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CLARECASTLE woman bBreige Scanlan is getting into shape as she prepares for the New York City Mar- athon.

61-year-old Breige will run 26 miles through the streets of New York in November.

She is taking on the gruelling chal- lenge to raise money for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin.

In the meantime, Breige has em- barked on a strict training regime.

Breige explained, “I wanted to do something and I thought running a marathon would be a lovely way to start my sixties. I’m really starting to think seriously about it now. I go for arun in Raheen Woods three times a week and every day I do a jog from

Clarecastle to the roundabout down by the Clare Inn”.

Unsurprisingly, Breige believes in the importance of a healthy lifestyle. She worked in health care for over 35 years, first as a registered gener- al nurse and then as a public health TOS aSoR

She puts her own high fitness levels down to Chi Running, a technique that stimulates immense mental focus to combat the wear and tear caused by running.

Breige’s life changed dramatically when, in 1979, she moved to Bang- ladesh to work with the aid agency Sonteoue

It was there, in the slums and vil- lages, working with the sick and the poor that Breige first became aware of the healing potential of the body.

“IT was there for two years and it was where I first came in contact with natural healing. Here there was all these people who were very sick and who didn’t have access to differ- ent medicines but were still surviv- ing’. She adds, “I really believe that people need to be more committed to staying healthy. People should have a greater reasonability for looking after themselves. We can’t be relying on the HSE and all these big institu- tions or taking injections for every- thing. Its down to the individual.”

In 1985 Breige moved to New York where she lived for 20 years. She is familiar with the sights and sounds of the Big Apple and her training regime was based around one of the city’s most famous landmarks.

“Ttis a totally different place. I used

to do my training in Central Park. A circle of that 1s six miles and I con- vinced myself that if I could do three of them, I could definitely do a mara- ste) s a

Breige returned to live in Ireland in 2005. She now practices reflexology at her home in Clarecastle. Refelxol- ogy is a gentle preventative health care measure that relies on the body’s own healing ability.

Before hitting New York Breige must raise €5,000. In order reach that goal, Breige is offering reflexol- ogy sessions in return for donations. For further information contact Breige at 065 6847255.

MILTOWN have made some decent strides this year at Under 21 level and have been rewarded with the op- portunity of making a final. Corofin stand in their way and they should have a big say in how this one devel- ops at Ennistymon on Saturday.

Miltown will be looking to the likes of Shane Curtin, Gearoid Hynes, Joe Curtin and Enda O’Gorman to propel them to victory but Corofin scored freely in over-coming Clooney-Quin earlier this month.

That day two weeks back they rat- tled in three goals and if they can pro- duce a similar goal fest on Saturday, they will be hard beaten. Miltown

also racked up 2-11 in their defeat of Kildysart so all signs point to a high scoring and entertaining encounter.

The second semi final also prom- ises to produce some good football. Lissycasey will take on Clondegad at Clareabbey in a game that is also set to take place on Saturday.

Garry Brennan will look to anchor his side at midfield while closer to goal, Paudge McMahon will look to emulate the form he showed in scor- ing nine points to help Clondegad edge into this semi final.

With local bragging rights at stake, Lissycasey will also be keen to en- sure thay put in a quality display and if they can curb Brennan and McMa- hon, they could edge it.

AN ENNIS man has been denied a bed in the Central Mental Hospi- tal (CMH) in Dublin due to lack of space, despite a court ruling that he be moved there.

The dramatic revelation emerged at Ennis District Court last Friday evening, shortly after Judge Joseph Mangan had directed that the man, who was in court on several charges, be taken to the CMH in Dundrum.

The court was later told that there

was no bed available for the man, whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons. He was then taken to the psychiatric unit at Ennis General Hospital.

Earlier the court heard there was a fitness to plead issue relating to the case.

The court heard from Derry O’Donovan, a solicitor representing the Health Services Executive. “In relation to fitness to plead, there are six different categories. Even if he is fit to be tried, it doesn’t get away

from the fact the man has a mental disorder,’ said Mr O’ Donovan.

ATUTelexemm\Y Ev oteecvomncr-D(CMmNet-lMmislommereleyas had heard previously that the accused was not fit to be tried.

Mr O’Donovan pointed out that the ultimate decision regarding whether the man be received at the CMH rest- ed with its Clinical Director, Profes- sor Harry Kennedy.

Judge Mangan said he was ordering “that the accused be transferred to the Central Mental Hospital”.

Inspector Michael Gallagher then

told the court that previously in an- other court where a similar order had been made, gardai arrived at the CMH and the patient had been re- JEU ore MSIL NAA

Judge Mangan replied, “If they refuse to take the patient at the door of the CMH, the order collapses. I don’t see why he would be brought back to this court. It’s out of the hands of this court.”

