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THEY say that figures never lie and if that’s true then there is no disguis- ing the poor state of the Clare econ- omy. According to figures obtained from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) unemployment in the county has climbed by more than 25 per cent since June of last year.

More worringly, the latest figures available show the greatest single jump in Clare people signing on the live register. Numbers shot up from

5,036 in May of this year to 5,505 in June or an increase of just under ten oaceonle

This increases represents the larg- est single, month on month, jump in unemployment figures in the county in more than five years.

Each area of the county has been hit with the spike in unemployment but Tulla appears to be suffering more than most.

Between June 2007 and June 2008 the amount of people signing on in Tulla increased from 446 to 678.

This increase of 232 people sign- ing on represents a massive jump of more than 40 per cent in the space of just a year.

Ennistymon has also been hit heavily by the increase with unem- ployment figures jumping from 573 to 806 (40 per cent) in the same pe- riod.

The situation is less drastic in oth- er parts of the county with number jumping in Ennis from 2,502 to 3293 (30 per cent) and in Kilrush from 609 to 728 (15 per cent).

IT’S full steam ahead at this stage for four men and a 60-year-old Mor- ris Minor.

Peader White, Gerry Dobbin, Ger Sweeney and Cathal Duddy ofm em- barked from Ennis on Saturday on the Bald Eagle Tour – an ambitious voyage that will take them to the four corners of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The journey is a long one. Taking off from Ennis the Morris Minor head south to Ireland’s most south- westerly Mizen Head.

From west Cork the road continued to Rosslare and onward by ferry to the Welsh port of Fishguard.

The next leg took the crew to Brit- ain’s most southerly point, Lands End. Then it was onwards and up- wards to Scotland and Britain’s most northerly point John O’Groats.

All going to plan, the Morris Minor should be, by now, on the road to the Scottish port of Stranraer. There the journey continues by ferry to Larne and the final leg of this exhaustive trek commences with a drive to Ma- lin Head.

Finally, driver Peader White turns

south for Malin Head. Journey’s end should be reached sometime later this week, when the Morris Minor wheels back into Ennis.

The journey is the brainchild of Ennis man and vintage car enthusi- ast Peader.

It all began two years ago when Peader drove a 1954 Austin A40 450 miles from Malin Head to Mizen Head to raise money for the Clare branch of the Samaritans.

Last year, Peader completed the Same journey raising almost €3,000 for the Samaritans and the proceeds raised this year will again go to the

SPV Le Dae

Gerry Dobbin, Deputy Director of Outreach Services for the Samari- tans and one of Peader White’s co- navigators, said, “I’ve never done something like this before. It should be exciting but I hope we make it all the way. We are hoping that we will be able to stop of at some local branches of the Samaritans at some points along the way”.

Gerry added “Peader has been do- ing these types of journeys for the past few years and we at the Samari- tans have always been very grateful of the support”.

ST JOSEPH’S Secured their division one status with this remarkable win that condemns Eire Og to relegation.

This was must win for both teams with both hovering dangerously close to the bottom of the table be- fore throw in.

Level at half time, Joseph’s pulled away in spectacular fashion. Goals from Paul Dullghan and Sean Mc- Mahon put Barefield seven points clear by the 39th minute. Dullaghan pounced again for Barefield’s fourth goal in the 44th minute, by which time the Eire Og challenge had well and truly expired.

The end was slow and painful for the townies. Joseph’s took full ad- vantage of their collapse, hitting their opponents for seven points in the final quarter.

Barefield impressed in midfield where Kevin Dilleen and Conor Has- sett covered a lot of ground and con- tributed ten points. Ken Kennedy was

again the lynchpin at centre back and McMahon is adjusting well to life at full forward. Strong enough to cause a bit of bother under the high ball, McMahon exhibited a sure touch when the ball came in hard and low.

Manager Kevin Kennedy can be pleased too that his side never eased up despite the blatantly one-sided nature of the contest in the closing NE TLoe

The second half was the stuff of nightmares for Eire Og. They con- ceded and 3-12 and scored just two points. The townies drop down a lev- el, but of more pressing concern will be the psychological damage inflict- ed ahead of the club’s make or break championship clash with Kilmaley.

It started promisingly for Eire Og. Danny Russell’s struck two points from placed balls either side of a free from Hassett. Russell was then involved as his swift handpass set up Cathal Whelan for a goal in the 6th eepeeleikon

Hassett (2) and Russell traded points

before McMahon forced an opening for Michael Cullinan to strike a goal on the 15th minute.

