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SUSU Srteclmco im elle icsucwullempbems bletece ratty has raised money for Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crum- lin. More than 100 people took part in the event earlier this month and in the process raised almost €2,500. The event was organised by Sixmi- lebridge brother and sister Bridget and Gerry O’Halloran, who were delighted with the turnout. The ma-

jority of the participants ran the 10k, while others walked it, during what was a family fun day.

Bridget explained her reasons for organising the event; “I fundraised for Crumlin for the New York mara- thon last year and work in the leisure centre in Bunratty. A lot of people have connections with Crumlin, while there had never been a road race in Bunratty before,” she said.

Bridget works as a fitness instructor

and to say that she is a sporting fa- natic would be putting it mildly. She plays soccer with Newtown in Shan- non and camogie with Sixmuilebri- dge, while she also took up running last year. She is currently in training for a triathlon in Chicago on August 24. This will consist of a 1,500 metre swim, 40k cycle and 10k walk.

She had organised several fund- raising events for Chicago and over the coming weeks will continue to

encourage people to help with her 8 Ce ae

“I will be fundraising coming up to it and hoping that everyone will get involved,” she said.

Anyone interested in helping Bridg- et with her fundraising should phone her on 087 2282461.

THERE’RE not many who can swal- low the bitter pill with a smile on their face – fewer still who can pause while licking their wounds and offer a good word for their conqueror. But that was the scene in the chat-rooms and blogs on the internet this week- end. But maybe we were set up for a fall. One Clare supported had ob- viously eating absolutely all of the optimism pies before throw in as he predicting not just a Banner victory but a good old fashioned hockeying for the Rebels.

“Cork have already shot their load

and will not hang with the Banner for the full seventy minutes,” comment- ed Osceola on AnFearRua.com.

‘Memories of the Munster final still loom large, what better way to erase them – the half back line looks solid and the forwards could finally come good… Clare 2-24 Cork 1-15.”

If only supporter optimism could fuel a hurling team.

After the final whistle however, the Cork bloggers were uncharacteristi- cally humble in victory while the neutrals pointed to “hurling” and “the championship” as being the real winners. Now there’s some cold ofeynen Koya m

‘The game was won pure and sim- ple on the bench. Cork have the subs to bring on and we don’t. It’s just that simple. People will blame the wides Clare had but if you don’t have a go you can’t score,’ said Give Em Tim- ber. “The strength in depth in the Cork panel was the killer punch from a Clare point of view.

‘They even had 15 subs on standby to Clare’s 10. That statistic on its own speaks volumes.”

“Clare could have won it but I think for the Championships sake it was best that Cork came through,’ said Qwerty. “They will obviously give Kilkenny a decent game. To my

mind the Cork/Kilkenny semi-final is the All-Ireland Final.”

Meanwhile, all was quiet on the Clare corner over on boards.ie, but the thoughts of the Rebel posters have already turning to Kilkenny and one major piece surgery of the own starting line-up.

“We need to drop the Rock and move Gardiner in his place and bring Cadogan on at right half back,” post- re Cod aliiouaur-rmeyeieny

“If Cork can hold them in the first half and not give away a silly lead like the past two games I can see them having a chance but if they give away a lead I can’t see KK giving

away a lead like Galway and Clare did.”

Last word to Clare poster Turfcut- ae

“Living proof that despite the dark- ness and despair in the Saffron and Blue corner, we’re still the supporters with best craic. “Fair play to Cork, they took their chances, we didn’t.

‘Perhaps D Murphy didn’t help us but he didn’t help Cork a few times either,’ said Turfcutter.

‘Hope to see ye all in Lisdoonvarna for September. The farmers are back in popularity with the girls up there… the bit of land is handy again. Up the By Teneo ae

Be UAUDerea(oie mo sce) ony (Or memne ne Mazda 2 at the end of last year and this time I was due to test the re- vamped Mazda 5, the one with the sliding door. But due to a mis-under- standing I got the Mazda 2 diesel in- stead, but I have no complaints. The Mazda 5 can wait for another day.

Last year was a great one for Maz- da Ireland with sales here taking a major leap after they decided to dis- tribute the cars directly in Ireland themselves.

Also at the end of last year their Mazda 2 finished second to the Fiat 500 in the European Car of the Year competition, but didn’t make the top five when it came to vote for the Semperit Irish Car of the Year. As the Lisbon Treaty vote proved we do things different than our European colleagues.

