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A COORACLARE man who claims his daughter was the victim of a minor assault in the seaside town of Kilkee during the bank holiday weekend believes there is need for more gardai to be available in the area.

Kilkee town councillor Claire Haugh (FF), who in the past has been vocal about the need for more gardai in the town during the sum- mer months, said while she was not familiar with this case gardai had been maintaining a high profile in

the area during the busy weekends and praised them for their work to CFT Ken

On Sunday evening the Cooraclare man said he had been at the beach with his two daughters when his young teenage daughter decided to go to buy an ice cream.

On her way out of the shop anoth- er teen which, he said, was visibly drunk knocked the ice-cream cone into her face.

He said that he called the gardai in Kilkee immediately but they had gone off duty and when he rang Kil- rush he was told the squad car had

gone out on another job.

A local Garda spokesperson said that there was now a sergeant and two gardai stationed in Kilkee.

He said there was a member of the Kilkee unit on duty from 9am until Spm on the day in question and the squad had driven out to the area on numerous occasions.

Former Kilkee mayor Cllr Haugh said she was happy with the number of gardai on duty during the busy bank holiday weekend.

“There was a lot of coverage at night in the town and gardai on the beat during the weekend, I saw it my-

self,’ she said.

She commended the superintend- ent in Kilrush saying he put exten- sive manpower in to the busy seaside town during the peak summer season and the busy weekends.

During the summer months the population of Kilkee swells to more than 20,000 people or more than 10 times its off-peak population.

Up to approximately two years ago councillors from Kilkee were calling for more Garda coverage during the busy summer months.

This situation has now been vastly improved according to Cllr Haugh.

DEFENDING champions _ Tulla, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Clarecastle and Eire Og have nearly 50 senior championships titles between them, but lofty reputations counted for nothing as the Canon Hamilton Cup race was launched at the weekend with an eight-match programme.

These big four were the big casu- alties on weekend one, all of them left reeling after shock defeats that plunge them headlong into fights for senior championship survival in their respective groups.

Pride of place goes to Inagh/Kilna- mona though, who in their first senior championship game ever claimed the scalps of county champions Tulla on Sunday afternoon thanks to a thrill- ing 2-17 to 0-15 win in Cusack Park.

“This was a great day for us,” en- thused Inagh/Kilnamona mentor Noel Hehir afterwards. “We went into this championship not knowing what to expect, but determined to give it a real go. We did that today, especially in the second half and it’s brilliant to get off to a winning start, especially against the county ove Oey

And, if Inagh-Kilnamona’s heroics reflected the changing landscape of the senior championship, so did the victories of both Clooney-Quin and Clonlara. Both have come from the intermediate ranks in the last two years and threw their senior champ- onship markers down in their open- ing contests. Clooney-Quin inflicted a humiliating 3-17 to 2-7 defeat on 2007 Senior B champions Eire Og.

“We showed great character to come back after the two goals – they were an awful sucker-punch before half-time. The lads responded bril- liantly in the second half – a better team than us would have struggled after those goals,” said manager Pat O’Rourke.

Clonlara were equally impressive in dispatching renowned champion- ship battlers Ogonnelloe in Killaloe, even though they had to make do without their ace forwards, Darach Honan and John Conlan due to the Leaving Cert. Afterwards, manager Jim Gully did his best to douse the expectations building up around his team after their impressive entreé into senior hurling.

“TV’d be disappointed if we don’t make the quarter finals and it was important to start with a win, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. There could be a lot of twists and turns in this group yet,” said Gully.

There’s no need to douse expeca- tions in Newmarket-on-Fergus any- more – they were extinguished for the time being with their lamentable per- formance against Wolfe Tones, when they bowed out with a whimper in the second half of a forgettable con- test that launched the championship on Friday night.

Then there’s Kilmaley – the 2004 champions shocking 2005 winners Clarecastle, largely on the back of an inspirational performance from Co- lin Lynch, who was the outstanding player on view during the opening salvos of the Canon Hamilton race that’s now up and running until Oc- tober.

WARNING that Ireland’s green in- frastructure is under threat, the Her- itage Council has launched an action plan to halt the decline of Clare’s biodiversity by awarding funds to five eco-friendly projects throughout the county.

