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ENNIS woman Sharon Collins has spent the weekend in jail after being convicted of soliciting a poker dealer to murder her partner PJ Howard and his sons, Robert and Niall.

The mother-of-two, of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, was

also found guilty of conspiracy to murder the three Howards, at the end of an eight-week trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.

She was remanded in custody to the Laurel House unit of Mountjoy women’s prison where she is one of ten inmates, including Tanya Lamb (30), who is serving a 10-year term

for killing her partner with a hockey stick.

Her co-accused, Essam Eid (52), a native of Egypt, was found guilty of extortion and handling stolen prop- erty and acquitted of burglary at the Howards’ family business in Ennis.

However, the jury could not decide on conspiracy to murder charges

against him and recorded a verdict of disagreement.

Collins denied setting up the email address lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie and hiring a hitman over the internet in 2006. She claimed that she had been the victim of a set up.

ENNIS Town Council’s ban on new housing development because of the poor sewerage infrastructure has claimed its latest victim.

More worryingly for developers, the latest refusal 1s for a relatively small development of only 26 houses. Pre- vious refusals related to projects in excess of 100, 200 and 400 residen- tial units.

The situation is expected to contin- ue for another four years at least until anew €75 million sewage treatment plant is commissioned at Clareabbey. The timescale for the plant was an- nounced prior to recent speculation on Government cutbacks.

The plan by Mairead Murphy for 26 homes at Claureen on the La- hinch Road was refused after the Council ruled that “the development would be premature by reason of an

existing deficiency in the provision of sewerage facilities and the period within which the constraint may be expected to cease”.

In an internal memo, Town En- gineer, Tom Tiernan said his main concern over the application relates to the capacity of the main sewerage treatment plant at Clonroadmore.

‘The capacity of this plant has been evolving as an issue for some time and this stage, it has been determined

that it is stretched to the extent that it would be inappropriate to approve any further significant developments which would be dependent on it.

“Given that the new plant at Clare- abbey will not now materialise until 2012 at least, the concept of an in- terim upgrade of the existing plant to accommodate envisaged require- ments over the next five years or so is feasible at a cost of between €1.2 million and €1.5 million.

“Tf this conclusion 1s confirmed, the only means of funding the upgrade works will be in association with prospective development which will be approved via the planning process with any funding to be levied under the council’s approved contribution scheme”’.

The Claureen development was op- posed by residents associations from the Brookville and Dun na hiInse housing estates.

THEY’RE a superstitious lot in Bal- lyvaughan and Fanore. They don’t pose for team photographs until they have a cup. It means there won’t be a photo of Ballyvaughan’s first senior team until they have Jack Daly.

It’s a dreamy notion for sure, but it doesn’t stop the Ballyvaughan boys dreaming. And, one more dream came to life in Ennistymon on Sat- urday night when they shocked 2006 champions Eire Og with a stunning second half comeback that sent shockwaves around Clare football

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The news was greeted with gasps of amazement at games in Kilmihil and Miltown Malbay — Clare football had been turned on its head by Bal- ly vaughan, a club that haven’t basked in the senior football limelight since Fanore’s Paddy O’Donohue played for the county in the 1917 All-Ireland or Sean Mac Néill O’Loghlen and a few others were on the Liscannor team that won the 1940 champion- abhor

The thrill of it all was summed up by manager Pat Costello afterwards. “It was brilliant to beat Eire Og, it’s

hard to describe really how it feels,” he said. ““We didn’t know what to ex- pect going into this game — we had a few injuries and only had 18 togged at the start of the game, while they had 33 or 34. That’s the difference, but we got on with it and got a few VOLO Kem HOMO mi CoscmOlt OMAN CCMOE:NA “Beating Eire Og is bigger and better than beating Cusack’s in last year’s intermediate final. It’s huge for us. People said we’d go straight back down to intermediate. There were even people in our own parish who said we were only a junior team, but we proved them wrong with this

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“Scoring 2-10 in senior football is a great achievement. A lot of senior matches are won in Clare with scores a lot lower than that. We knew we were capable of this — we knew we were fit enough to play for 60 min- utes and had made our mind up be- forehand that we were going to play for the football for the 60 minutes. Ost lmcm Wier: MW iomenlen

“We were slow enough to get go- ing in midfield, but once we got to erips there Eire Og couldn’t stop us going forward. We deserved it and it’s a huge boost for the club and our

first ever adult win in Ennistymon,” he added.

With that it was time to repair to Logue’s Lodge in Ballyvaughan, where the Talty Cup they won in last year’s ‘Battle of the Burren’ with Michael Cusack’s for the intermed1- ate title was filled one more time.