However, Mazda has been boosted with the recent news that they were named ‘Best Carmaker’ in the second annual Which? Awards. The maga- Zine has a good reputation for testing absolutely everything and they said that all Mazda cars are interesting to drive and there is something for eve- ryone in the Mazda range.

So this light Supermini could be the car in your range. It’s reasonably small but very nippy and my family loved the fact that it had four doors. When I drove the petrol model last year | commented on how quiet it was. Naturally the diesel 1s every so

slightly noisier.

It’s has been said, mainly by me on these pages, that diesel is the new black. So if you happen to be driving a black model of the sporty-looking

Mazda 2 diesel then you should re- ally feel that you are up to date fash- 10n-wise.

In the past I have often complained about the interiors of cars being pre-

dominantly black. This time the in- terior was mainly black again, with just the odd speck of silver on the doors and a touch of great on the seats. But I did like the exterior black

and I thought it gave the car a classy look.

On the dash the instruments are well laid out and easy to use. I like the way the gear lever is incorporat- ed into the dash rather than a stand alone item. The only complaint was that the digital clock had to share dis- play space with my choice of radio station. So often I found myself look- ing at something like: ‘1I800RTEI’ or ‘(0900 TodayFM.’

Eventually I copped on that there was a dot between the time and the name of the radio station, but it was very small one and difficult to see.

While the back seat could take three adults it’s unlikely to happen with most families, but it is fair to say that there is plenty of room for children. The boot is small, but deep.

Mazda have a marketing line where they say that their cars have more ‘Zoom-Zoom’ and it certainly is true of their Mazda 2.

Prices start at €14,995 for the 1.3 petrol model, while the 1.4 diesel I drove costs €17,495. For that you get a few extras like 15 inch alloys, elec- tric and heated mirrors, air con and MP player. Also the diesel comes in at Band A, the lowest in C02 emis- sions, which means just €100 road tax per annum.

BOYS and girls from north Clare are being offered the chance to hone the soccer skills this summer thank to a new Summer Camp.

The camp, which is being organised by newly formed local club Sporting Ennistymon FC, if aimed at young people from 6 to 14 years and will run for five days from August 11 to 15. The camp will take place from 10am to 3pm each day at the Lahinch Community Sportsfield.

“Each day we will start with a warm-up and some soccer drill to get

ourselves going. Then we will have things like passing games, passing competitions, shooting competition and most days the last hour and half will be spent in mini-leagues,” said camp co-ordinator Vinny Leigh.

‘Fun is really the main focus of the camps. They key for kids of that age first of all is for them to enjoy them- to hone

It’s great fro them to learn a pit and pick up some new skills and exercise out in the open air is always good – but first and foremost the focus is on enjoying themselves and having a good time.

“They will be learning the basics of the game such as passing, shooting and heading but it will all be done in a fun way which will incorporate all sorts of fun drills.

At the end of the week we will have a few mini-competitions just for a bit of fun. All the kids will come out at the end of the week with a goodie bag and a certificate of participation. So everyone will walk away a winner.

“We will have a crew of qualified FAI coaches with us and we will map out a programme for the camp. A lot of the camp will be based on the FAI recommended programme for this

age group.”

This years camp will also see the return of former Irish International Mick Kennedy to assist with the weeks coaching activities. The coach to kid ratio is kept to 1:14 ensuring plenty of individual attention for each child over the week.

The camp is open to boys and girls aged 6 to 14 years and will run each day from 10am to 3pm.

Application forms are available throughout local businesses and all details can be obtained by contacting Vinny at 086 0886015. Early book- ing 1s advisable.

SCENIC trips around the county were among the highlights for young- sters attending the summer camps in Shannon over the past few weeks.

Organised by the youth office in the town, the camps catered for those be- tween the ages of nine and 21, over a three-week period.

During the first week, those aged between nine and 13 attended. The highlights of the week were trips to Ailwee Cave and the Bird of Prey So iiKem to ter

Among the other events included in that summer camp were quasar, bowling, soccer, swimming and sto-

ry-telling.

The second week of the summer camp was for youth club members from Drumgeely and Skyview, along with those from Knocklisheen cen- tre. This camp ran over three days and included a day at Clare Leisure World and a day trip to Killary Ad- venture Centre in County Galway.