Funding has been awarded to the Clare Bat Group for the conserva- tion of bat species and raising aware- ness with local community groups; the Clare Biodiversity Group for the planting of native trees, fruit trees and wild flowers along newly laid cy- cle lanes; Ennis and District Anglers Association for the restoration of a section of the River Fergus; Tuam- graney Development Association to restore an unmanaged woodland for wildlife; and Lisdoonvarna Commu- nity Centre for work on the Lisdoon- varna Biodiversity Park.

The Heritage Council has award- ed funding of over €7/00,000 to 52 projects around the country that will protect, manage and restore local bio- diversity. The funding is provided by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The council wants to highlight the importance of wetlands, as well as the damage caused by invasive spe- cies to biodiversity in Ireland. Wet- lands are essential for flood control, pollution control, water supply, and peat lands also serve as vital carbon sinks that could help address climate change. Invasive species are causing problems in our waterways and for- ests, impacting on native biodiversity and affecting water quality.

A South African pondweed sus- pected to have come from a local ornamental garden pond has become established in Lough Corrib, Ire- land’s second largest lake and home to salmon, otter and an internation- ally recognised wild trout fishery. The plant is forming a dense canopy on the lake surface and is blocking out light. This in turn impacts on the native fish and plants in the lake. A task force has been set up to remove the South African pondweed at con- siderable expense.

Other invasive plants such as Rho- dodendron and Gnuant Rhubarb, originally brought in as ornamental garden plants, are causing consider- able damage to native woodlands and the landscape, especially on the west coast.

Meanwhile, zebra mussels (pictured below) are having a serious effect in Lough Derg and waterways along the Shannon and elsewhere, block- ing water pipes and boat engines and affecting native fish species.

Among measures to halt the decline in biodiversity are the planting of na- tive trees, shrubs and flowers; cutting down on household chemicals; plan- ning new developments more sensi- tively as well as preserving wetlands, coastal areas and important habitats. For further information, see www. heritagecouncil.ie.

Lough Graney Youth Club will be flying the flag for east Clare in the Gort branch’s section of the AIB Better Ireland Awards.

The east Clare group will be com- peting against two Gort groups to win the coveted text votes that could see them pocket as much as €10,000.

The youth club, which is in its sec- ond year, has already dared to con- sider how it could spend the gener- ous prize.

“We are delighted with this short listing and if we won the €10,000 we would be able to purchase com- puters and filming equipment for our youth club.

This would enable our young peo- ple to become more involved in the community and also we could do many different projects incorporat- ing other age groups,” said Kathleen McNamara, Chairperson of Lough Graney Youth Club.

“Winning this award would ben- efit the entire community including pre-school, primary school children, after-school, adult education and the older members of our area. In this way our youth would appreciate and value their own community and en- able it to grow more progressively or become community leaders of the JUUAb Kr

“We are in the Clar area of dis- advantage and we do not have any

amenities on hand for our young people. We do not have a commu- nity centre, which is a major disad- vantage for our youth. Also, we have to travel long distances for cinema, etc,” she said.

This does not limit the amount of work the Lough Graney Youth Club do in any given week, however.

Last Saturday, the youth club went to Caher House Estate for a barbeque while that night the Lough Graney Youth Club Singers performed for a pre-exam Mass in Kilclaran Church, which was officiated over by Fr Brendan Quinlivan.

The local, people can support the youth clubs campaign to win the coveted €10,000 by texting GortC

to 53099.

Even if the group don’t win they will receive a donation for every text KAAS Aor b

The two other groups competing for the prize are Ballinderreen Play- group and the Gort No Name Club.

To support the Ballinderreen Play- eroup text GortA to 53099, while you can support the Gort No Name Club by texting GortB to 53099.

All texts must be in before June 6 to count.

THE Government has serious con- cerns about the latest proposals ta- bled last week at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, according to Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Tony Killeen.

The Clare TD made the comments after the Minister for Foreign Af- fairs, Micheal Martin attended his first EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

Speaking following the meeting, Minister Martin said that he had grave concerns about the latest WTO

papers on agriculture and non-agri- cultural market access.