The Jack Daly race had started with a big bang. A very big one at that.

SHOW time has come around again in Bridgetown, where the |8th An- nual South East Clare Show will be held in the beautiful showgrounds in this scenic little village.

The Committee are again look- ing forward to a great turn out, and preparations are now almost com- plete for a very full and entertaining programme.

This is a family day out with some- thing for everyone to enjoy. The show started in 1990 and missed one year because of the Foot and Mouth scare. Itis very highly regarded show among the show fraternity and is in the top ten shows of its class in the

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The horse show events are in the capable hands of Caitriona Bourke, Clonlara, with 22 classes includ- ing five all-Ireland qualifiers and the Limerick Lady Champion 2007 qualifier. Three classes are for Driv- ing Classes for Traditional Vehicles under the supervision of Pat Hayes.

Helen O’Neill has expert control of the working hunter/performance working hunter/show hunter ponies, show riding and side saddle classes. Helen has 23 classes. This section has attracted huge entries in the past, and it is expected that this trend will Loyal ApALeLSE

Show jumping is in the care of Dav- net Kiernan O’Brien and again big

entries arte expected. There are 16 events in this section. Conor Hayes takes charge of the cattle section, and has 27 classes.

Michael Hayes has the dog show portfolio. This event is improving every year, and this year huge en- tries are expected. This section of Bridgetown Show has gained a great reputation and this year there are 13 classes including the Gain Dog Food All Ireland Championship Qualifier.

A new addition to this years pro- gramme is the vintage classic cars section ably steered by Joe English.

In the home industries section, the ladies of the committee have put in a great effort to ensure that everything is in good shape.

Bernie English looks after the home baking section. The secretary of the ladies section is Kate McAuley who is in charge of the flowers section.

Of course the children cannot be overlooked, and there are 9 classes. The novelty events include the Little Miss competition, bonny baby, and AVE Cele ssetcMam eB sCCA AI Kontce

No show would be complete without the competition for the best dressed lady.

The show committee is most appre- ciative of the land owners, who with- out their help, the show could not go on. The committee would also like to thank their sponsors and particularly their main sponsor, Tom Marsh for their sponsorship.

has learned that Slainte, the HSE’s local drug and alcohol treatment service, has been forced to limit its service to those under the age of 24.

The recruitment freeze in the HSE has also left more than half the county without a local mental health counsellor as staff covering the En- nis, east Clare and west Clare regions have not been replaced.

This has created a situation where Clare GPs have no place to refer pa- tients who present with alcohol or drug addiction problems, while GPs outside of Ennis, east and west Clare

can only refer addiction patients with mental problems to the mental health services which they claim are “inap- propriate” to their needs.

“There is a big difficulty in Clare when it comes to funding. At the mo- ment, in large areas of the county there is no counselling service avail- able at all. We have a worse service now than we had back in 2006,” said Clare county councillor and commu- nity nurse manager with Clare com- munity mental health services, Joe Arkins (FG).

“We may have the offices and the signs outside the door, but we don’t have the personnel inside. The area is badly under funded. People over 24 years of age are being sent to the mental health services which is a totally inappropriate place to send Weloeee

THE amount of summer chartered flights flying into Dublin Airport has passed out those flying into Shannon Airport for the first time ever.

That was the startling revelation at last nights meeting of Clare County Council where calls were made for the local authority to redouble it’s efforts to market the county to tour- ists abroad, especially to the United NF tee

Commenting on a motion put for-

ward by Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab), Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) blamed the loss of the Aer Lingus’ Heathrow slots in Shannon as one of the chief reasons for the decline in tourism nga t Kone

“The Clare Tourist forum is work- ing very hard but we have to recog- nice that there were fierce impedi- ments put in the way of the Clare tourist forum, not least of which is the loss of a connection,’ said Cllr McCarthy.

“The current system with flights

coming into Ireland is favouring Dublin and the greater Dublin area and not Shannon. The number of chartered flights going into Dub- lin has passed out those going into Shannon for the first time ever. This is very bad news for the tourism pro- duce in Shannon.”

The council also heard that a number of hotels in the county were working three-day weeks as a result of the widspread downturn in tourist numbers.

“I’d like to see more initiative used

in promoting the county. There are no incentives or advertisements to bring people in. We are looking at putting out a brochure but we re- ally should have done that last year. There are no enticement for people to come into the county this year,’ said Cllr Fitzgerald.

“Some hotels are now down to a three day week to get people in. The Americans are not coming. Especial- ly in to the Shannon slots.”