The third week was dedicated to the members of the Kick Back Café in Shannon. Geared to those aged between 16 and 21, the camp ran four days of events. A youth evaluation forum was organised, along with a quiz and pizza night, a day trip to La- hinch beach and a free cinema night in Ennis.

The group evaluation will be ad- dressed again in August when the CHIC RAI U IKE

The group has come up with new ideas on how the café can be run more efficiently over the coming months and these will be put to the test over the winter months.

Shannon Youth worker Cathal Dil- lon paid tribute to the work of the volunteers during the busy summer camp season.

“The three weeks of camps were tough going for the both the workers and the volunteers who I must give great credit to. In all, 10 young adults aged 17 and over trained to become summer camp volunteers in July.

They were involved in the hands- on preparation and planning for the camp days, but also helped to run the events and activities organised each day and supervise the young people throughout the camps,” he said.

“It was a gamble this year splitting up the camps to allow for all age groups and unfortunately this proba- bly led to the drop in numbers for the 9 to 13 year old camp, but the qual- ity of the work that took place dur- ing the camps and the enjoyment that the groups seemed to take from the camps was even greater than previ- ous years. Overall, I think that it was a great success” said Shannon youth worker, Pat Kerr.

YOU can huff and you can puff and you can blow Cork down, but the problem, as Clare discovered on Sunday, is getting them to stay there.

Cork it seems, just don’t know when they are beaten. They refuse to recoginse the sensation. Clare tried everything. They built up formidable leads. They scored two goals. They leathered into Cork around the mid- dle and limited the influence of a stellar half back line.

But Cork would not go away. Ben O’Connor kept running and popping

over points. Cork made the game wider and more open. Gerald McCa- rthy released substitutes like Kieran Murphy and Neil Ronan to telling effect. They looked lost but Cork found a way. Some teams will not be denied.

Another chorus of the Banks was striking up outside, just as Clare manager Mike McNamara wiped his palm across his face. This one re- PO Rvaeltba

“I think it’s probably the most heartbreaking defeat I’ve suffered as a manager or indeed as a manage- ment team. Realistically, we left the

match behind us,” said McNamara standing in the tunnel under the old stand. “We should have at least snatched a draw in the dying stages. It would have been wonderful to have another cut at it. But that wasn’t to be. That’s for another day”.

Clare knew Cork would launch a major offensive in the second half. McNamara though felt his side could have adjusted their gameplan accord- ingly to stifle the rebels

“We knew they were come any- way, he continued. “They proved that last week. We probably predicted a change was going to happen around

half time or shortly afterwards. On the day we couldn’t manage them in the second half. We’d enough lead going into the second half to maybe slow it down, slow up the game a Iit- tle bit and we didn’t do that, and we paid a big price”.

Again Clare were guilty of poor shooting on Sunday, hitting 12 BLO LoE

“Tt’s something we’ll have to look at. It’s something that has destroyed our season, going back to the Mun- Ster final,’ said the Scariff man,

“We had 45 chances in the Munster Final and we only scored 42-44%.

Something the same again. But we’ll have to look at it again. We’ll really have to look at it as part of our game, which gave us major problems. If we can correct that then we’re a match for the best”.

Television replays later showed that Clare should have been awarded a penalty when Diarmuid O’Suillivan held Niall Gilligan’s hurley, prevent- ing him from striking.

But McNamara isn’t the type to offer up cheap excuses. He said, “Referees don’t win and lose games for you. But I suppose on days like today, you could look at all those things, if you want to make excuses. But realistically we were beaten by a very, very good Cork team in one of the greatest games of hurling I have witnessed. We really won’t bring the referee into it. On another day we might have got em’. But that’s not an issue. Christ, they’ve an awful job to do and who am I to criticise them”’.

And McNamara remained proud of the part his team played in an en- thralling contest.