Dullaghan’s point put Joseph’s 1-4 1-3 ahead. Tadgh McNamara’s point levelled it and points from Hassett and Adrian Flaherty ensured a half time score of 1-5 1-5. Barefield were soon in charge after the re-start. Kennedy hit over a point before Dullaghan poked a goal in the 37th minute as the Eire Og full back line dithered over Marty O’Regan’s clear- ance. Still, it was nothing compared to the destruction about to be visited upon Eire Og.

McMahon turned Whelan and fired a goal in the 39th minute. Even at this stage, and Barefield ahead by seven points, Eire Og looked shot of one

Hassett, Dilleen and McMahon added three points before Dullaghan rifled in his second goal, to leave 4-9 1-6 ahead.

The townies were done for. Damien Kennedy picked of four late points.

Hassett and Dilleen added a couple more. Eire Og’s sole response came from Ronan Cooney who scored two late points.

THE discovery of a rare and endan- gered plant along the route of the proposed Gort-Crusheen bypass now looks unlikely to seriously delay the progress of the road.

A rare Wood Bitter-Vetch was last week discovered on the outskirts of Gort, however the National Roads Association (NRA) and National

Parks and Wildlife Officials have examined the rare plant and now believe it can be relocated without causing any undue harm.

The plant was discovered at Kilter- nan outside Gort and is now likely to be relocated. “We take a great deal of care in situations like this. We have our own experts who examine plants to determine if they are of any signif- icance and we also work in tandem

with a team from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to ensure that the correct measures are taken,’ said Sean O’Neill of the NRA.

“We have done a great deal of re- Search into the Wood Bitter-Vetch and we have determined that it is Okay to remove it at this time of the year without doing any undue harm to the plant itself.

“We will be relocating the plant to

a nearby location shortly. It hasn’t cause a big delay in the project.”

The Wood Bitter-Vetch or (Vicia orobus) is a bush shaped plant which produces small purple flowers. A rare and protected plant in Ireland it is be- lieved to be more common in some parts of the UK, especially Wales.

Behind the scenes work is ongoing on the Gort-Crusheen bypass and the NRA are hopeful that contracts will

be signed on the Ennis to Gort sec- tion of the road before the end of this year with work to start early in the new year.

Meanwhile, Minister for Trans- port, Noel Dempsey confirmed that funding had been ringfenced for the construction of the Gort-Crusheen bypass saying that the Government would be appraising all current capi- tal schemes before the year’s budget.

CLARE has gone from being one of the counties least strangled by debt to being the county with the highest average debt.

That’s happened in just five years according to a recently published re- port by Business Pro, a Dublin com- pany which records court actions taken by people chasing up unpaid debts. The massive surge does not take account of mortgage debts.

The report found that in 2003, the

average debt to land a Clare person in court was €6,159.

This has rocketed in 2008 to €20,596 – a jump of 234 per cent. The debts which find their way into the report include unpaid personal loans, utility and tax bills.

Five years ago, just two counties had average debts of €10,000. That number has risen to seven today, with Clare topping the league followed by Kilkenny, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Monaghan and Roscommon.

The Clare indebtedness figures are

against a national average of €8,900, the figure for which debtors are tak- en to court having failed to pay their bills or repay loans.

“There has been so much easily available and cheap credit in Ireland over the last five years that a lot more people have been borrowing money,” said James Treacy, managing direc- tor of Business Pro.

‘A certain percentage of those loans will always go bad. That is one of the reason debt will go up over the next 12 months.”

A BUSY few weeks of fun and games drew to aclose last week with the end of this summer’s Clare Federation for Special Needs summer camp.

Based in St Clare’s School, Gort road Ennis, the camp ran for a three week period since throughout July, catering for children with special needs and young people from ages five to 18 years.

The camp is funded by the Clare Federation for Special needs who employed 12 young people to run the camp in conjunction with the group leaders, Helen O’ Neill and Sharon Malone.

Key funding and organisational sup- port for the highly popular summer camp was also provided by Eileen Williams, Chairperson of the Clare Federation, and Bridgid O’ Mahony, secretary of the Clare Federation. Principal of St Clare’s Anne Walshe oversaw the activities at this year’s camp. The summer camp runs along- side the July provision, a system that provides for extra schooling for stu- dents with certain disabilities.

The summer camp was instigated at St Clare’s five years ago to cater for the students who are not eligible for the July provision.