According to Fianna Fail councilor Pat McMahon, the tourism industry

is suffering not just in Clare but also throughout Europe.

“The situation is getting worse by the month. You hear of hotels going into receivership and down to a four and three day week – the whole in- dustry is in serious trouble,” he said.

“It’s not just in Ireland. People are scared to go abroad and move be- cause of the state of the global econ- omy. It should be up to us to take the initiative and put forward a new programme for bringing tourism into OE Tome

A 25 YEAR old man who fell from a cliff in Quilty after a night out man- aged to raise the alarm by using his mobile phone to call his mother.

The incident occurred at around 7.45am on Sunday. The young man, named locally as Pat Murrihy from Quilty, had been socialising in the area on Saturday night and was walk- ing home early on Sunday morning when he apparently stumbled and fell almost 10 metres from a sheer cliff onto rocks below. He was alone at the time of the incident.

As he lay injured and unable to

move, he raised the alarm by call- ing his mother on his mobile phone. She immediately contacted the emergency services before rushing to the scene along with neighbours and members of the local Red Cross vuebLe

The incident occurred between Quilty village and the local pier.

A rescue operation was launched within minutes involving the Doolin unit of the Irish Coastguard, gardai, the ambulance service and the Shan- non based coastguard helicopter. The operation was coordinated by Valen- tia coastguard radio.

Mr Murrihy was treated at the scene

by Red Cross personnel pending the arrival of the coastguard team.

Shortly before 9am the man was airlifted to University College Hos- pital in Galway where he is receiving treatment for back injuries which, al- though serious, are not believed to be life threatening.

Gardai at Ennistymon are inves- tigating the incident which is being treated as an accident.

A coastguard spokesperson said the man fell about 8 metres down a sheer cliff. The tide was out at the time but if it had been in, the casualty would have been very close to the water.

“We were able to reach him by

walking down a ramp but it was de- cided to airlift him to hospital rather that transport him by road. It was certainly a good thing he had his mobile phone with him.”

A spokesperson for UCHG con- firmed that the man 1s expected to be discharged from hospital on Monday night or Tuesday.

Last October, an 81 year old retired New York City fireman died after he fell from the same cliff just yards from the scene of Sunday’s accident. Pat Lusterring, who was originally from the area, was returning to his holiday home from visiting a friend when the tragedy occurred.

JUDGES were in Shannon on Satur- day running the rule over the Gleann an Oir estate for this year’s Pride of Place awards. The estate, which is hoping for success when the na- tional finals come around in October, has made great strides over the last months and years.

A relatively new housing develop- ment, Gleann an Oir is home to some 200 residents. Taking part in the Pride of Place awards has improved the estate both physically and in terms of community spirit.

“We have about 40 houses in the estate including families, people

renting out houses and a lot of peo- ple from different counties,’ said Michelle Hayes, Gleann an Oir Resi- dents Association.

“We are located just across the road from the Wolfe Tones GAA club, where a number of presentations took place on Saturday morning before the judges took a walk around the estate. The estate was build in 2001 and this is the first time we have taken part in the competition.”

Taking part in this year’s Pride of Place competition has improved the physical look of the estate, but more importantly it has also improved the community spirit with all sections of the population working together.

“During National Tree Week, Clare County Council donated some trees to the estate which we all got together and planted. We also got a new stone for the estate with the name carved into it, which is really nice now,” continued Michelle.

‘This has been really great for get- ting the community spirit going in the area. We have a summer party at the end of the summer with a bar- becue and a bouncy castle for all the kids. It’s great for getting people together and allowing them to meet their neighbours.

“People are working on the estate during the day so it is harder now for people to meet their neighbours and

settle in.

‘Since we set up the residents asso- ciation we have had more and more people coming to the meetings which are really starting to take off. At Christmas time then we have Santa come to the estate so it is a full year of activities.”

The finals of the Pride of Place will take place in Waterford in Novem- ber. The winner’s top prize includes €2,000 and a commemorative glass plaque.

FEAR, rage and bitterness – long af- ter the battle of the Gaelic Grounds gave way to a night of nursing disap- pointed pints and stifling tears, the fight raged on in the darkest corners of the World Wide Web.

The scrapping in the stands may have been blue-on-blue action, but on the forums of An Fear Rua, Boards. ie and GaaBoards.ie the battle lines were drawn very much along the banks of the Shannon.

The day had started in friendly fashion; with a public poll on boards. ie predicting a narrow Tipperary win and some 30-year-old memories on An Fear Rua.