‘“We’re very proud of the way the team played. We’re disappointed in defeat but someone actually had to lose that game today. I’m sure Cork would have felt the same as we do. They would have been heartbroken if we managed to get a late goal or the couple of points at the end”

“Its one of those days. Its one of the great days in Thurles. Its what ignites us all. I don’t know how ye saw it but I think its one of the greatest games of hurling its been my privilege to see. It’s heartbreaking in itself. We can only saw now that we hope that Cork team do themselves proud and do us proud by going onto greater Wenner eaciae

McNamara tipped Waterford man- aged by his “buddy Davy” to go all the way in September. Asked if he would like to give it another go next year, McNamara said, with a smile that suggested otherwise, “Oh I’m moving on. I have my boat and my fishing rod and you never know. Maybe they’II retire me. I’m not sure, I’m not sure”.

The ship may have docked for an- other year, but, rest assured, plenty on board will want the captain back.

THE AXING of the Shannon/Hea- throw route by Aer Lingus has cost Shannon Airport 57,000 London passengers, but airport bosses are staying positive, saying that to lose some of the loaf is better than losing all of the bread.

In the last 12 months of the opera- tion, Aer Lingus carried 331,000 pas- sengers between Shannon and Hea- throw.

The numbers now travelling be- tween Shannon and all of the London airports which it services are down 57,000 for the first six months of this year, a drop of 16 per cent. There has also been a 20 per cent drop on trans- atlantic passenger figures.

“It could have been worse – we could have been down 330,000, but with Ryanair putting on extra flights, in a sense, we have hung on to a lot of the business,” an airport spokes- person said.

Ryanair are now the sole carriers for London traffic, providing four flights daily to Stanstead, two to Gat- wick and one to Luton.

The airport authority has not given up on the hope that CityJet may yet provide a service to London City.

“We are still talking to them about that. CityJet were before the Oireach- tas Committee on transport last week and they expressed their satisfaction with the Shannon-Charles de Gaulle route. They told the committee they are crunching the numbers on the Shannon-London City route,’ the

spokesman said.

While CityJet’s venture in Paris ap- pears to be a hit with the travelling business sector, they cannot replace the volume of connectivity which was offered on the Heathrow slots. Until

January 14 last, Aer Lingus were of- fering 700 seats daily. The smaller CityJet planes flying into Paris are offering 200 seats a day. The Airport Authority concedes that business has been lost to Cork Airport.

“We know for a fact that the Cork- Heathrow numbers have increased greatly, so obviously some of that is former Shannon-Heathrow traffic,” the spokesman said.

Commenting on the traffic figures

generally, Airport Director Mar- tin Moroney said that a downturn in traffic had been expected due to a number of factors, but there are a number of positive developments which give rise to optimism for the remainder of 2008.

“A downturn in transatlantic traf- fic had been expected this year due to the effects of ‘Open Skies’ which are, in fact, in place since the begin- ning of the winter 2007/8 schedule. The confirmation by Aer Lingus of year-round commitment to their Shannon transatlantic routes was a welcome development as was the an- nouncement earlier this year of ad- ditional promotional funding aimed at supporting traffic development on all transatlantic routes to Shannon,’ said Mr Moroney.

He added that short-haul traffic numbers had suffered owing to the loss of the three daily London-Hea- throw services and Centralwings’ withdrawal. However, Ryanair’s re- cent announcement of new services to and from Poland will compensate for this, he said. “The new CityJet-Air France service is performing well with high load factors, albeit with less capacity and frequency than the Heathrow service had offered. How- ever, market demand is expected to result in a larger aircraft operating this service in the autumn”.

AN increase in tourists looking for a more intimate experience of their time in Clare has led one north Clare businessman to launch a new, regular tourist walking service in the south Burren.

Having operated by appointment only for the last five year, the Kil- fenora based Heart of Burren Walks has this month launched two regu- lar weekly walks. The walks have proved so successful that guide, Tony Kirby, plans to run them on a daily basis in 2009.

‘There seems to a growing demand

for authentic guided walking tours in the area. I’ve been operating as a walking tour guide in the Burren for five years now or so but up until now it’s been by appointment only. But I have decided to open a new angle on it and open regular scheduled walks during the high season,” he said.

“So each Wednesday and Saturday afternoon throughout July and Au- gust we have a scheduled walk and the response has been so good that I will probably expand it a good bit next year.”

The walking tours leave from out- side the Burren Centre in Kilfenora each Wednesday and Saturday at

pelt} 108

The walks explore a variety of routes in the south of the Burren and take about two hours to complete.