Mr O’Donovan said that he was in- volved in the previous matter which was referred to by Inspector Gal-

lagher and said the problem related to bed space. “The CMH has more staff per patients than any other psy- chiatric unit in the country. It is a very secure unit,’ he said.

‘I can’t see the director refusing. If he does, his (the patient) status 1s that of an involuntary patient in the men- tal health system,” said the solicitor.

“The CMH is the only place in the country. If there 1s no space, these particular laws are set to nought and we are dealing with sick people,” he added.

DOZENS OF gardai from across the Clare division will get on their bikes and cycle 130 kilometres across the county later this year – all in the name of charity.

The 20th annual garda charity cycle which will take place on September 13 this year is in aid of the seven wa- ter-based emergency services across the county.

The gardai will cycle the 130 kilo-

metres trek from Doolin to Two Mile Gate, outside Killaloe.

Doolin Coastguard, Lahinch Sea and Rescue, Kilkee Marine Rescue, Kilrush Lifeboat, Bunratty Search and Rescue, Killaloe/Ballina Res- cue and St Caimin’s in Mountshan- non will receive equal shares of the money raised through the cycle.

Ennis Sergeant Joe Downey, who is PRO for the event, said the excellent work put in by the emergency serv- ices should be recognised.

“The importance of the role they play in rescuing people and some- times the grim task of recovering bodies should be highlighted,” said Sgt Downey.

“They are fantastic organisations who give their time _ voluntarily and who need money on an ongo- ing basis. While they all get a little bit of money from the Government, their ongoing yearly running costs are pretty high. We recognise that and we decided to donate money to

them,’ added Sgt Downey.

Kilkee Marine Rescue will use the money for upgrading equipment at its rescue centre. The equipment is updated on an annual basis and funds are always welcomed.

Killaloe/Ballina Rescue will buy a trailer and mobile communications centre, while Doolin Coastguard intends to use the money raised to- wards the purchase of an automated telephone paging system, which indi- cates the position of its units at sea, through global satellite.

Lahinch Sea and Rescue will put the money towards replacing its boat, while St Caimin’s in Mountshannon will purchase new suits for its mem- bers. Kilrush Lifeboat will use the money to train its volunteers and buy new crew kits, while Bunratty Search and Rescue intends to put the money towards maintaining its newly refur- bished centre.

All of those due to take part in the cycle are members of the gardai. Some have cycled for this event for several years and have raised thou- sands of euro each year.

“We are hoping that 40 cyclists will take part this year,’ said Sgt Downey.

The participants will all have spon- sorship cards, while several volun- teers will travel the route on the day, collecting money and members of the public are being urged to contrib- ute towards a good cause.

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.

A FAMOUS victory for Clare last night as they totally outclassed hot favourites Cork in the Cadbury Mun- ster U21 hurling semi-final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, setting up a final meet- ing with Tipperary on Wednesday Nelo)

This was a brilliant display by the Banner boys who no doubt will sav- iour this victory especially as the counties meet at senior level in a few days time. The home side tried eve- rything to turn the tide, but such was the solid performance from the visi- tors, there was very little they could do.

Clare were on top all over. Note- worthy though was the contribution of full forward Caimin Morey who finished with a very healthy 1-8 while outside him wearing the number 11 shirt Ger Arthur swung over three magnificent points in the second half (four in all). They pulled the strings too at midfield where Damien Browne and Nicky O’Connell stood out, and a very solid defensive per- formance yielded just 1-5 from the Rebels, that goal came right at the ler Tdee

A brilliant first half display by the Saffron and Blue resulted in an in- terval 1-9 t O-5 lead, and it was no more than they deserved. They were

literally on top in all sectors conse- quently it was a lacklustre Cork who had three county seniors on their side — Cathal Naughton, Patrick Cronin and Patrick Horgan. They only man- aged one point from play in the open-

ing 30 minutes, which came from corner forward Stephen Moylan on three minutes.

GUE Tees eben ore marcanlaeubetcmcle-DamLUD ESC ing ahead by three points after five minutes with full forward Morey fir-

ing over a pair of frees and a beauti- ful long-range effort from midfielder Browne. They increased this advan- tage to 0-6 to 0-3 before a splendid lengthy delivery from O’Connell out around the middle of the park was whipped to the net by Morey to put them comfortably ahead by five points with 10 minutes to go to the eee

Twice they denied Cork goal op- portunities when firstly goalkeeper Donal Tuohy came off his line and then Gary O’Connell stopped a blis- tering shot from Naughton. The visi- tors finished the half strongly with a trio of points from Arthur, Morey and Colin Ryan who had switched from the corner to full forward.

Significantly, Clare maintained that momentum for the new half. They gained valuable breathing space when a Horgan penalty was expertly saved by outstanding keeper Donal Tuohy. And when Eamon Glynn darted out of defence to find Arthur, you could sense something special was about to happen. The sides swapped points, but entering the final quarter, Clare had raced 1-15 to 0-9 in front.

