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CLARE will be hoping to secure their place in an All-Ireland Junior semi-final with a win against north- ern opposition on Sunday. Clare al- ready have a win under their belts and while it may not have been the prettiest of games, the result at the end of the day will be all that mat- ters. A second win on Sunday will see the girls secure qualification for the semi-final stages with an away game to Antrim remaining.

The squad has been battling with injuries recently and have not been helped with knocks picked up to Laura Linnane and Amy Colleran in the last seven days. Both are nurs- ing ankle injuries and are in a battle against time to be fit for the game on Sunday with both looking doubtful while Fiona Lafferty is definitely out. On the up side, Cathy Hally has returned to training after a lay off with hamstring problems and Aiveen O’Shea and Shona Enright will also be available for selection.

Management are also happy that the squad will be able to focus solely on this game for the weekend. It had been a cause of major concern for the management of the Junior and ul8 teams along with the county

board that up to eight girls who play U18 team were due to play Dublin

on both squads would be asked to play two games this weekend. The

in Dublin on Saturday with the girls

morning but fortunately Dublin who failed to field against Galway and

returning to face Down on Sunday Cork, have been pulled from the ul8

competition and so Clare are spared this inconvenience.

This is certainly good news as go- ing on last Wednesday evening’s per- formance for the U18 team, Steph- anie Moloney and Shona Enright who were not starters the last day against Offaly, will certainly be pushing for places on Sunday. Carina Rosein- grave scorer of 2-4 against Galway, Chloe Morey, Kate Lynch and Aine O’Brien are also in for inclusion. These players added in with captain Deirdre Murphy, Dee Corcoran who was player of the game the last day, Claire Commane, Aoife Ryan, Sha- ron McMahon, Denise Lynch and Siobhan Lafferty, Clare should be too strong for Down.

The girls rightly feel that they have a lot to prove after a poor performance against Offaly. In the corresponding fixture last year, Down also faced the Clare girls at home and while Down stayed with them for the first 20 min- utes, Clare were eventually able to pull away, recording a comfortable victory in the end. Down have al- ready been beaten by Antrim in this campaign, therefore Clare will be hoping that they will account for the visitors again on Sunday.

A TOTAL of 37 Clare primary schools took part in Greenwave 2008 — a mass experiment in which stu- dents were asked to study their envi- ronment and catalogue the first signs of spring.

The project seeks to track the arriv- al of spring across the country, rep- resented by a green wave which can be seen from outer space. Its aim 1s to encourage children to learn more about how their world works and fos- ter an interest in the applications of

science and technology to their own Tait

Almost 2,000 primary — school classes nationwide participated in the programme and their findings can be viewed on www.greenwave.ie. Pic- tures submitted by students are also available in the gallery section.

The students found that the north and northwest had unusually fine weather this spring; dry with lots of sun. The very north of the country — Malin Head — had more sunshine over the months of March, April and May than anywhere else in Ire-

land. Normally the sunniest areas are in the south. Primroses appeared a month earlier than last year, with the majority of sightings occurring in March.

Some other species appeared later than usual though with the horse chestnut and hawthorn appearing three weeks and two weeks later than usual respectively

Clare primary schools that par- ticipated in the experiment included Clohanbeg National School; Scoil Naisiunta Na Maighdine Mhuire; St Enda’s National School; St John

the Baptist National School; Scoil Naisiunta Baile Na Cailli; Scoil Naisiunta bunscoil na mbBraithre; Scoil Naisiinta Naomh Tola; Rock- mount Mixed National School; St Aidan’s National School; Scoil Naisiunta Cuan; Ennis Educate To- gether National School; Coolmeen National School; Scoil Naisitinta An Sraith; Holy Family Junior National School; Convent Of Mercy Nation- al School; St Mochulla’s National School; Liscannor National School; Querrin National School; Miltown Malbay Boy’s National School;

Scoil Naisiinta Mhuire; St Senan’s National School; Tubber National School; CBS National School; Scoil Naisiunta Mhuire; Scoil Naisiinta Iosef Naofa; Cahermurphy National School; Baltard National School; Holy Family Senior National School; St Senan’s National School; Doonaha National School; Gael Scoil Mhichil Chios6g; Sixmilebridge National School; Bansha National School; En- nistymon National School; Bodyke National School; Doora National School and Clonmoney National School.

SOURCES close to the woman who dodged jail by saying that she had caught her mother in bed with her husband have confirmed that she is pregnant.

And those who know her say that Fiona Porter 1s in “a world of trouble” after accusing her mother, Bernadette

Garvey from Clarecastle of having an affair with husband, Hugo.

