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A JURY has returned a verdict of ac- cidental death in the case of a man involved in a road traffic accident on the road between Tulla and Gort in October last year.

The inquest into the death of 29- year-old Patrick Murphy heard that he died after he got trapped when his jeep overturned on October 27, 2007. No other vehicle was involved in the collision, the Coroners Court in En- nis was told.

Mr Murphy, a native of Crusheen, had been out socialising with friends

in Tulla on the night the accident oc- ie Kee

The deceased’s brother James Mur- phy told the court that Patrick had gone to get his get his phone from his car after leaving the Teach Ol pub in Tulla.

He said, “The first I heard of what had happened was when Valerie Hogan came out and said Pat had been in accident. We drove out to the scene. I knew it wasn’t good when I saw his back sticking out.”

Garda Liam Donoghue was called to the scene of the accident. He told the court that when he arrived he saw

‘‘a jeep overturned on the correct side of the road”.

In his deposition Dr Rasheed, a consultant anesthetist on duty in En- nis hospital on the night of the ac- cident, said that “resuscitation was started and every step was taken to resuscitate him (Patrick Murphy)”.

Mr Murphy was pronounced dead at 4.10am on the morning of October 28.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cas- sidy told the Coroner’s Court that blood and urine tests taken from Mr Murphy recorded high levels of alcohol. She said the cause of death

was asphyxia caused by a crush in- jury. Dr Cassidy also found evidence of Sarcoidosis, a rare disease which affects the immune system, and said this may have been have contributory cause of Mr Murphy’s death.

Directing the jury, County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said that the appro- priate verdict was one of accidental olerldee

Ms O’Dea said Mr Murphy’s death was a “very sad and tragic accident”.

Inspector Tom Kennedy also ex- pressed sympathy on behalf of the Clare Garda Division to Mr Mur- eMac E-TeOvO RTA

A BID to make the financial services regulator, IFSRA, investigate if Aer Lingus was in breach of EU market- ing regulations in the way they broke the news about the pull-out on the Shannon-Heathrow slot has failed.

Maverick airline boss, Michael O’Leary and Ryanair had applied to the High Court to have IFSRA inves- tigate how the rival airline broke the news to the Government of the pull- out.

But Mr Justice Peter Kelly ruled that the Irish Financial Services Regula- tory Authority has a wide discretion in the matter of what investigations it oF Neato melele

Mr Justice Kelly also ruled that IF- SRA is not obliged to say what it is investigating or to make public the results of any investigation.

He noted the regulations which in- clude an option to “private caution” a body for market abuse.

Ryanair – which holds a 29 per cent stake in Aer Lingus – claimed that if

Aer Lingus had informed one share- holder before another shareholder and the public, then it had breached an EU market abuse directive and regulations relating to insider deal- ing and market manipulation.

Aer Lingus publicly announced its decision to pull the route on August 7, 2007.

Ryanair cliamed that Aer Lingus chief, Dermot Mannion told RTE on August 12 that the Minister for Transport had been informed of the decision on August 3.

Ryanair initiated the judicial re- view proceedings to try to compel an investigation in January 2008.

In his reserved judgment, Mr Jus- tice Kelly found against Ryanair. The judge found IFSRA had no legal duty to advise Ryanair whether it intends to investigate the complaint or has actually investigated the complaint.

The judge said it was “remarkable” that Ryanair’s statement specified no breach of the market abuse regula- tions or act or of any other duties of of IFSRA.

THE twin towers of the Tipper- ary forwards, Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly, slipped away from the cel- ebrations out on the field in Limerick and made for the quiet refuge of the dressing room.

Before they reached the door, they stopped in the Mackey tunnel and took a moment to reflect on the title they’s just won. It’s a stepping stone, both believed, nothing to celebrate

too intensely, but an achievement nonetheless.

For Corbett, the other Munster medal he can jangle was picked up seven years back, when he had just broken into the Tipperary team.