O’Connell and James McInerney pushed on from the half back line, and some impressive shooting from Morey, John Conlon, Sean Collins and sub Conor Tierney ensuring there was no way back for Cork.

Clare were ahead now by more than double scores before Horgan finally got through for a late, late consola- tion goal.

FROM bungie bulls to bouncy cas- tles, from lazer zone to hotshot foot- ball, from circus shows to puppet acts, Scariff GAA Park will see the biggest ever Family Fun Day on the upcoming August Bank Holiday Sat- urday as part of the Scariff Harbour OMe IE

According to Karena O’Brien, one of the organisers of the fun day and member of the Harbour Festival Committee, “The GAA field will literally come alive with a line-up of activities and entertainment on a scale never seen before in Scariff, suitable for children of all ages and set to exceed the amazing success of last year’s event’.

Mayo-based fun company, “Toons & Balloons’ returns to Scariff this year to deliver the festival’s dream AVE CCUKs eMC MCAVoINLMM ALN OMB AUUI EE: DOLOMNSY-H(cIRY a high priority for everybody. In ad- dition to the bouncing castles and inflatable games, an exciting fun- packed interactive laser game arena will be set up in an 1,000 sq.ft self- contained covered space. Another

new dimension is a fast-moving com- petitive pony race called the ‘Pony Hop’.

The amazing Franzini Brothers who describe themselves as devilish- ly handsome west Kerry Italians will perform their spectacular antics with a 40 minute interactive circus skills Show, ‘Deathwish’. These heroes of the Irish circus scene will carry out death-defying stunts and so-what magic giving a hugely comic edge to their whole performance.

Marie Barrett, another member of the organising committee agrees there will be an air of magic on chil- dren’s day not just with the Fran- zini Brothers but also with the Dog & String Theatre Company. “Their hand puppets, shadow puppets and life size figures will engage children in a lively interaction with the world of imagination,’ she said.

This year Scariff sees the return on Sunday, August 3, of the much-loved ‘Armagh Rhymers’.

THE latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, has found Munster employers remain the most optt- mistic in the country with seven per cent of employers planning on hiring more staff in the next three months. Regionally, Munster employers re- corded the highest outlook recorded by any region for the quarter. Ac- cording to the employment agency figures, this figure was “closely fol- lowed by Dublin employers (five per

cent) and Leinster employers (four per cent) who are, as a whole, remain- ing optimistic about future growth. In contrast, Ulster has reported the weakest employment outlook of mi- nus eight per cent, which shows a significant decline of 20 percentage points since last quarter. Connaught employers have also reported a dis- appointing employment outlook of minus two per cent.

Despite serious job losses and a sig- nificant number of business closures in Ennis. Official figures show that

Clare had just half the number of company failures in the six months to the end of June 2008 that it had in the same period in 2007.

Between January and June 2007, ten companies went to the wall in the county, This year, just five have closed their doors in that time.

The Manpower survey also shows that Ireland’s Net Employment Out- look for the next three months is just three per cent, the third weakest forecast of hiring intentions reported across the globe for this quarter.

The figure of three per cent is Ire- land’s overall ‘Net Employment Outlook’ figure which is calculated by taking the percentage of employ- ers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a de- crease in employment at their loca- tion in the next quarter.

Ireland’s Net Employment Outlook of three per cent is second only to Spain (0 per cent) as the weakest em- ployment outlook while India (47 per cent), Peru (40 per cent) have report-

ed strongest employment outlooks. The Manpower Employment Out- look Survey, which measured 686 Irish employers’ intentions to in- crease or decrease their workforces over next three months, reveals that employer confidence in the mining and quarrying and the construction industry sectors has weakened by 33 and 27 percentage points respec- tively since last year. The restaurant and hotel sector has also undergone a steep decline, with employers report- ing a 22 percentage point decrease.

This year the talented singer wal be joined by Anthony Kearns of the

Irish Tenors.

This has been described as a real coup for the area as Anthony now spends much of his time performing in the States.

Described as a true lyrical tenor, he has an incredible agility and flexibil- ity of voice and the ability to colour notes gracefully and beautifully.

Kearns has a deep love of opera and a devotion to the genre, and feels that French and Italian operas best suit his voice.

His work includes a variety of music from the classics to traditional music. He was born in Kiltealy in County Wexford at the foot of the Blackstair Mountains.

The Wexford man came to promi- nence in 1993 when he won “Tre- land’s Search for a Tenor”.

After winning the competition, Anthony studied for three years with voice teacher, Veronica Dunne, at the Leinster School of Music.

