Category: Uncategorized

A YOUNG east Clare band who have played all over Ireland are about to make their debut in Clare ahead of recording a live album here. Parteen-based Verfield – whose sin- gle “Nerves” hit number two in the independent Irish download charts – are playing Brandons on June 28. The band which features Paddy Murphy on bass, Andrew Quinn on drums and Alan Donnelly on guitar and vocals has been earning a huge

following in the Midwest. They cel- ebrated winning the JD Set, one of the biggest band competitions in the country in Dolan’s in Limerick re- one

‘“Verfield have proven that they are a band dedicated to hard work both on and off the stage and are gearing up for a busy 2008 with an EP and live album both due to be released in August of this year,” said manager Paul Hannon.

The band recorded their EP in Grouse Lodge studios in Meath and

want to build a following in Clare ahead of recording a live album akon

As well as being important to their fans, both the EP and the live album will be tools in the band’s armoury for the battle to get a good record- ing deal.

Together for two years now, the boys “play a style of music that to date has been compared to a broad variety of artists such as Muse, Manic Street Preachers, System of a Down and many more. The truth 1s,

however, that Verfield’s music 1s in- definable, taking largely from early blues and blending it seamlessly with the energy of modern rock.”

On Saturday Verfield descend upon the town of Ennis for the first time. Coming off the back of hugely suc- cessful gigs in An Pucan Galway, The Night Owl Tipperary, The Por- terhouse Bray and Alfies Dublin

The band are planning a ninety minute high-energy showcase that “music lovers can’t afford to miss’, said Paul.

KILRUSH Chamber of Commerce has asked its members not to pay rates to Kilrush Town Council until questions about the sale and payment of new civic offices are answered.

After weeks of controversy sur- rounding the purchase of the former site of the Inis Cathaigh hotel by Kilrush Town Council and Clare County Council for civic offices, the chamber of commerce has issued a statement outlining its stance of the whole issue.

Prior to this business people in the town had raised concerns about how the money would be found to pay for the €1.4 million site and later for the estimated €5 million necessary to refurbish it.

The issue was discussed in depth at the chamber’s monthly meeting on June 5 and following on from that meeting a motion was passed ask- ing all the chamber members to de- fer payment of their rates to Kilrush Town Council until questions raised in recent letters from the chamber to the local council were answered in full and to the organisation’s satis- faction.

“Kilrush Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of a large group of business people in Kilrush and the surrounding areas, who have the social and economic develop- ment of Kilrush at the top of their list of priorities,’ the statement issued by president of the chamber Paul Coady read.

“We welcome and applaud the pro-

posal to provide the Kilrush Munici- pal Area with New Civic Offices, but have major concerns as to how such a project would be funded. To date we have asked the Kilrush Town Council three pertinent questions re- lating to this proposed development in a letter dated May 17: what is the likely impact of this project on the rate payers of Kilrush?; what provi- sion for parking will be made, if any, in the proposed development?; what is to become of our fine town hall building?”

The chamber of commerce said that the reply received on June 3, made it “none the wiser and failed to shed any light on developments, in fact it has clouded the issue further”.

At its June meeting the chamber also agreed that as many members as

possible would attend the next Kil- rush Town Council meeting on June 12, to show support and solidarity for Kilrush Chamber of Commerce and its concerns regarding the project. This highly charged meeting was at- tended by a large contingent of con- cerned members and ratepayers.

Members of the chamber have also written individually to the town clerk and town manager seeking a reply to the questions asked.

“Kilrush Chamber of Commerce has had a long standing, good work- ing relationship with Kilrush Town Council and calls on Kilrush Town Council to answer the questions raised in a forthright and transpar- ent manner before this project is pro- gressed any further,’ the statement concluded.

KILKISHEN proved too strong for Feakle in the Division Three final. Just a point separated the sides at halfway with Kilkishen leading O-5 O-4. Kilkishen though pushed on from there and led from midfield by James Murphy they built up a healthy lead. Murphy ended the day with five points. Cian O’Brien found the net in the 34th minute before Daniel Fleming grabbed the cru- cial goal 10 minutes later, when he coolly slotted home after Murphy’s pass. Feakle captain Eoin

Tuohy drove his team on all day, striking three points. [uohy his Feakle’s first point but Kilkishen hit back strongly with points from James Murphy (2), Clan O’Brien and Paraic MacNamara (2). Evan McMahon pointed for Feakle after the break to tie the game at Q-5 O-5 before Kilkishen pulled clear.

