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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

THE High King himself would have been proud of the feasting and fun that was offered to visitors and locals alike at this year’s Féile Brian Boru.

Even the weather mostly bowed to royal command so that people could eat al fresco as well as enjoy the mu- sic mayhem and magic on the streets. When the rain did start, folks took cover in the bars with cultural tours, exhibitions and lectures.

This year the festival had a distinct- ly forward looking flavour, although the history of the town as the seat of the famed High King was not forgot- ten either.

This was the fifteenth year of the festival and more than 2,000 visitors came to the lakeside town to enjoy the pageantry.

Some of the highlights of this year’s festival were the children’s pa- rade, the fabulous Fanzini Brothers performances and the food fair on the green. Local restaurants, produc- ers, and vendors from the farmers’ market combined their considerable talents to give festival-goers a taste of some of the great food that is on offer in east Clare.

Along with the popular dragon boat racing, the new power-boat racing event proved a hit and there was lots of interest in the CELT village which

provided a taster of traditional crafts and skills.

Youngsters danced to acts at the Every Moment Counts Youth Club music festival and those of every age enjoyed the Beat on the Street and the many musical pub events.

And there was the beat on the streets, the art trail, canoe polo, guided tours of the cathedral as well as traditional music, singing and set dancing workshops for all ages and levels of ability.

There were pub quizzes, drumming workshops for teenagers, the clash of the ash, the Feile Feis and every- thing necessary to make the festival an even bigger success than previous

years.

Festival organisers paid tribute to the support which the event got from local people and particularly busi- nesses.

“A lot of people put in a lot of hard work to organise the festival and it would not have been possible to stage half of it without the sponsorship and support of local businesses. They gave us fantastic support”, a spokes- woman said.

THE Wolfe Tones’ under 14 foot- ballers had a marvellous campaign in the Feile Peil na nGael in Cavan last weekend in reaching the final in their division in the cradle of Ulster football that 1s Breffni Park.

The team can be very proud of their achievements as they to a man played to their full potential and only lost in the final to a very strong North Lon- don team that comprised of 16 dif- OKs Me Ll ahe

Based for the weekend in Ballyma- chugh, they played the host club on the Friday afternoon despite the long journey north. It took them a while to find their feet and the host club Bal- lymachugh put up a good perform- ance before goals from Jack Carrig and William Flynn gave the side some breathing space in winning 3-9 to 1-4.

In what was a hectic schedule for all teams, they then went on to Cavan town for the Feile parade in- volved at least 4000 participants.

Saturday morning came and next up were Denn, another Cavan side and again their better footballing skills and teamwork told in the second half with Wolfe Tones racked up their second on a scoreline of 1-9 to 1-1.

Then after a break of less than two hours later the Tones put champions of the last two years, Lancashire, to the sword on a scoreline of 4-11 to O- 1 to advance to a semi-final meeting against Tourlistrane of Sligo.

Under no illusions, Wolfe Tones tore into their opponents in the open- ing half and with a great goal from danien brennan gave the Shannon side a fighting chance at the break, leading 1-2 to 0-2.

A Trojan display by Tino Nzvaura and Dylan Birchall and great points from Jason McNally gave Wolfe Tones a brilliant victory by 1-10 to Q-3 to advance to a final meeting against North London. This was by far their best performance given by the team over the past two years they’ve been together.

It brought the Shannon bandwagon

to Kingspan Breffni Park for the fi- nal. North London went into an early 1-1 to O-O lead before then Daniel Brennan hit 1-1 in two minutes to put the Tones back in contention. At the break, they only trailed by a point but they were playing well.

In the second half the sheer physical presence of the North London team told as they retained possession and gave the Shannon side little oppor- tunity. William Flynn excellent with his athletic ability and helped out the defence no end. Damien Casey in the goals pulled off three excellent saves to keep his side involved, however at the end of the day, the large Wolfe Tones contingent acknowledge that the better team had won.