2001 is a long time ago,” he said. “IT probably didn’t fully realise what I had in 2001 but I really appreciate this today. I’m delighted to be part of such an honest bunch of fellas and it was a dream there today. The hon- esty of the Tipperary people is awe-

some and I’m just delighted.”

He’s reminded of the Clare rally in the second half, but says that Clare’s response was expected. Tipperary ex- pected an ambush, they just weren’t sure when it would arrive.

“Clare were always going to get a run and we didn’t know if it was going to be in the first or the sec- ond half. They got it in the second half but the difference was John O’Brien’s goal. It was inspirational. It gave us another lift and we went on

Jeue)eemser-lmme

Eoin Kelly is of a similar opinion. He knew the backlash was com- ing, but he also knew Tipperary had enough in the tank to play themselves out of trouble.

“Like Clare, we were training since last November so we knew we had the fitness to get the scores in the last 20 minutes. We all chipped in with scores and personally, I’m just delighted.

“We’re just delighted that we don’t

have to go through the qualifiers, that we have a direct route into the semi. We’ll probably enjoy this tonight and tomorrow then we’ll sit back and focus and see where we need to 1m- prove because we do need to improve if we’re to go further.”

A stepping stone, hopefully, Kelly says, to better and bigger things to Koy nates

A year to September and the Liam McCarthy Cup is all that’s left for Kelly, Corbett and co to ahieve.

SWS l Smear yibicr IHCOeM ONO MDM OM ADNTCaNKO establish a drop-in centre in Ennis for homeless people and people with social difficulties are holding a fund- raising dance on July 31 in the West County.

The Homeless Educational Learn- ing Programme (HELP) volunteers – who have been working with peo- ple in the town since January – have decided the new centre will be called the Sara Finn drop-in centre, in re-

membrance of Sara who died tragi- Creuse neh

“We want the centre to be a place where people can come and talk or get advice about their entitlements, or just have somewhere to go,’ said Josephine O’Brien.

Josephine now has 11 helpers work- ing with her and is adamant that the drop-in centre will be different to anything that has gone before.

“Tt will be somewhere that people can talk and be listened to, especial- ly young people and people who are

having mental health difficulties.”

The aim of HELP is to provide as- sistance to homeless people strug- gling to find accommodation.

Information on housing and resi- dents rights along with guidance on issues associated with renting prop- erty will also be available.

HELP was set up by local women Josephine O’Brien and Ann Quinn after hearing about the difficulties faced by the homeless.

The spark for HELP was provided by a Christmas Day dinner organised

for the homeless at Fahy Hall.

Josephine explained that after talk- ing to people on Christmas day she recognised the extent of the difficul- ties faced by homeless people.

“A lot of them were living in B&Bs and were finding it very hard to find permanent accommodation. In many cases, particularly where renting was concerned, they were having difficul- ty dealing with landlords. Phonecalls weren’t being returned”.

She continued “What we are aim- ing to do with HELP is to provide

some sort of guidance, show them what their rights are, what kind of forms have to be filled out, that sort Oma av eercaae

The group has had a Playstation do- nated and are hoping that someone will donate a TV.

“We’re also hoping people will give us spot prizes for the dance and of course, donations are always wel- come,’ said Josephine.

Tickets for the dance can be had from the West County Hotel or from Josephine at 065 6891596.

THE way is now clear for planning permission for a €50 million retail park adjacent to the Ennis bypass after the disappearance of a rare but- terfly from the site.

The extinction of the Marsh Fritil- lary will also be welcomed by the builder of the bypass, GAMA Con- Struction, as it faced accusations from Clare County Council that it performed a breach of contract by transferring the butterflies to the re- tail park site from the bypass site.

The presence of the butterfly on site represented a major planning hurdle to Stephen Harris in his bid to secure planning permission for the retail park; it prompted the Department of the Environment to lodge an objec- tion against the plan.

However, a new report by expert Ken Bond has stated that the butterfly — which is the only butterfly protect- ed under the EU Habitats Directive — “has been lost from the Skehanagh site and that there are now no suitable habitats for the species in this area of the immediate surroundings”.