Kilkishen National School Jamie Keane, Niall McNamara, James Beatty, Eamonn Murphy, James McNamara (O-1), Cian O’Brien (1-1), Shauna Fleming, Paraic McNamara (Q-2), James Murphy (O-5), Conor Henry, Daniel Fleming (1-0)

Subs Jamie O’Halloran, David O’Donnell, Ben McLoughlin, Thomas Lynch, Killian Nugent, Cathal Nolan, Michael Cotter, Kate O’Gorman, Clodagh O’Halloran

Feakle National School Michael Burke, Padraig Minogue, James Noonan, Justin Nelson (0-1), Cian Harrington, Eoin Tuohy (0-3), Conn Smyth, Oisin Donnellan, Cathal Linnane, Eric Conway, vlan (eb ialelam (Ona)

Subs Martin Daly, Steven Conway, Enda Noonan, Austin McMahon, James King, Cian Callaghan, Jack Moloney

Player of the Game Paraic McNamara (Kilkishen NS)

A FRUSTRATING game if only be- cause with little between the sides, Clare’s challenge just faded away in the final quarter. Clare had matched Limerick point for point up to that juncture, picking off some impres- sive scores along the way so what were the reasons for this collapse? Well, the goal was obviously crucial, coming as it did in the 42nd minute

from the lively David Moloney when Clare were 0-10 to 0-9 ahead. It gave Limerick renewed confidence and from that point they never looked eae

But it wasn’t the only factor. Sig- nificantly, just as in the Waterford game, Clare had problems in their half-back line and midfield from the off and despite ten different players occupying the five positions includ- ing several substitutions, they never

really resolved the issue. Limerick’s experienced midfield pairing of An- drew Brennan and Alan O’Connor along with wing-forwards David Moloney and Don Hanley were at the heart of all Limerick attacks and Clare’s failure to disrupt the midfield partnership ensured that the sides went in level at the break at eight points apiece despite Clare having the aid of a strong breeze.

Conor Earley was introduced in-

stead of Enda Collins late in the first half but the Tubber man still wasn’t the answer and although he soon moved to midfield, he was replaced late in the game by Clooney-Quin’s Conor Harrisson. Damien Browne was the next to be brought on to fill the void and the Cratloe man did add some industry to the centre but all around him, Clare’s grip on the game was slipping.

Clare did have some impressive per-

formances up front with both Sean Chaplin and Padriag Hickey turn- ing in a hard-working hour but aside from Hickey’s haul of five points and Chaplin’s freetaking, Clare’s other starting forwards only produced one point from play. In contrast all Lim- erick’s forwards scored from open play and that better balance made all the difference in such a tight contest.

Possibly wary of main attraction Ciaran Carey, who’s every touch was greeted by a loud cheer from the Limerick faithful, Clare also failed to puck one ball into the full-forward berth in the first half, starving man- of-the-match from the Waterford game, Padraigh Chaplin but when Hickey moved there in the second half, a better supply yielded two points as Carey allowed Hickey to roam for possession.

TAA Ree Gelato umelon sem seommeloCemmperzue the problems lay however, as after the goal, Clare’s back-line conceed- ed five scoreable frees, four of which were converted and although Clare did try to rally, the needless indisci- pline led to the final nails in Clare’s oy enteF

Much improved from last year but Clare still need to flesh out their op- tions before they are able to seriously challenge for the provincial crown.

THREE prominent Ennis-based companies will lose millions of euro if Clare County Council rezones their lands in the forthcoming draft Ennis development plan.

In recent days, representatives of Michael Lynch Ltd, Tom Hogan Mo- tors Ltd and T Sheils & Co Ltd have scrambled to lobby councillors to have the proposed rezonings reversed before the draft plan is published in the next number of weeks.

The businesses learned of the plans when the council circulated the draft plan to councillors.

Last year Tom Hogan Motors paid around €10 million for an eight acre site which included the One Mile Inn on the Lahinch Road, Ennis. The land was zoned “local centre” in the 2003 development plan, a categorisa- tion which confers the capacity “to sustain and strengthen the area as a centre of commercial, retail, cultural and community life”.