In all, the Shannon boys performed excellently and to the best of their ability.

Their football was of the highest standard and they were well coached by Mick Riordan and his team of mentors. They were worthy ambas- sasdors for Shannon and Clare in exo ieeel B

CLARE’S Brothers of Charity, which is leading the way in helping people live with disabilities, is now explor- ing changes in the role of education.

The charity, which is the first in the country to assist people to live in the community and make their own deci- sions about where and how they live, is trying to break the mould when it comes to special education.

The organisation held a special con- ference in Ennis last week which was addressed by those who see a more inclusive way forward for education.

Cyndi Pitonyak, a special educa- tion co-ordinator for a school district in Virginia and a lecturer at Bradford University, does not believe that spe- cial education should be a segregated place.

The college lecturer is advocating an inclusive programme for children with disabilities that gets rid of spe- cial units and special schools.

“The relevant question is what do they do in those units? What do they do that they cannot do in regular

classes?” she asked.

For the last 19 years Ms Pitonyak has worked in a school system where both the class curriculum teacher and the remedial teacher work together teaching all students.

Children with special needs take part in the regular class programme by completing lessons that work in unison with the rest of the class.

Ms Pitonyak gave the example that while children are being called to read aloud, a child who may not have very good reading abilities and needs to work on people recognition could call out those that are to read in turn.

Each person is benefiting from the class and learning.

The education co-ordinator admits however that there will be times when a child with disabilities may not be able to find a niche in a par- ticular lesson. At this point the child could leave the class for special tu1- tion in areas of need.

“It is about inclusion. Autism or any disability is just one little piece of who someone 1s,” she said.

At the conference in the Temple Gate Hotel last week 55 people from 13 different organisations joined the Brothers of Charity.

Those attending came from all ar- eas of education including special needs assistants, class teachers and school inspectors.

They heard that while major chang- es cannot be achieved overnight, and trial and error is going to be part of the course, a little change everyday is ee Nm NNR BES.S

Ms Pitonyak believes that if teach- ers and resource teachers agree to work together for 45 minutes, two days a week it could start a new way of education, that would lead to teams teaching a class rather than an individual.

“Tt is about creating a school where everyone fits,” she said.

WHEN Miltown got their 2008 show on the road and started training in Hennessy Memorial Park in the depths of winter, Michael McDon- agh was always on the move.

It wasn’t cajoling his players to greater effort with ball drills or wire- to-wire runs. He leaves that to others. Some say it part of his own fitness regime, doing his own laps. Others say it was to exercise his mind for the club, whether it’s on or off the field.

Thinking about teeing up a chal- lenge against a Kerry club through his contacts down there; the con- struction of the stand that Hennessy Memorial Park deserves; how to keep the senior players off the beer during Scou Samhraidh Willie Clancy.

All difficult assignments in their own very different ways, but Mc- Donagh loves the unique challenges involved in all three. All because this is where he wants to be and in a mat- ter of fact way describes how it was always going to be.

‘““Miltown is where you come from and where you’ll end up,” he says, starting off in the third person. “I was always involved with the club — I

never lost contact. I would always go to the games, even when I was caught up with the county board. I always knew I was coming back. I always thought it almost natural that I would try to give something back when I got older, after all the club through the camaraderie had given me so much when I was younger.”

Here’s the thing — sometimes he thinks of those younger days when walking around the field on those training nights. The people who put everything into Miltown — John Rei- dy, Mickey Wilson, Noel Walsh and Michael Mahoney. The list goes on…

He name checks them, giving ex- tra weight to some of them. Michael Mahoney: “because he is what I’d call a mainstay”. Noel Walsh: “he’d come all the way from Limerick for club meetings and never miss one”. Pete Cleary: “he came from America to train underage teams”. Joe Cullen: ere tors Oe bt-D (elo eae

“When you live in a small parish, the GAA is the focal point of the community. When I was growing up the only place to go was the football field — everyone went there. It was the centre of the parish and you were brought up with that. You went there

after school, you went there at the weekends. There was always a ball, whether you were in national school or secondary school.