“I have a few different routes and place but they are all roughly two hours in duration, the walking is always quite leisurely and there is always regular stops for some com- mentary on the highlights of the Burren which would be the nice wild flowers and things like that. The in- tention is to keep the group between 15 and at the very most 20 people. Children under the age of 16 come free of charge so that is a real incen- tive for families to come along,’ con-

tinued Mr Kirby.

“I do think that people are looking for holidays that are activity based and have contact with local people. The meeting point for all the walks is at the Burren centre in Kilfenora and I would like to think that there is a benefit for the local community and the Burren Centre.”

The Heart of Burren Walks leaves from outside the Burren Cen- tre in Kilfenora each Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm. For more info contact 065 6827707, email info@heartofburrenwalks.com — or check out www.heartofburrenwalks. one

A RESIDENT in Shannon is oppos- ing plans to demolish a local com- munity hall. People living in the Drumgeely area of the town want to see their local hall, Park Hall, demolished and another one built to replace it.

They say that the hall has become derelict and has become a haven for anti-social behaviour in its existing State.

The hall has not been used for a considerable length of time and they say that it is of no benefit to any- body.

However, resident Terry Kelly, who has lived in Corrib Drive for more

than 20 years, is opposed to this and wants the existing hall redeveloped.

“It doesn’t make sense to me to have it demolished and to have noth- ing put in its place. My intention is to fight for something in this area,” he said.

“Corrib Drive would be one of the early areas in Shannon. To me there is a greater need now for community development as people are getting old and can’t travel too far from their homes,” he added.

Fine Gael Town Councillor Sean McLoughlin raised a query on the matter at a meeting of the Shannon electoral area committee last month.

“It is an anti-social attraction. If it is derelict, it should be knocked and

identify a more suitable site for a community hall for meeting rooms. It is needed. There is no point in hav- ing it there if it is beyond repair,” he said, at the time.

He was told, in a written response from Senior Executive Officer Michael McNamara, that several years ago, Shannon Development had agreed arrangements for the lease of the hall to Shannon Youth Service Sonia

‘The council has had no input into the operation of the facility since the transfer of the town and does not re- ceive a rent in relation to the prop- erty,’ he said.

He pointed out the council will meet with representatives of the

committee responsible for the hall, “to ascertain current status and seek to address any relevant issues.”

Cllr McLoughlin told

IN THE immediate moments after the final whistle, a couple of things spring to the mind of Gerald Mc- Carthy. The battling quality of Clare and what he described as the “lucky” substitutions Cork executed.

But if Clare battled, then Cork went to war for the second week in a row and came out unscathed or unscratched and as for those substi- tutions, there was nothing fortunate about them. Two goals from the bench merely highlights the strength

of the Cork panel.

“I think we were lucky in that some of the substitutions we made worked out for us, they gave us a lift, so we’re happy to win. But in fairness, it was a real fight to the end.

‘Sometimes they [the substitutions] come off. We had a few tired bod- ies out there and two or three other lads could have come off as well. Fellas were just tired and it’s a hard ask to play two championship games in a week. Some lads played Under 21 during the week on top of that, so that’s three games in a week.

“It was said last week that it was too much for fellas and it is. The GAA is asking too much of these lads. They might think that because they are young, these lads can keep going but these big games take a lot out of you. It shouldn’t be allowed, playing three championship games in a week. The GAA needs to take a look at that.”

He looks back at Clare’s start and says they were hungry for posses- sion, that they were frenzied in their desire to clean up whatever ball was breaking and says that Clare’s open- ing goal was like a kick in the gut.

“Tt [Barry Nugent’s] was of the soft variety and it set us back. We were eight points down at half time and we equated it to last Saturday night when our backs were to the wall and we told them we hadn’t played.

“We weren’t winning the breaks. Clare absolutely cleaned us out on the breaks in the first half. It looked like our legs were heavy and we just weren’t reacting to the breaking ball. We tried to lift them an they came out very strong at the start of the sec- ond half and we got a very important goal. The players just can’t do it the

easy route. We didn’t play in the first half, quite obviously. We were a lit- tle worried about how the lads would react to the hard game we had last Saturday because they had such lit- tle time to recover. Then we didn’t hit the ground running.

“But in fairness to Clare, it was a very gutsy performance from them to take the lead and then when we came back so strong they took an- other five-point lead. We had to think very deep to win it.”

True, but that’s of little consolation to Clare.