no appointments available in Ennis and they have to join a can- cellation list.

A spokeswoman for the NCT ex- plained that the policy is “to try to give people a test within four weeks of their requesting an appointment. If we can’t do that, we give a free test.”

The spokeswoman said that the av- erage lead-in time for a test is three weeks.

“People are given appointments

and if they don’t confirm those ap- pointments within a specified time, then they automatically fall. Our call centre opens at 8am and the first thing they do is re-distribute any test appointment which have not been confirmed.”

The spokeswoman said that while there does not seem to be a specific problem with Ennis, the back-up team which is brought on board to have the test centre working seven days a week is currently in situ in OE

“We have a core team and an non-

core team, who will work late eve- nings and weekends when the need arises. Not every centre has an non- core team, but Ennis does, as does Limerick,’ the NCT spokeswoman Cr AKOR

Since January | this year, the En- nis centre has carried out a massive 11,438 full tests.

This does not account for cars which returned for second tests that only involved one detected fault.

Of those cars which take the test in Ennis half fail and half pass, the figures show.

LAURA O’Donovan from Ardnacru- sha is in the running to be selected as Ireland’s most curvaceous woman.

She qualified to represent Clare in the national final of the Simply Be CiiaAmmceyseelcsiseyrmmUueN(Onmm stl mmole held at the Radisson Royal SAS in Dublin on August 31 after she was picked from thousands of applicants in the Limerick heat of the competi- tion

Simply Be.ie launched their search to find Ireland’s most curvaceous woman ‘Simply Be Curvy’ in April, looking for women size 14 and over who love and celebrate their curves

to enter. After three heats and from the thousands of entries 28 finalists were chosen.

The winner will become an in- stant cover girl, gracing the cover of Simply Be.ie Spring/Summer 2009 catalogue. She will also win €1,000 worth of SimplyBe.ie clothing and accessories, a holiday to the value of €1,000 plus €500 spending money and a modelling contract with one of Ireland’s top modelling agents.

A panel of celebrity judges includ- ing Caroline Morahan, Celia Hol- man Lee and Brenda O’Donoghue will choose the winner from the 28 finalists. As well as one to one inter- views with the judges, the event will

take the finalists to the catwalk to model Simply Be.ie autumn/winter range 2008. Each of the girls will be trained by model agent and former model Celia Holman Lee.

Ireland’s only dedicated on-line home shopping company for curvy women, Simply Be.ie was estab- lished to keep women looking stun- ning with no fuss – no communal changing rooms or unflattering lights and mirrors, just the comfort of their very own home.