“You’d always watch the seniors training. They were the team of the club, the club was built around the senior team. Your year was judged on the performance of the senior team. That’s why 1985 and ’90 are remembered — because we won the championship in those years.”

The closest Miltown have come to a championship in the intervening 18 years — save a final appearance in Doonbeg and against Doonbeg in “91 — was seeing the Tulla Pipe Band parade the Lissycasey and Doonbeg footballers (1998) and the Sixmileb- ridge and St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield hurlers (1999) around their field.

At least there are some links be- tween those days and now. ‘Team trainer Michael Murray was Mil- town’s photographer on those county final days, chronicling Hennessy Memorial Park’s second coming as final venue.

Then there’s Michael McDonagh link to those times.

Those county finals, not to mind a string of National League games

in both codes wouldn’t have been played in Miltown, but for his input, not to mind the contribution made by those 100,000 or so worms that came all the way from Holland.

“Those worms,” he says, “did a great job, being a vital part of the Prunty pitch we put down. How good the project was can be gauged in the fact that a lot of clubs have followed our lead with the pitch.

“We went after those big games and we went after them hard. It was great to bring hurling back to west Clare. Before that we didn’t own our field and wanted to purchase it. John Reidy was the main driver, Michael Mahoney was another. We had great help from the community and from the Hynes family who sold us the ntatee

“Now if you went up there any night, you could have anything up to 40 or 50 young lads up there kick- ing ball. It’s great. It’s what it’s all about.”

Loves being there himself and do- ing laps of the field. Who knows, if the lads out on the field have as much passion for it, they might walk be- hind the band yet.

LOCAL community and voluntary groups in Shannon are being urged to submit applications for funding un- der the community grants scheme.

Around €5,300 is being made available under the local authority initiative this year. Under the scheme, up to 20 groups receive sums rang- ing between €200 and €500, every year.

The scheme got underway in 1997 and since then several groups have benefited. Last year, 15 groups re- ceived atotal of €5,100, while €5,200 was split between 15 groups the pre- vious year. Some 19 groups received a total of €5,000 in 2005, while 16 organisations received €5,000 ben- efited in 2004. In 2003, 20 groups received a total of €4,600.

Shannon Town Clerk Tomas Mac-

Cormaic is now inviting interested groups to formally apply for the auterenbetse

A number of guidelines have been compiled to ensure the applications follow a particular standard. One of these is that the projects are designed to improve the quality of life for the people of Shannon.

‘ For the project to be grant aided it must show aclear community focus,” said Mr MacCormaic.

“The project must be directly re- lated to one or other of the follow- ing categories: the undertaking of special community projects, artistic proposals, projects which generate civic pride and involve local people in the improvement of the town,” he added.

The applications are open to or- ganisations, voluntary groups and residents associations within the

functional area of Shannon Town Council.

Before the grant assistance is awarded all applications must sub- mit, where applicable, documenta- tions detailing fully the project con- tent, together with details of costs eee

“Applicants must show that the project is well planned and give indi- cations of potential future uses of the project. The town councillors’ deci- sion will be influenced by the amount of applicant’s own resources contrib- uted to the project,’ he added.

The 15 groups to benefit last year were Clare Haven, Shannon Com- munity Radio, Gleann an Oir resi- dents group, Newtown FC, the Fami- ly Resource Centre, SEED, the music project, youth exchange project and summer camp project, the Shannon Graveyard Maintenance Commit-

tee, Shannon Musical Society, Wolfe Tones camogie club, Duchas na Sionna, Shannon Handball Club and Shannon Olympics.

Last year, special awards — Liosta na Laochra — were presented to three groups which have contributed im- mensely to local community life over a long number of years. These were Shannon Community Games, Shan- non Musical Society and the local chess club.