The 24-year-old’s solicitor, John Devane, told the Limerick District Court that when Porter was found behind the wheel and over the drink- drive limit on June 28 last, she had fled the house where she found her mother and husband in bed together.

Passing sentence on the Castlecon-

nel mother of three for this, a second drink-driving offence, Judge Aeneas McCarthy took the tale of the trau- matic discovery into account and suspended a four month jail term.

Mr Devane told the judge that his chent’s world had been “shattered” by the betrayal of the two people she trusted most.

But the plot thickened over the

weekend when grandmother, Berna- dette Garvey (47), lashed back at her daughter’s accusations, denying that she had ever had any liason with her son in law and saying in media re- ports that she doesn’t even like him.

She told reporters she has “no time” for Hugo. “He would not have been my choice as a son in law,” she said.

And it has been confirmed that Hugo Porter was actually in prison serving a six month sentence on the night it was claimed he bedded his mother-in-law.

The mother of three now says that the incident cited in court as being the trigger for her jumping in the car and driving off actually happened a week before that night but had “only hit her” then.

She has accused her solicitor of getting the story wrong in court, an accusation while he vehemently de- WN Corse

In media interviews, Porter said that she had instructed Devane that she discovered the alleged affair a week before the drink-driving offence but that she was still upset about it on that night. “He had the notes written down on my charge sheet, word for word. He had it all correct before- hand,” she said.

But Mr Devane rejected that claim. ““T have never told a lie on behalf of a client and I have always been honest, open and forthright to the courts in accordance with my instructions.”

STAFF and students at St. Clare’s schools Ennis can _ congratulate themselves on a job well done after the school was named among the winners in the AIB Better Ireland Programme.

St Clare’s will receive a funding boost of €10,000 after winning huge Support in a public text vote that de- cided the winners.

St Clare’s caters for children with all disabilities, physical, sensory and intellectual.

There are currently 57 children en-

rolled in the school supported by a highly dedicated staff.

Last year was one of the most sig- nificant in the history of St Clare’s with the opening, by Dr Willie Walsh, of a sensory garden.

The garden is specially designed to give children uninhibited access around the garden and allow them to discover something new at every nebaee

School principal Anne Rice said winning the award represented a tre- mendous achievement for the school.

She explained the money would be used to improve existing facilities,

including the sensory garden at the school.

St Clare’s is one of five award win- ners in Clare. Clare Haven house and Ennis CBS were the other nominees for the prize in Ennis.

Both the winning and runner-up groups will receive the proceeds from the text votes registered for their groups. Runner up projects will also receive an additional top-up do- nation from AIB, in recognition of the huge efforts they put in to their local campaigns.

The project with the second highest number of votes will receive a top-up

of €300, while the project with the third highest votes will receive a top- up of €200.

Michael Carr, AIB Regional Direc- tor, Clare and Limerick said:

“We would like to congratulate all the winning groups on their success in the public text vote and extend our thanks to all those who voted and helped out during this stage of the AIB Better Ireland Programme. We had a fantastic response to our call for votes, and this was due in no small way to the enthusiasm and en- ergy that all the groups put into cam- paigning at a local level.”

WHEN pupils and teachers at St Senan’s National School in Kilrush resume lessons in the autumn they will be in for a nice surprise.

The innovative and progressive work of the west Clare primary school has secured it €10,000 as the west Clare winners of the AIB Better Ireland Awards.

St Senan’s has a long and distin- guished history of providing spe- cially tailored education for children with learning and emotional disabili- Woe

As well as providing mainstream education for the children of the west Clare capital, the 24 teacher school also caters for the specific needs of children with autistic spectrum dis- order, severe and mild general learn- ing disabilities and diagnosed emo- tional disturbance.

Since the introduction of a ground- breaking programme that uses tactile and stimulatory equipment, the qual- ity of education as well as the quality of life of the children attending the school has improved significantly.

The project was chosen by the lo- cal community following a public text vote from May 6 to June 6, with 124,545 votes registered by the pub- lic in Munster. The school is now to receive €10,000 from the local AIB Bank branch.

It, along with the runner-ups will receive the proceeds from the text votes registered for their groups (af- ter operator charges and VAT). Run- ner-up projects will also receive an additional top-up donation from AIB in recognition of the huge efforts they put in to their local campaigns.

The project with the second highest number of votes will receive a top-up of €300, while the project with the

third highest votes will receive a top- up of €200.

The west Clare runner-ups included the Kilrush Family Resource Centre Dyslexia Project and the Clare Youth Service in Kilrush.