The summer camp has grown from strength to strength and this year 1s

providing three full weeks of ac- tivities and social interaction for 25 children and young people. Many of the students attending were from St Clare’s, but this year organisers have been delighted to open the doors of St Clare’s and welcome students from other schools for the three- week period.

Students had their hands full with the fun filled programme. Activities included swimming, bowling, week- ly visits to Tumble Towers, bouncy castle, cookery, art and sports.

One of the most popular attractions at this year’s camp was the school’s sensory garden.

Opened in 2007 by Bishop of Kil-

laloe Dr Willie Walsh, the garden is specifically designed to allow chil- dren uninhibited access. The design of the garden is such that certain ar- eas are specially planted to appeal to the sense of sound, while other areas appeal to the sense of touch.

The garden and the school’s new play area provided the ideal setting to make new friends. Already, children and teachers are looking forward to next year’s Summer camp.

THE race for the Clare Cup heats up this week as four out of the six re- maining fixtures in the top three d1- visions have relevance to the fight for the four semi-final places.

In Division 1, leaders Sixmileb- ridge will top the group if they can overcome Crusheen but even if they lose, they could still guarantee a spot in the penultimate stages if either Cratloe or Newmarket-on-Fergus lose to Clooney-Quin or Clarecastle respectively. The only game at the

weekend saw St Joseph’s record a comprehensive victory over Eire Og, relegating the Ennis side in the proc- ess along with Kilmaley.

The sole remaining fixture in Divi- sion 2A — Inagh/Kilnamona v Scariff – has connotations at both ends of the table with the Combo topping the di- vision if they win and thus claiming the semi-final spot while a win for a revitalised Scariff would guarantee a relegation play-off with neighbours Whitegate to see who will join Kil- lanena in Division 2B next year. Tulla were the big winners at the weekend

as they completed their fifth succes- sive league victory to jump to the summit and gain promotion but it will all depend on the Combo’s last outing to decide the group.

In Division 2B Clonlara secured the top spot with a four point win over Feakle, thus becoming the first Clare Cup semi-finalist while the other winners at the weekend, Ogonnelloe and Broadford will have to wait until Wednesday to realise their fate when Smith O’Briens take on Corofin. A win for the East Clare side would guarantee promotion but a draw or

defeat would mean a three way play- off to see who gains promotion.

In Division 3, Ennistymon and Clarecastle will contest the interme- diate league final after both won at the weekend with Ennistymon guar- anteeing the Magpies place after a late goal saw them surprise Meelick.

The Division 4 final between Eire Og and Newmarket-on-Fergus’ sec- ond strings is fixed for Sixmilebridge on Saturday while in Division 5, Bal- lyea will play Sixmilebridge’s third team in the first of the semi-finals in Clareabbey on the same day.

LATEST Government figures show that crime in Clare is on the decrease with provisional figures from the first quarter of this year showing a major decline in a number of areas of crime.

The figures show that there was 34 sexual offences reported last year and this year the figure from January to the end of March was two.

The number of serious assaults 1s also down. Where last year there were 68 assaults causing harm, for the first quarter this year the figure was 12.

Other assaults have also shown a drop. Where the numbers recorded to date this year were 53, this com- pares to 222 for the whole of 2007.

The trend in homicides is also on the way down with none to date re- corded in January to March of this year. This compares to 16 in the last three years and this figure includes charge of dangerous driving causing ler taee

The figures also show that public order offences are proportionally down with 363 public order offences recorded in January to March and this compares to 1,530 in 2007.

Figures relating to disorderly con-

duct are also down on last year with 310 recorded offences compared to Pett Atlee

The area of drug enforcement also showed a drop with 85 recorded drug offences in the first three months and this compares to 358 for the 12 months last year.

One of the only areas which is showing a potential increase by year end is child neglect where five report offences were recorded in the first quarter and this compares to 18 such cases in 2007.

The statistics show that to date this year, there has been no abduction of any person under 15 and this com-

pares to two last year.

According to Green Party council- lor, Brian Meaney who sourced the figures, “the figures are very encour- aging, but before we can get compla- cent in any way, we should be aware of the seasonal factors involved. For example in the area of public order, the number of public order offences are generally higher in the summer months and around Christmas.

“However, it is very encouraging in relation to the rates of homicide, robbery and sexual offences where there are significant drops and that is to be welcomed,’ added Councillor Meaney.

this week, both the Construction Indus- try Federation (CIF) and the Clare Plasterers Union called for the gov- ernment to fast-track projects such as the Gort/Crusheen Bypass, the Western Rail Corridor and the Ennis Main Drainage Project. “There is no doubt that the down-

turn in the housing sector, which is due to a number of factors including the liquidity of the banking sector, has had an impact on the construc- tion sector in Clare,” said director of the CIF’s Southern Region, Conor O’Connell.