Over the years, several other groups benefited under the community grants scheme, including the Broth- ers of Charity, Shannon Meteors Trampoline Club, St Senan’s RFC, Icarus Drama Group, Le Chéile, Shannon Swim and Leisure Club.

The application forms are available from Mr MacCormaic. The closing date for receipt of completed appli- cations is August 31.

THE progress goes on. Great credit to everybody. Slightly dodgy at times in Semple Stadium where Limer- ick failed miserably to come up to expectations. The real successes there were Pat Vaughan, Jonath- an Clancy, and the midfield pair- ing of Brian O’Connell and Colin Lynch with Gerry O’Grady keeping O’Shaughnessy in check. Now the stakes get bigger, the barriers higher. How good in reality is this Clare team? Who can honestly say with certainty? Tipp will be a true test for everybody. Coming within five or six points of them at this stage will be undisputed progress.

Defeating them will in fact mean that Clare are up with the best. For-

get about the bruhaha about the lo- cal set-up. There is no responsibility there for Mike McNamara and Co. Their duty is to get the best out of the county team. There will be hard choices before the Munster final. Both in placings and personnel. The first is to whether to carry on with the team building or go all-out for a ante

Winning this final will demand a combination of cuteness and courage from the sideline. Beating Tipp 1s not beyond the Banner. We have a good track record in this area. This is the championship and anything can hap- pen. At this point I will set out my stall. The loss of Brendan Bugler will be keenly felt. Bugler is a very flexi- ble player with good pace and hands. Yet on reflection Niall Moran scored

five points from play in Thurles.

I will take it that O’Grady will be able to field out. Having marshaled O’Shaughnessy I would assign the Crusheen man to mark Kelly. Cor- bett makes much more play than Kelly nowadays, however, and his lightning pace will create problems unless counteracted. The aim should be to limit the supply to the Tipp dangermen, space to indulge their skills must be denied them. Their forwards must be crowded out. Any forward can be frustrated. How to do it without fouling holds the key.

My plan would envisage the Banner fielding the strongest halfback line possible and withdrawing the mid- fielders into it for the set pieces such as puckouts, frees, sidelines etc. In the fullback line I would move Frank

Lohan to No. 2 and bring back Brian O’Connell to run with Lar Corbett when he goes roaming.

A crowded half line should help Conor Plunkett. Playing Pat Vaughan at midfield will facilitate this. Vaughan is good at tidying up in broken play. Up front the hard decision will pertain to the No. 14 slot. Barry Nugent put himself in the frame again when he came on against Limerick. All through the League Paul Curran was one of the stars of the Tipp defence. Who gave him his toughest hour? Fergal Lynch. Clare should not spurn this obvious opportunity now. The time has come to start the Clooney-Quin man again. There is no room for both Lynch and Nugent. This time I would give the start to Lynch.

Keep it simple. Crowd the defence to deny Tipp the space. Play the Clare’s half forward line deep towards mid- field. Put the ball inside them for Clancy and Griffin to exploit it. Vary it by putting the high ball down on Lynch. And the team to do tt:

yesterday.

“Comprehensive civil partnership, as proposed in the heads of bill, is a major milestone towards equality. The Gay Clare group sup- port access to full equality through civil marriage and this bill is a fun- damental step forward towards this goal.

“The provisions outlined last week will resolve many immediate and pressing issues faced by lesbian and gay couples in Clare and will

also provide a platform for further progress.”

“The proposals in the heads of bill however do not provide for legal rec- ognition of the many same-sex cou- ples, particularly women, who are parenting children together, leaving these parents and their children out- side the protection of the State,” con- tinued the Gay Clare spokesperson.

“This is of critical importance to parents _WOCG MMO eCeDUROUODN(ONKoINME-UITe! Gay Clare urges the government to bring

forward proposals to address this legal gap.”