The Dyslexia Support Project was founded three years ago, a pilot project brought about as a result of collaboration between West Clare Dyslexia Support Group and Kilrush Family Resource Centre.

The project offers affordable tui- tion to dyslexic children and young people.

It provides all materials needed for each of the sessions and offers an in- dividual child-centred approach to learning. The project also provides support for parents in their quest for equal access to education for their child.

The Clare Youth Service provides Support and guidance to young peo-

ple in the west Clare capital.

Kilrush Youth Project has a number of sub projects including the Kiul- rush Garda Youth Diversion Project, the Kilrush Youth Project, Kilrush Youth Club, Kilrush Youth Café and the Good Neighbour Project.

The youth project is based around the John Paul Estate and caters for young people between the ages of 12 and 19.

Michael Carr, AIB Regional Direc- tor, Clare and Limerick said, “We would like to congratulate all the winning groups on their success in the public text vote and extend our thanks to all those who voted and helped out during this stage of the AIB Better Ireland Programme.

‘We had a fantastic response to our call for votes, and this was due in no small way to the enthusiasm and en- ergy that all the groups put into cam- paigning at a local level.”

THE appreciation of the GAA’s founder, Michael Cusack, whose leg- acy for so long had been air brushed by certain parts of the association, has never been as obvious. And par- ticularly so in Clare.

It comes as the latest innovation at the Michael Cusack brings with it a revolutionary multimedia experience illustrating his life and times.

Essentially, installation at the cen- tre uses unique, leading-edge com- puter controlled lighting, audio and visual technology to digitally resur- rect Cusack from the dead.

A unique mid-air holographic pro- jection, never seen before in Ireland, features a floating ghost-like image of Cusack who greets visitors to the 19th century Burren cottage.

The new multimedia “Cusack Ex- perience” was launched on Monday by Dr. Martin Mansergh, TD, Min- ister of State with responsibility for

the Office of Public Works and the Arts. This marks the latest phase in a €1.2 million project which has seen the restoration of the Cusack fam- ily cottage and the development of a new Visitor Centre.

Chairman of the Michael Cusack Centre Martin O’Loghlen said that while the superstructure of the Cot- tage was restored by November 2006, a long debate followed about what should be done with the interior of the building and how should it be presented to visitors.

“Although it is a 19th century cot- tage set in a superbly beautiful Bur- ren landscape, we came down in favour of a 21st century solution for a new generation. We enlisted the services of Multimedia Instructional Design from Waterford who have produced a hi-tech presentation that already has enthralled those who have seen it. They have created a bit of magic.”

In the kitchen of the old house, the

unique mid-air “holographic projec- tion” facilitates a face to face meet- ing with the ghost-like image of Cu- sack at his fireside. He tells what it was like to grow up in the Burren in the mid 19th century and how tough Tee bSe

Then he invites his audience to pick up some turf and take it to the “room behind the fire’ which is now pre- sented as a school classroom. Cusack remembers his life as a pupil of Car- ron National School, recounts how he became a teacher and eventually went on to found his own teaching academy.

The visitor is then invited to a third room which has been recreated as Hayes’ Commercial Hotel & Post- ing Establishment. The reconstruc- tion of the famous 1884 meeting in Thurles where the GAA was founded is followed by an old newsreel style projection retracing aspects of the organisation’s history from the be- ginning to the new Croke Park.

The idea to restore the cottage and develop a visitor centre was initiated by the Michael Cusack Develop- ment Company – a voluntary group – formed in November 2003 to restore the cottage, which had fallen into Otay ey-n0e

O’Loghlen said that with help of many great friends and benefactors, a quiet space has been created in a place of great beauty where visitors from home and abroad can reflect on the life and times of one of Ireland’s most influential figures.

‘Cusack was born in Carron in the bitter Famine year of 1847 and al- though he died over 100 years ago, we can still rejoice in his living leg- acy of hurling and football played with skill, excitement and passion in every part of Ireland,” he said.

And now, through innovation, it’s once more possible to see Cusack up close and personal. Who knows what the great man would have made of it re

A HIGH Court judge has granted a judicial review in a row concern- ing allegations that Clare Travellers’ representative Heather Rosen has obstructed the investigations of the Equality Tribunal.

To date, Clare County Council has spent almost €150,000 on legal fees in response to almost 1,000 com- plaints against the council made by travellers to the Equality Tribunal.

All complaints have been lodged on behalf of the Travellers by Ms Rosen and to date all have been thrown out because the travellers concerned have failed to turn up for the hearings.

Last year, Judge Harvey Kenny said that travellers could appeal the ruling by the Equality Tribunal in the Circuit Court.