“T’m old enough to remember the Munster Final of 1978. There was a massive build-up,” said Clooney- QuinHead on An Fear Rua.

“Both sides were crammed with outstanding hurlers and everything pointed to a classic match. What oc- curred was a disappointing match, with a lot of niggle between players all over the field. I hope it wont be the same today,”

After the match however, the gloves came off with fans pointed at each

other and the Banner players.

“Our supposed big game _ play- ers were no where; Carmody, Grif- fin, Plunkett and Gilligan (lets face it, when the fat was in the fire he

couldn’t score from 40 yards),” said Kid Chocolate on An Fear Rua. “Only Colin and BOC and to a less- er degree Donnelan, Vaughan and O’Grady came out with reputations

intact…Frank Lohan has hurled bril- liantly for Clare for a long time but he is not a full back. He was caught against Limerick last year, Limerick this year and nearly Waterford and was very poor yesterday. It’s unfair to such a good hurler to have him end his career like this. We need a full back… Mike Mac showed a stub- born side by excluding Quinn and this cost Clare. We now have a centre back 1f Mac picks the right team.”

Meanwhile on boards.ie the con- sensus was that Clare had only them- selves to blame.

ml OIF: Vcmm sey uoay amd s(ommex: hoe Come UE hYARUYa Li their wasted chances. Not at all un- expected, I think the Biddy Early Curse is still having an effect,’ said AO STE

Greediness was singled out as an- other contributing factor.

“Clare beat themselves today with the six forwards displaying high lev- els of greediness,’ said CyberDave.

‘Any time one of the players got a chance within 90 yards from the goal they were looking to land the big ‘hero score’ in stead of using their heads an picking out a better placed forward inside, a lack of experience I suppose.

“They had something like 14 wides if they got even a third of them they would have had a better chance at the end. However, they will still be a ma- jor challenge for who ever they meet in the quarter-finals.”

There was even time for some two week old sour grapes from the Wa- terford faithful.

“TI think Clare have been made to look better then they actually are,” said Deise59. “Tipp were awesome at times today yeah, but 10 wides to 2 in the first half tells its own story.”

Last word to Clare poster Keano the Legend on boards.ie who summed up what many in the county are still feeling today.

“Tm still very disappointed by Clare’s performance. Always hard to take a defeat but yesterday was tough as I felt Clare had the potential to win the game,’ he said.

“Once again the poor shooting was the main factor. The management will have to look at their own per- formance. Tactical changes should have happened sooner. Oh well, its onto even tougher challenges ahead.”

THE executive of Clare County Council was last night accused of pulling a stunt by reversing a deci- sion by councillors to grant planning permission for a one off home to an Ennis businessman in the Burren. CUlr Tommy Brennan (Ind) made the charge during a tense one hour debate at the council’s July meeting. He said that the 27 members of the council who voted in favour of the application from businessman Gerry

Danagher and Cllr Brennan, himself, had been wronged and hoodwinked.

At the council’s June meeting, councillors believed that they had secured planning permission for Mr Danagher to build a home at Bally- cullinan, Corofin after they voted 27- 3 in favour of contravening the Clare County Development Plan.

A planner’s report before members recommended that planning be re- fused on a number of grounds.

However, on the foot of legal advice from county solicitor, John Shaw,

county manager Alec Fleming re- fused planning permission.

Mr Danagher was refused on two grounds. The council ruled that he did not qualify as a local person as he was not born in the area and that the proposal would give rise to a risk of water pollution affecting the qual- ity of the surface waters.

Cllr Brennan said last night that the decision to refuse planning permis- sion to Mr Danagher “defies logic and common justice”.

Mr Shaw said that there was no

evidence in the report he received on the June meeting that the councillors had considered all material issues re- lating to the application that formed part of the planner’s report.

He said that he had been provided with a full record of the meeting and the conclusion was that all material matters were not considered.

Mr Shaw said that proper procedure was not followed in the material con- travention process and any objector could have overturned the decision by way of judicial review.

He said that his advice to the council was based upon the need “to protect this body from a judicial review”.

Cllr Brennan said that the report that Mr Shaw based his legal advice upon was itself based on an incorrect record of what was said at the June meeting.

However, senior council official Michael McNamara said that there was a note taken by a council em- ployee and he stood over that the record of the meeting was accurate.

An animated Cllr Brennan said: “All I want is justice, not vengeance for me, the applicant and council- lors.”

Acting County Manager, Tom Coughlan said notes of the coun- cil official would be provided to Cllr Brennan and that a legal report would be prepared by Mr Shaw on the overall issue.