However, planning officials have

removed that zoning and instead moved to have a large proportion of the site rezoned to “open space” and “flood risk”’ with the remainder zoned “commercial”. Tom Hogan Motors has written to the council seeking to have the proposed rezon- ing reversed.

Separately, the council is moving to rezone land, which Michael Lynch & Co owns, from “proposal site” to “other settlement land” and “residen- tial”. The council only zoned eight strategic sites in the Ennis town area.

The “proposal site” zoning conferred on the Lynch site in the 2003 Ennis Development Plan, stated that it had “significant scope for the provision of retail facilities as it is considered to be an edge of town location”.

Two years ago the company was refused planning permission for a retail park at the site. Michael Lynch & Co has also written to councillors in order to prevent the rezoning from proceeding.

TURN eCemUOUERO MDDOT E-De(GCemm DO Cemereebe(OUENTS seeking to rezone a site on the Gal-

way Road opposite Sheils’ 24-hour garage from “commercial” to “other settlement land” which provides for limited housing development. A five- year planning permission was se- cured for a hotel on the site in 2001.

T Sheils & Co has also written to councillors seeking to have the re- zoning overturned.

Councillors from Ennis ‘Town Council and county councillors of the Ennis and Environs area were meet- ing behind closed doors yesterday to discuss the companies’ submissions.

THE potential of Clare as a gen- erator of wood energy was further TORO) STARVE oLO MNO OURS ( oto) GEAWA LOO MNO omE- Date nouncement by Teagasc that Irish farm forestry has the potential to

replace a huge 58 million litres of home heating oil per annum.

The new Teagasc research indicates that private investment in forestry provides a massive opportunity for the wood energy sector in Ireland. Thinnings from privately-owned for-

ests could help to reduce the depend- ence of domestic and commercial consumers on oil for their heating needs.

With nearly 60,000 hectares of Irish forestry now more than 15 years of age, research indicates that

two-thirds of these plantations are ready for thinning. Annual output from the private sector has the po- tential to rise from its current level of just 100,000 cubic metres per an- num, up to 1.1 million cubic metres per annum by 2015.

‘Because of the nature and composi- tion of farmer-owned plantations,the wood energy market offers farmers the opportunity to sell their produce to new and growing markets, partic- ularly in areas where no market op- portunities previously existed,” said Teagasc forestry researcher Niall Sek IML (cle) .@

“This also offers farmers the op- portunity to have their plantations thinned. In order to realise this po- tential it is crucial that farmers thin plantations where appropriate.”

Private planting of forests increased in the 1990s and these are now ma- turing for harvest. It is anticipated that half of the landowners will opt to thin, which could lift the annual output to 550,000 cubic metres per annum by 2015.

A high percentage of this thinning volume – 340,000 cubic metres – has the potential to supply the wood en- ergy market. This energy resource is equivalent to 2.24 million giga joules, or 58 million litres of home terlmusremeyee

That is enough energy to heat 58,000 houses based on an average size house using 1,000 litres of home heating oil each year.

New research, sponsored by CO- FORD and presented last week at Bioenergy ‘08 in Athenry, will in- vestigate the structures to quantify, locate and market timber for forest owners. It is planned to develop a framework for the optimal quanti- fication of the wood resources from farm forests using clustering tech- niques.

Clare, alongside Donegal, has al- ready started to use the produce of first thinning to supply the wood en- ergy market for local and municipal heating requirements.

Weve ote al Féile na nGael held at venues in Laois, Offally and Tipperary over the weekend.

Clare was represented at Féile by camogie and hurling teams from the Bridge. Despite some encouraging performances, neither side qualified from the group stages.

The hurlers were pitted in a tough group alongside noted Cork side Na Piarsaigh, Dungarvan from Water- ford and another side from the rebel county Kiltha Og.

The Bridge lost their opening en- counter against Na Piarsaigh and lost narrowly by two points to Dun- garvan. The Bridge bounced back and bowed out with a three point win over Kiltha Og.

The Bridge’s group opponents Na Piarsaigh made it to the Féile final where they were beaten by Kilkenny club James Stephens

Qualification from the group stages also eluded the camogie players of Sixmilebridge over the weekend.

The Bridge, who were representing Clare for the third time at the annual

event, gave themselves a great chance of making it into the knockout stages for the first time by beating Tipper- ary champions Thurles in their sec- ond group encounter.