However, in a bid to prevent the costs implied by a large amount of appeals to the court, the council

sought a judicial review of the deci- sion by Judge Kenny.

In his written judgement, Mr Jus- tice John MacMenamin cited a letter written by equality officer Ms Duffy to Ms Rosen in relation to her con- duct at the tribunal.

“She stated that Ms Rosen’s con- duct was “bordering on the abusive’,” noted the judge noted.

“She referred to letters ‘allegedly’ signed by a number of other com- plainants after the hearing on Oc- tober 16, 2006, requesting that their cases be heard by a different equality Oat ero ame

Mr Justice MacMenamim noted that Ms Duffy warned Ms Rosen that she considered her actions as obstructing the tribunal in its investigation and decision making process and that if such behaviour continued she would be asked to leave the hearings.

She referred Ms Rosen to a section of the Equal Status Act 2000, which

renders it a punishable offence for a person to obstruct or impede the di- rector or equality officer.

Ms Duffy warned that she had previously been “lenient” with Ms Rosen and her clients regarding non- attendance and lateness. Ms Rosen did not swear an affidavit in the pro- ceedings, although she was present in court for the hearing.

Mr Justice MacMenamin said: “I am unable on the evidence to make any finding as to whether or not com- plaints were pursued despite the con- trary wishes of certain other com- plainants. Such evidence as there is on this question is entirely hearsay.”

Mr Justice MacMenamin said that he would grant the judicial review and order that the matter of jurisdic- tion be remitted back to the Circuit Court judge to be reconsidered in ac- cordance with law.

Ms Rosen was not contactable yes- terday.

THE possibility of expansion in the milk sector could be made very dif- ficult for Clare farmers if a proposal discussed at last week’s European dairy farmers meeting in Strasbourg iS passed.

The proposal involves instigating a moratorium on milk quotas as a means of building up milk prices across the EU. This proposal was put forward by the Deputy President of ICMSA and Chairman of its Dairy Committee, John O’Leary.

O’Leary argued that a milk price of 43c/litre has been set by the member associations of the dairy farmers’ as-

sociation, the European Milk Board, as the rate necessary to provide for increased costs and fund a viable family farm income.

“It is vital that the Irish dairy in- dustry does not sleepwalk itself over a price cliff. The present level of on-farm investment by farmers will never be recouped by sales at world prices, or by prices approaching that level,” he said.

‘The deep and detailed analysis be- ing presented at the three-day Stras- bourg conference by fellow Europe- an farmers is in stark contrast to the kind of third-hand, casual observa- tion and chat that is brought forward as research in Ireland.

“The research we’re having pre- sented to us here points to an unmis- takeable conclusion on the question of increasing quota and trying to achieve a specific price.

“Irish farmers are queuing up to outbid each other on the quota in- crease they desire and it is rapidly becoming clear that this is not only ill-advised but but quite reckless.”

O’Leary said the moratorium should be introduced even if it means ‘pulling’ the future direction of the milk quota off the agenda at the cur- rent Health Check discussions.

‘Unlimited production scope is not possible if we are to achieve 43 c/litre and build our sector and our incomes

on a solid and rational basis.”

“The ICMSA therefore believes that Ireland should now seek a mora- tor1um on any further quota increas- es until the European dairy markets have absorbed the current produc- tion increases and there is a return to higher and sustainable milk prices that can measured, verified, and most importantly, maintained.

“The challenge to Minister Smith is not expansion for the sake of expan- sion, but expansion in a manner that rewards adequately the investments and expertise of the people who are the bedrock of the whole industry and who are the starting point for everything else.”

“LIGHTS, camera, action” and “roll- ing’ are words that will be heard around Lough Graney shortly thanks to the support of the local communi- ty which has netted a €10,000 prize for the youth club.

The club, along with the Clarecare community childcare initiative, both were winners of a €10,000 prize in the AIB Better Ireland Awards.

The youth club and will be using the cash to buy film-making equipment. Groups appealed to members of the public to vote for them in a text-vote and the Tuamgraney group and the Killaloe childcare group heard last

week that they had garnered the most votes of organisations nominated by the Gort and Killaloe branches.

Delighted club leader, Kathleen McNamara, said that the members and leaders “are just thrilled. The members worked terribly hard on the campaign. We can’t thank people enough – everyone got involved, par- ents, members, leaders, local people and they got their families, friends and work colleagues involved. There was a lot of hard work and massive support for us.”

The money will be used to buy cameras, editing and other film-mak- ing equipment so that club members can capture local issues, events and

people on film.

“We want to get them involved in making short documentary type films about the local community – it’s a way of helping young people to integrate and develop an interest in their community”, said Kathleen.