The site was initially home to a substantial colony of the butterfly in the year 2000. Larval tents of the butterfly were trans-located onto the site in the Autumn of 2005 as they were threatened by the development

of the Ennis by-pass.

According to Mr Bond, a satisfac- tory population of the species was recorded on the retail park site in 2006 and 2007.

Mr Bond was of the opinion, in the report, that the butterfly has become extinct at the site due to heavy graz- ing during the Autumn and Winter of 2007 combined with flooding events during the Winter of 2005/06/07.

A second expert, Paul Murphy of EirEco Environmental Consultants, visited the site in June 2008 and he affirmed the findings of Mr Bond on the disappearance of the rare butter- uae

The report states: “Mr Murphy did not record any adult butterflies and judged that the vegetation at the site was now a sub-optimal habitat for Marsh Fritillary.

“Mr Murphy broadly agrees with the findings of Mr Bond and also concluded that the butterfly has be- come extinct at the site.”

Last year, the Department of the Environment claimed that planning permission would be be contrary to the aims of the EU Habitats Direc- tive.

On the basis of the new evidence the department may have to revise its earlier objection.

A decision is due on the application next month.

THEY say you should never meet your heroes. Well if your heroes hap- pen to inhabit that hallowed green space between the goals on a GAA field, then a quick trip up the road to Carron for a nice chat with the founder of the association is sure not to disappoint.

On Friday the Michael Cusack Centre launched the last piece 1n its impressive display on the Clare man who founded the GAA.

The Cusack Experience uses the latest in technology to bring the visi- tor right into the life of Michael Cu- Oe

The restored Cusack homestead now has a new lodger, a holographic

projection of Michael Cusack who brings viewers on a 20 minute inter- active tour of his home, his life and the foundations of the GAA.

“As you walk into the room you are invited by Michael Cusack him- self to start the tour by pressing the button on the wall. The whole ex- perience is designed to be as inter- active as possible – viewers must in- teract with Michael Cusack to move the tour along to the next room and the next part in the story,” said Liz Flynn, manager of the Michael Cu- sack Centre.

“We start off in the main room of the house where Cusack talks about his young life and things that he would have done in Carron when he was growing up.

“As we move into the second room he talks about his life at school and moving into his adult life and getting involved in Gaelic games.

“The final room is set in Hayes’ Hotel in Thurles in 1884 and the foundation of the GAA.”

When designing the Cusack Expe- rience, huge care was taken to ensure that the technology complements the restored cottage.

“It was very important to keep the feel of walking into the old cottage and homestead. It looks exactly how it was back in the 1850; we still have the chairs, the table top, all the fur- nishing that would have there in the old house,’ continued Liz.

‘““We were very conscious of keep- ing the cottage as authentic as pos-

sible. The technology was chosen to be as unobtrusive as possible and to fit into the cottage properly.”

The Cusack Experience was of- ficially opened by the Minister for State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Martin Mansergh, last week.

For more on opening hours con- tact the Michael Cusack Cen- tre on 065 7089944 or e-mail info@michaelcusack.ie

AT TIMES on Sunday, Tipperary re- sembled surgeons. They were swift, incisive, they produced what was needed when it was needed.

Just take the two goals.

The first, from Seamus Callinan, came with seven minutes left in the first half. By then, Tipperary were ahead by five but the break was in sight and at the least, it offered Clare an opportunity to re-group. When Callinan took the ball at pace, the

goal didn’t seem the obvious target but he dipped his shoulder, left Conor Plunkett in his slipstream and struck off his left hand side. Frank Lohan, standing between Philip Brennan and Callinan, didn’t get any contact on the shot or the man and the net rattled. That goal gave the game a different story and from there, Clare were forced to chase, which they did effectively in the second-half.

But once more, Tipperary took the scalpel from the sideboard and in- flicted another wound. This time, it

seemed to be with even less effort but as much conviction. Clare had played themselves into touching distance and had chipped away at the Tipper- ary lead to leave just five between them once more.