He has toured Germany, Italy, Ire- land, and the United States to an en- thusiastic response and this August he will join Ms Nathan in Labash- rere

Regina’s career in opera, concert and recital has taken her from her native Ireland across Europe, and as far as Kuala Lumpur and New York’s Carnegie Hall.

She has appeared in some of the most famous opera houses in the world and sung major lyric soprano roles throughout her career.

A devoted recitalist, Regina’s tal- ents also embrace everything from classic Lieder to traditional Irish

eyes

She recently performed at the American Embassy in Dublin for the fourth of July party in front of 1,500 guests

SW stoma Come Dletlkmm sll mereyeCom Keyxcls sles for a must hear performance in St. Kieran’s Community Centre, La- basheeda on Saturday, August 9.

Accompanying music on the night will be provided by piano player Mairéad Hurley.

Due to seating requirements there are a limited number of tickets and those interested are asked to ensure they get their tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Tickets cost €35 and are available from Paul at 065 6826578; Patricia at O87 6370223; Liam at 087 2220289 and John at 087 2941556.

GER Loughnane has witnessed many ups and downs in his managerial ca- reer but perhaps none were as bewil- dering and demoralising as Galway’s defeat to Cork on Saturday.

Rumours of intense preparation were backed up by a National League final appearance in May and opti- mism was widespread in the stands on Saturday that Galway finally had a side to match the likes of Kilkenny.

That confidence only grew by haltf- time as Galway led by two points with the strong wind to come, and Cork had been reduced to 14 men af- ter Donal Og Cusack was dismissed for a second yellow, but with only Joe Canning proping up a toothless attack, Galway failed to emerge after the break.

Their overreliance on Canning was well founded as the teenager racked up 2-12 over the 70 minutes and de- servedly took the man-of-the-match award but it was a poor reflection on the rest of the forwards who only managed three points between them.

Standing by the team bus, Ger Loughnane appeared a shellshocked

figure. In full view of his players from their seated position on the bus, dis- illusionment was the key phrase he repeatedly used to describe Galway’s collapse but he was just as willing to praise Cork’s qualities.

“At half time and even early in the second half when we were four points up, it looked good but you have to hand it to Cork. The fellas they have, the drive they have, the physical power, the quality of their hurling and their support play.

‘That is the most susceptible mar- gin of all time, two points, because at least twelve points would have been the real difference between the two teams because only that we had Joe Canning, we would have been beaten off the field.

“It was a complete and utter col- lapse when you think of the amount of training that we have done, the quality of training that we have done, to see a team going down like that, it is absolutely disillusioning when you produced a display like we produce in the last 25 minutes when the game was really there to be won and lost.

“So it was very, very disappointing but you had to admire Cork. When

their backs were to the wall, all their big men came up trumps and that’s what champions do. Unfortunately, only one of our big men performed and he gave a fantastic display at full-forward but too many other of our players just didn’t perform on the day.

“Now you can as have as many reasons as you like for that. I know that they will all say about having no matches but that’s for another day. But I suppose when you see Cork getting beaten by Tipperary and then having another game against Dublin and we play just Antrim and Laois, I mean that is crazy, absolutely cra- zy. Io go into a game of that inten- sity, the players didn’t know what hit detoye0 a

The subject inevitably turned to where he and Galway go from here.

‘“That’s for another day but the road back for the players I think de- pends on the decisions that the hurl- ing board will make now. Are they going to go for matches early on in the year or are they going to cling to this system of just dropping in a team at the end of July when every other team has already played one or two

or three big matches and hoping that you will pull off one big display and get on the road after that.

“What was I was hoping there at the end is that we would get a draw and then you would have a replay and then you would see where you are going.

“But we didn’t deserve a draw, there is no question of deserving it, it would have been total robbery if we had got a draw.

“I’m just totally and utterly disil- lusioned. Completely disillusioned. You know we have had disapoint- ments before with teams but that was inexplicible when you see how we were playing in training and the qual- ity of the hurling in training and then to come down and play like that, you just look out and say ‘this isn’t the team that has been training with us for the last seven or eight months’.”

Another probing arrow came from the pack, enquiring whether he re- gretted saying when he took over the job that it would be a failure if Gal- way didn’t win an All-Ireland in two years?

“No. I don’t regret it whatsoever. It is a failure. There 1s no other way of

saying it. I went up to Galway for two years and I said I would give it two years to win an All-Ireland and we didn’t even win a quarter-final, we didn’t even get to a semi-final, we got nowhere in two years.

‘The very same problems as we had in the league final against Tipperary where only one or two forwards per- formed, happened again today after all the training we have done so in any man’s language, that’s a failure.”

The final missile was launched when he was questioned whether he would give it a third year, to which Loughnane quipped.

“Have a guess.”

With that, more tactical questions ensued but the bus wasn’t willing to wait any longer and with a beep of the horn, Loughnane promptly exited through the doors in what appears to be his last journey with Galway.