“But it is very important that the skills built up over the years is net by the government in terms of rolling out the National Development Plan. It is vital that spending on public in- frastructure is not cut over the next number of years. This infrastructure will provide for the development of the next stage of our economy.”

The Clare Plasterers Union, which represents almost 1,000 builders in the county, called on an increased government spend in school build- ing.

“The government could do some- thing by tackling the prefabs in the schools. There aren’t proper class- rooms in Barefield or Ennis or in most schools around the county. If they could invest in this they would alleviate some of the unemployment in the system and boost the education system down the road,’ said Branch Secretary, Paddy Connelly.

‘The undercutting is getting cut- throat, and it’s not foreign compa- nies – it’s Clare builders undercutting Clare builders. People are undercut- ting by as much as 30 per cent. There is no profit in that they are working just to keep a cash flow going.

“A lot of people are emigrating, a lot have gone to Australia but it is hard enough to get in over there at the moment. A lot of ground workers

are heading to the UK in preparation for the Olympics and we would pre- dict that a lot of finishers like plasters would be going over there in a few years time.

“Things are very bad – there is mass unemployment in Clare at the moment. It’s not just Clare, the whole western seaboard is very badly hit. I would say that 60 per cent of the construction workers in Clare are idle. You can drive all around Clare, Limerick and Cork and they are idle. Some of them are on the dole, but there is a lot of undercutting going Oe Dem salem ett-Du. Colm

The CIF would like to see govern- ment spending on key infrastural projects speeded up in the county.

“In lots of respects Clare has some of the biggest infrastructural projects

underway at the moment. You have the Shannon Tunnel – I know it’s just outside of Clare but it will have an impact on Shannon and that catch- ment area. There is also the Crush- een Bypass and the Ennis to Galway Rail Link. All of these projects will have a significant impact on the county. These must be continued and if possible speeded up,’ continued Mr O’Connell.

“There is pent up demand in the housing market. The condition of the banking sector is effecting peoples ability to get loans and we need some government and industry working on this. It cost so much to build a house in Clare. If people believe that hous- es will fall dramatically then they are living in a pipe-dream. I can’t see how prices can continue to fall.”

ENNIS Brass Band received the Presidential seal of approval after a memorable performance at Aras na Uachtaran

All 28 members of the Ennis Brass Band performed for the president and guests along with Riverdance and musicians Sean Davey & Liam O’Floinn at the Aras Garden Party on July 1.

It isn’t the first time the band has per- formed for the President McAleese. Two years ago, the band welcomed the President to the County Museum, on the occasion when Ennis was named Ireland’s tidiest town.

But, according to band member Daragh McAllister, this most recent reception at Aras na Uachtaran, ranks

as the highest accolade bestowed in the band’s 37-year history.

“We had had heard that the Presi- dent hold these type of events pretty regularly. So we sent the letter saying that we would love to perform for the President”, explained Daragh, “It’s the biggest thing that has happened to the band in its history”.

The band marked the occasion by presenting the President with a gift. “We presented her with a piece of Burren Limstone engraved with the name of the band and the date”. President McAleese hosted the event to recognise the contribution of teachers to Irish society.

More than 350 recently retired teach- ers from throughout the country joined the President at the Aras along with representatives from the main

teaching unions – ASTI, INTO and the Teacher’s Union of Ireland. Speaking at the event, the President said, “The Irish story of success at home and success against the odds abroad is not a story of coincidences but of commitment – the commit- ment of those who chose the great vocation of teaching whatever the ups and downs of the times. Through that vocation they introduced each unique pupil to his or her abilities and talents, developed their strengths, helped them devise coping strate- gies to manage and overcome their weaknesses and sent them out into the world as well-equipped as they could, to become the best people they could.”

Another milestone in the history of Ennis bras Band will be achieved lat-

er this week when the band travel to a pocket of southwest France closely linked with Ennis. St Paul de Fe- nouillet was twinned with Ennis in 1989 and the band are due to perform there on Saturday night.

“We are going there mainly as a holt- day for the band, but we got in touch with some people over there and there is going to be reception for us in the town. We are mainly going to be based around Perpignan. Playing at the Aras was the biggest thing for us but this trip is pretty big as well”, said Daragh.