Sixmulebridge lost their opening game on Friday night to hosts ‘Toom- evara. But results elsewhere went kindly for Sixmilebridge. Toome- vara drew with Douglas and Thurles. These coupled with Sixmilebridge’s win over Thurles left the Clare side needing a win against Douglas to quality.

The Bridge played with tremen- dous spirit for long periods, but were eventually overcome by an older and stronger Douglas side, who ran out comfortable winners.

That ended the Bridge’s interest in the competition for another year at least.

The highpoint of an eventful cam- paign for the Bridge was undoubt- edly Saturday’s win over Thurles.

The Bridge edged a tight game 3- 1 2-1 with goals from Ali Quinlan, Sinead Tuohy and Niamh Murray.

Manager Niamh McInerney said the club can be proud of the team’s performances. “They were excel- lent, particularly against Thurles,

but even against Douglas as well. We kept them out for a long time” said McInerney.

Dublin side Lucan Sarsfields were crowned Féile champions when they defeated Mullagh in the division one final in O’Moore Park on Sunday.

Meanwhile, there was some suc- cess for Clare camogie when Vera Loughnane was crowned winner of the Feile Skills competition in Laois on Saturday. The Feakle girl beat of opposition from Antrim (2nd) and Limerick (3rd) to claim her title. This was Vera’s second year to go to the National finals having won the coun- ty competition last year also. Vera had accounted very well for herself at last year’s competition coming a creditable third. Vera worked on her hurling skills with her father in Feakle and was also delighted to have had some coaching and pointers from Colin Lynch and Deirdre Mur- phy. Vera had to contend with the wet and blustery conditions on the morn- ing of the competition. However the weather failed to deter the young Feakle girl. The local community in Feakle are delighted with Vera’s achievement and hope it will help in fostering the importance of the skills

of the game on the rest of players in the club and county.

CLARE v Limerick always throws up a different script — so it was on Sun- day, on the field and off. Clare FM and Limerick 95 were the partisans, as only they could and should be, but tuning into the national broadcaster, it was hard to escape the notion that everything was stacked in favour of Ore

Honorary Clareman Len Gaynor was parked beside Micheal O Muirc- heartaigh for Radio Eireann while next door in the Teilifis Eireann eye in the sky Anthony Daly was Ger Canning’s lieutenant.

And, it didn’t end there. Cyril Far- rell, who always seems to trump the

Clare card, was with Michael Lyster a few doors down. There were Clare cards everywhere, maybe this is why Limerick’s Martin Kiely played a different card by trying to summon some divine intervention when the game started running away from his team.

Kiely brought novenas into the hurling game at half-time. It was a throw of the dice — not desperate but a call to the heavens at the same time. “You’ve been to the novena this morning — maybe Limerick need it,” Kiely said hopefully to Limerick se- lector Bernie Hartigan.

From one Limerick man to anoth- er — a bit like Marty to Ger in 95. Thing is though, Ger was much more

convincing with his famous “we’re going to do it” line. Bernie wasn’t so sure, only hoping and trying to convince himself of Limerick’s belly for battle. “The team that’s up for it and really fights for it will win. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

At the same time over in the Clare FM booth they were digging a trench and building their Maginot Line, bracing themselves for a Battle of the Bulge like attack from Limerick. A desperate offensive that represented their last chance to turn their Mun- ster championship year around.

“Limerick are not going to go down without a fight,” said commentator Syl O’Connor. “It’s going to be a ferocious battle, there’s going to be

a massive onslaught.” For a minute bousoukas and not hurleys sprang to mind.

Limerick didn’t have them though, something Len Gaynor hinted at dur- ing the break. Maybe he was wearing his Clare hat when he said: “It should be enough for Clare — they started very lethargic, but are now into their rhythm.”

Anthony Daly did his best to keep his Clare hat off, but off air was sure- ly chuckling with delight as Limerick gifted goal after goal. “The soft first goal has turned it around for Clare,” he exclaimed. Cyril Farrell jumped in with his Third Secret of Fatima: “goals win games”.

Farrell, who championed Clare all

day added: “they stood up and were counted today. They got the breaks and were good enough to take the breaks. I don’t believe Clare are get- ting the credit they deserve.”

Just as he was talking, Martin Kie- ly had collared Colin Lynch on the field, but wasn’t talking about nove- nas anymore.