The club operates out of the Lough Graney Kids Corner créche in Flag- mount every second week and has 35 members, with the support of 13 leaders.

Sinéad Corbett, childcare co-ordi- nator with the Clarecare project said the money will be extremely useful for the many services which are on offer in the Molua centre, not least the summer camps which will cater

for 200 plus children this summer.

The Childcare project offers sup- port and services for children aged O to 18 with issues arising from school, the home and relationships such as loss, separation, adjusting to new surroundings and grief. It also offers programmes in anti-bullying, parent- ing and _ personal development as well as parent and toddler groups.

“All of these services are vital in a community setting and are very much alive here at the Molua cen- tre. We can’t thank people who sup- ported us enough, both in Killaloe, Scariff and further afield. We need funding to continue this work and to expand,” said Sinéad.

CLUBS may have been without the services of their county players at the weekend but with most games going according to form, a clearer picture of both the promotion and relegation candidates emerged as the leagues approach the latter stages.

With only two rounds remaining in the Clare Cup, there are still 16 teams vying for four semi-final spots in the three divisions but that list will significantly decrease after tonight’s remaining fixtures in Division 2B.

In Division 1, Cratloe and Sixm1- lebridge both continued their recent good form to move alongside New- market-on-Fergus at the summit while Crusheen’s one point victory over Eire Og gives them an outside chance of claiming one of the two semi-final places. Crusheen’s re- maining fixtures however, are against Clarecastle and Sixmilebridge and they will need other results to also go their way as well so the odds are certainly stacked against them.

The biggest losers in the top divi- sion at the weekend were last year’s champions St Joseph’s Doora/Bare- field, and Clarecastle who played

out a draw at Gurteen on Thursday evening. The result didn’t suit either side really and it means that both are SISUD sya La nestle eCere BPMN slow us) (ose-tmlO)I me (Oye fight along with Kilmaley, Clooney- Quin and Eire Og with the bottom two to drop down.

In Division 2A, both Inagh/Kilna- mona and Tubber still lead the way but the north Clare side have now completed their fixtures while In- agh/Kilnamona only have one game remaining which gives the chasing pack of Tulla and Wolfe Tones a slim chance of catching them. The county champions from the last two years play in the final game to decide who has a chance of bouncing straight back to the top flight. Leaders Inagh/ Kilnamona play Scariff in their last game which will have implications at both ends of the table and the Combo will secure the title and a place in the penultimate stage of the Clare Cup if they win and more than likely rel- egate Scariff in the process.

Scariff’s ten point victory over Ballyea at the weekend gives them a fighting chance of survival but the bottom club will have to beat both Killanena and leaders Inagh/Kilna- mona if they are to avoid the drop.

Last year’s Division 2B champions Whitegate are also amongst the rele- gation favourites after going down to Tubber at the weekend and they will need to beat fellow strugglers Kil- lanena in their final outing and hope other results go their way if they are to survive. Killanena, Ballyea and possibly even O’Callaghan’s Mills could be dragged into it if Whitegate do pull off the much needed victory.

Division 2B is still far from de- cided with three matches down for decision this evening. Clonlara lead the way in the division but Broadford can leagfrog over them if they can beat Smith O’Briens tonight. Eight sides are still 1n contention for the two promotion places but the relega- tion places are all but decided after the bottom two Ruan and Kilmaley both lost at the weekend. Kilmaley are the first team to be relegated in the Clare Cup without a win in seven outings while Ruan need to beat both Ogonnelloe and Broadford if they are even to force a play-off and even so, they need either Sixmilebridge, Ogonnelloe or Feakle not to gain an- other point.

In the intermediate league, En- nistymon were the big winners at

the weekend as they saw off fellow promotion rivals Inagh/Kilnamona to jump to the top of the table. With only one round remaining, the top two, Meelick and Ennistymon meet in the final game with the loser likely to be caught if third place Clarecastle can overcome bottom side St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield. Along with promo- tion, the top two sides will also con- test the intermediate league final. Down the bottom, Cratloe secured lifeline after seeing off Clarecastle at home to push them ahead of Wolfe Tones with the Shannon side to play St Joseph’s in a relegation battle this evening.

In Division 4, Newmarket-on-Fer- gus and Eire Og topped their respec- tive groups to earn a place in the fi- nal with the winner to go up while in Division 5, Inagh/Kilnamona and Clonlara qualified for the semi-finals of the Junior B league along with Ballyea and Eire Og. Following a motion passed at convention in De- cember, the make up of the Junior B and C championships are based on a team’s performance in the league and the draw for these champion- ships will be made tonight at the July meeting of the county board