If passed the civil partnership bill will also have huge impli- cations for co-habiting and unmarried cou- joo

More than 20 mem-

bers of Fianna Fail par- liamentary party signed a motion questioning elements of the bill last week. Following an emergency meet- ing, a party spokesman said that there was “broad support” for the bill. The parliamentary party decided to refer the bill to its justice committee for further consideration.

NO sooner had the Tommy Murphy Cup landed in Clare in 2004 than David Russell was confonted by the first real crossroads of his foot- ball career. Approached by the then Clare senior manager John Kennedy, Russell along with fellow Clarecas- tle and county team-mate Stephen Hickey were advised that it would be in their best interests for their inter- county careers that they transfer to a senior club.

It was a predicament that Rus- sell had never pondered before. His family genes were firmly rooted in Clarecastle GAA throughout the gen- erations. His father Paschal had won four county hurling championships for the club throughout his distin- guished career but while David was a dual player, football was his first love and with the game constantly struggling to stay afloat in a pre- dominantly hurling dominated club, he decided to adhere to his mentor’s advise.

News of Kennedy’s counsel spread quickly and the pair were contacted by Eire Og player-manager James Hanrahan who made it clear that they would be welcome at the En- nis club. So after much deliberation and banter from both sides, Russell, Hickey along with two others trans-

ferred across the rival divide to their near neighbours. ; ;

Russell knew a lot of the Eire Og players through his soccer con- nections and had played with Alan Malone and Cathal Shannon at county minor and Under 21 level but integration was still initally difficult but after a couple of games, even the most stubborn panelists were convinced that the newcomers were pulling in the same direction.

The key galvanising moment for Russell came in his first champi- onship season in the quarter-final of 2005 when Doonbeg knocked them out of the championship. Due to sickness, Russell didn’t play that day but watching from the sideline, he observed a different perspective, principally the aversion towards the townies by their rivals and it had a unforgetable effect on him. In fact he attributes a lot of the credit of their county final success a year later to that game as the players realised they needed to become a more resilient side if they were to finally make the breakthrough.

‘2006 was definitely a knock-on ef- fect from 2005. I realised how much most other teams had a distaste for the club and considered us soft

touches and we had a meeting only a week after the Doonbeg game and decided that we were going to have to be a stronger, fitter and harder team in 2006. And it showed as we went through the championship unbeaten and won the county final to cap off a Super year.”

Russell was a mainstay in _ that championship winning side, starting all seven games at wing-back but that elation turned to frustration last year. He was forced to sit out the majority of the championship after rupturing his medial ligament in the Clare Cup Soccer final while playing for Av- enue Utd.

“It was the worst injury I have ever had. I was out for four months and to stand on the sideline along with Michael O’Regan and Mark Kelly it was so frustrating. Fair play to the rest of the lads, the team did very well to win tough games and reach the final and I did make an appear- ance at half-time 1n the decider but it wasn’t meant to be. Personally, from the highs of 2006 to the very lows of 2007, that has really made me more determined this year and hopefully I can remain injury free and move on for 2008.”

From being a blow-in four years

ago, Russell is now captain of the side for the year, a position he could never envisaged when he first arrived at the club.

‘remember our manager Leo Ryan called me over six weeks ago and told me he would like to make me captain and even though I am from Clarecastle and had all my tuition in Clarecastle, it was one of my proud- est moments. To be able to follow the likes of Alan Malone, Peter Cosgrove and Shane Daniels last year is a huge thrill and I’m just looking forward to the first championship game. The league has never been a top priority in the club, the championship has always been where we perform and after getting to the final two years in succession and only losing one match in fourteen proves our pedigree. The motivation is back and the hunger is back to atone for 2007.”

Clarecastle men Russell and Hick- ey have played an integral part in that championship consistency. Maybe there’s some truth in the old magpie saying that ‘one’s for sorrow, two’s for joy’.