Then, Brendan Cummins whipped the puckout from Jonathon Clancy’s point into the paw of John O’Brien and seconds later, Tipp had their sec- ond goal and the game by the neck. It was the perfect response.

In contrast, Clare were sloppy and indecisive. The first half wides and

those balls dropped into the grasp of Cummins were the stand out memo- ries for Clare from those opening 35 minutes but on Sunday, surrounded by his daughters Aisling and Gemma, Clare’s sloven play didn’t concern Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy and even with a fine haul from open play and a semi-final place already booked, he had the appearance of a man still unsatisfied.

“All but two points from play is pretty impressive, but if the forwards are working hard they should be winning a few more frees from pos- session as well. That’s the plus and the minus of it. We only won one scorable free in each half so in that sense, we really struggled.

“Clare, in fairness in the second half, they played well and we strug- gled to get the ball to our full-for- ward line and half-forward line. We made a few swicthes where we just tried to get our hands on the ball. But really, it was John O’Brien’s goal that was vital for us. It gave us an eight point cushion again.”

He’s reminded that Tipperary are now just two games away from win- ning an All Ireland final, but Sheedy stands resolute. He refuses to get drawn into a commentary on what might yet be.

“We can’t think about an All Ire- land final. These lads are very level headed. They’ll go back and they’ve serious club championship games to play over the next two or three weeks and in between we’ll be working like tigers to get up to Croke Park. In re-

cent years, Croke Park hasn’t been a happy hunting ground but we’ll try to change that.

“It’s nice to be in an All Ireland semi final but we’ve got to re-focus again. It’s five weeks and there’s work to be done on the back of two very tough games. But in fairness to the lads, they deserve this. I couldn’t speak highly enough of them and the work they’ve done. It’s great for them be- cause their attitude is great. They’re amatuers, they love what they do and I’m delighted with them.”

He poses some questions himself. Can Tipperary match the perform- ance shown by Kilkenny in last Sun- day week’s Leinster Final? He says he doubts it.

“But the bottom line is we’re still in there. It’s a first semi-final since 2003, so we’ll look forward to that and the lads will give it a right go.

‘Being unbeaten isn’t something we talk about here. We just take it game to game but these lads are competi- tive and they just want to be the best when they take to the field. But I’m under no illusions, we won’t win an All Ireland on today’s performance.”

Strong but sombre. Work to do and five weeks to do it. That’s the cold but accomplished attitude of a side and a manager with bigger things on WeToJPMB BODE NTORSE

THE ever increasing fame of the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival could be its eventual downfall with copycat festivals beginning to sur- face right across the world.

Over the last eight month two new festivals modelling themselves on the Lisdoon festival have been an- nounced in America and in Asia.

Just last week the Chicago Irish Fest announced that it would be hosting its own matchmaking event entitled the Hooley Happy Festival.

Event organisers have claimed that the Lisdoonvarna Festival was the inspiration for the Hooley Happy Festival and have employed 86- year-old Irish matchmaker Maureen O’Looney, to oversee the romance.

Last year Lisdoonvarna matchmak- er Willie Daly, and festival organiser Marcus White travelled to Singapore and Thailand to consult with the na- tional tourist board wishing to set up matchmaking festivals in those countries. Daly believes that these new festivals will help and not hurt the Lisdoonvarna Festival.

“I think that Lisdoonvarna is prob- ably the best festival in the world. The music is so great and there is just so many places for people to meet,” he said.

“The atmosphere that we have in Lisdoonvarna is something hard to capture. I’d have no worries about festivals in other parts of the world taking people away from Lisdoon- varna. It’s all a help and there is plen- ty of room for all of us.

“We went to Singapore and Thai- land last week and there is great pos- sibilities out there for matchmaking.

The women out there are so very beautiful and they are shown from a very early age how to do all they can to help and support their man.

“That is something that most wom- en in the west have yet to properly realise.

“T think that a new festival in Thai- land would have huge possibilities and we could even see a Situation that people from Lisdoonvarna were going out there for their festival and people from there coming here for ours.”