The time for novenas had passed — it was Lynch’s time. “It was a long time coming, it’s all about how badly you want it,” he proclaimed.

It wasn’t the only proclamation. Kiely then roared above the din. “The Clare Shout is back, they’ve swarmed the field.”

It was like old times — a long time coming as Colin Lynch said.

SCHOOLS, homes and businesses in Shannon are being encouraged to take pride in their places, as the lo- cal tidy towns competition is up and ubbavepentes

The Shannon Tidy Towns commit- tee has recommenced its local com- petitions, after a lapse of three years. It is encouraging entrants to three categories of the competition — best kept area, best kept school and best small business. There will be two prizes for the best kept areas and two for the best kept schools.

According to the chairperson of the tidy towns committee, Olive Bowen,

independent adjudicators will keep an eye on the schools, residential es- tates and businesses around the town throughout the summer.

“We will concentrate on litter, hanging baskets, quality plants and how areas are kept in general,” she said.

“We are hoping this scheme will continue to encourage people to keep their areas clean,” she added.

She said the tidy towns committee was working hard in an effort to 1m- prove marks gained in the national competition. The committee has also entered the countywide Clare in Bloom competition and hopes are high that the town will earn plaudits

bom Oer-lme sre heablon

“We are very pleased with the way things have been going. People in Shannon are keeping their properties very well,” she said.

‘We are very pleased that the Bal- lycasey roundabout has had shrubs put in place, but we are still waiting for the roundabout at the town centre to be better organised,” she added.

Local businesses have been keen to get in on the act. McDonald’s fast food outlet in the town helps out with the cleaning every year, while 50 staff from Intel cleaned the river- walks last week.

The local youth club and the Chris- tian Leadership Movement have also

committed to helping out with clean- ups during the summer months.

The changing characteristics of the population of Shannon have been re- flected in the campaign to keep the town in tip-top shape.

In recent years, several people from Poland and Lithuania have moved to the town and locals are keen to en- sure they are made welcome.

Posters, encouraging people to get involved in keeping Shannon tidy, have been compiled in four lan- guages — English, Irish, Polish and Lithuanian.

A presentation night for the local tidy towns competition will take place in September.

CLARE TD and Minister of State with Special Responsibilities for Fisheries, Tony Killeen, last week joined Agriculture Minister, Brendan Smith, in a meeting with EU Fisher- ies Commissioner, Joe Borg, where the difficulties being experienced by fishermen across Europe was the main topic for discussion.

While the meeting was the first face-to-face meeting between the ministers and the commissioner, it followed a lengthy telephone con- versation recently between Minister Smith and the commissioner.

In the course of the meeting, the ministers, as they had undertaken to do during a meeting with the Fed-

eration of Irish Fishermen on Friday last, impressed upon the commis- sioner the serious difficulties and the depth of feeling of Irish fishermen and also the urgent need to bring forward an EU-funded package of measures to alleviate the concerns of TeKemensaouensee

Minister Smith also indicated to the commissioner his intention to press, at next week’s Fisheries Council, for the adoption of new EU regulations to prevent the import of illegal, un- regulated and unreported fish into the EU market which are undermin- ing the markets for legally caught ne

He is also seeking the early adop- tion of new conservation measures to reduce discards and juvenile fish

protection measures in the waters around Ireland.

Minister Killeen emphasised to Commissioner Borg the priority that would have to be attached to the Irish fishing fleet in any EU package and also raised the issue of the re- quested adjustment of the Celtic Sea Cod TAC.

The ministers welcomed the pro- posals outlined by the commissioner, which were published last week, but highlighted the absence of a provi- sion for additional EU funding to underwrite the proposals.

Commissioner Borg indicated that he was still undertaking an exercise within the DG Mare to explore all possibilities for the identification of some additional funding for the

package.

Minister of State Killeen said that as many of the issues were also of concern to fishermen in other mem- ber states, he and Minister Smith would continue to press, with their colleagues at next week’s Council of Fisheries in Luxembourg, for a pack- age of measures and additional EU- funding which would be required to address the difficulties being expe- rienced by fishermen across the EU and particularly in Ireland.

Following a full discussion on the range of issues affecting the indus- try at next week’s council, Commis- sioner Borg will propose a definitive set of proposals for presentation to the Fisheries Council of Europe on ith ey