Willie, who is Ireland’s foremost

matchmaker, also believes that peo- ple matched by matchmakers are much better couples than those who meet through the Internet.

“There are lots of people walking around now who would not be here if it wasn’t for matchmaking,” contin- ued Willie.

‘‘T have seen people matched up by a computer that I would never have put together – not in a million years.”

The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival runs each year during the month of September. For more check out www.matchmakerireland.com.

IN the wake of an organic farm walk which took place on the Coolnaboy farm of Pat McCormack in Ennis Thursday last, Teagasc have called on Clare farmers to look at organic farming as a real option for the fu- ture.

The Ennis farm walk was the fifth in a series of 21 walks taking place nationwide and Teagasc officials are hopeful that they can convince farm- ers of the growing market for organic produce not just in Ireland but right across Europe.

“The aim of the walks is to show

that organic farming is a great op- portunity for Irish farmers,” said Teagasc organic farming specialist James McDonnell.

“A well-run organic farm can be very profitable in the current climate as it complies with good farming practices, and when combined with organic scheme payments and pre- mium prices for produce there is po- tential for good profit.

“Payments for conversion to or- ganic farming are ©212 per hectare for two years and €106 thereafter, in addition to the basic REPS 4 pay- ments. On a 55 hectare farm the or- ganic scheme payments amount to

approximately €©8,100 per year or €40,810 over five years.

“Organic food is a niche market but a rapidly growing one. Most organic produce attracts a price premium and represents a significant addition to income on organic farms.”

Teagasc, in association with the Department of Agriculture, Fisher- ies and Food, has organised a series of 21 organic farm walks throughout the summer.

In other European countries organ- ic farming 1s much more popular and has grown in response to increased consumer demand.

Just 0.9 per cent of agricultural

land in Ireland is farmed organically, compared to 4.4 per cent in the UK, while in countries like Italy, Aus- tria, Sweden, Finland and Denmark it ranges from between 6 to 13.5 per cent of farmland.

The 21 farms hosting the organic walks represent the full range of organic enterprises in Ireland and cover the vegetables, fruit, cereals, beef, sheep, poultry, dairying and pig sectors.

The latest information on organic production from Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture, Fisher- ies and Food is available at the open days.

THE Doolin Craft Fair has put out a call to food producers and vegetable growers whose produce is just com- ing into season at this time of the year. The fair has a number of ven- dors who would like to sell fresh pro- duce on behalf of local producers.

“It’s a win-win situation. The pro- ducers get a fair price for their pro- duce and no longer have to think of desperate ways to use up their spare vegetables and the people who come to the fair get lovely fresh vegeta- bles,” said organiser Toby Sachsen- maier.

“It has really taken off over the last

few weeks – better than any of us could have hoped for really. From the very first day that we opened we have gotten a great response from locals and visitors who have come.

“I think one of the things that makes this market really different is that we have new stalls coming in each week so people can come back week after week and have a different experience.”

The Doolin Saturday Market and Craft Fair takes place each Satur- day from 10am to 4pm at the Russell Community Centre in Doolin.

“It’s not just about having these products for sale. A few of the ven- dors are always doing something

which the people who come to the market will find interesting. For ex- ample we have Mairead who sells woolen garments. She shows people how to spin wool each week,’ con- WbOlE(ore me Re) ey\A

“It’s about creating an atmosphere for the people and I have heard from a number of people that the atmos- phere created by the vendors at the Doolin Market is something special.

“We have a core group who are there every week and then we have different people who come once and awhile when we have space. This week, for example, we have people who are making fused glass jewelry which is something that we haven’t

had before. We have a certain turno- ver each week and that keeps it fresh for the locals who come up all the Wb elen

“We are always looking for new people. We have no room at the mo- ment for permanent tables but we have space for people who only want to come in once and awhile.

“We are also looking at the possi- bility of doing a Christmas fair and it would be great to have a few people around who would be interested in that also.”

For more information on_ the Doolin Craft Fair contact Toby at doolinmarket@gmail.com or phone Paul at 065 7074229.