‘The risk of serious damage being caused to European agriculture from an unsatisfactory WTO deal must be of grave concern to everyone in Europe, producers and consumers alike,” said Minister Killeen.

“This is particularly the case at a time when food security is looming as, potentially, a major issue for the jaUinet none

“After his first meeting with other European foreign ministers, Minis- ter Martin said that he had serious concerns that new market realities and emerging food security issues

are being ignored in the rush towards an early deal.

‘He made it known that Ireland has profound reservations about the lat- est WTO papers on agriculture and non-agricultural market access. He also agreed with others present who questioned whether the objective grounds currently exist for an early WTO ministerial meeting.

“Minister Martin made it very clear that the obvious imbalance in the present set of proposals makes them unacceptable to Ireland and to others.”

“If it is to be acceptable, a WTO agreement must not undermine Eu-

ropean agriculture. A WTO deal must deliver real benefits to Europe and to developing countries.”

“Ireland wants a WTO agreement as much as any other member state but it must be fair and balanced in re- spect of what the EU is being asked to concede and what it is receiving in return.

“Minister Martin and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, are determined to continue working with other mem- ber states so as to ensure that any outcome to these negotiations will not result in our key interests being sacrificed.”

PROMOTING from’ within has served Clarecastle well. Two county titles in the last four years, testifies to that.

After landing the championship in 2005 during his two years as man- ager, Ger Ward stepped aside in 2007 for Fergie Tuohy. Then in 2008 the baton returned to Tommy Howard who was a county final winning manager in 2003.

Managers come and managers go, but the transition is always a smooth one. In Clarecastle, you shouldn’t confuse change with upheaval.

Every year there are plenty of strong candidates. But when one is selected to lead, the club coalesces around a common goal — winning the cham- ey Coyetsieul oy

There isn’t time for factions or rivalry. Unity, manager Tommy Howard agrees, has been a source of strength for the club.

“We don’t have major showdowns or votes at the beginning of the year”, says Howard, “At the beginning of the year, I indicated an interest in being involved, and the club seemed to be happy to accept me. When it comes to my time to give it up, someone else will pick up the baton

and go. That’s just the way it seems to happen. It’s healthy for the club as well, in fairness.”

Being able to select from such a deep pool gives a Clarecastle formi- dable edge off the pitch. New man- agers, having played for the club, are already attuned to the fierce expecta- tion to win.

Howard, manager when the mag- pies won their 10th county title in 2003, understands this can be a dou- ble-edged sword.

“I think Clarecastle would be known as being parochial to say the least. There is great pride and great passion in the place. Playing for your club and being involved as a mentor is seen as a great honour. It brings pressure. The expectation is always high from the supporters and that’s part of the enjoyment of it as well. It’s an honour to be involved and to be able to give it time and to have a

go at it. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t and you have to live with the consequences.”

2007 was a year when that didn’t go to plan. After beating Wolfe Tones in the quarter final, Clarecastle were outmaneuvered and, dare you say it, outfought by Tulla in the semi final.

‘To get to the semi final was a great achievement in one respect. Tulla went on and they won the champion- ship, so they proved to be credible champions. They beat everyone they had to beat along the way and they did it with a bit of style.”

Howard 1s concerned that Clarecas- tle have “leaked goals at critical stag- es” in the Clare Cup. More pressing though, are the injuries to key players like Derek Quinn. The club’s leading marksmen will miss the group stages due to a serious ankle injury.

Darragh Moloney, another forward from whom much is expected is una-

vailable, but for different reasons. He is preparing for his Leaving Cert.

“Derek Quinn would be massive loss to any setup. In a county where good forwards are a rare commodity, he’s a massive loss to us, massive’’.

Clarecastle’s opponents in group 3 include old rivals Kilmaley and Eire Og. The game against the townies sees Howard pit his wits against his brother in-law and Eire Og manager, John Russell.

“Whatever way that falls. I’m sure they will be a bit of ribbing, wheth- er I was involved or not’, laughs Howard.

Not that there is much time for fun and games. The serious business be- gins now.

ONE of the biggest construction companies in the mid-west tripled its profits before tax to €1.6 million, ac- cording to the most recent accounts filed with the companies office. Accounts to the end of September 2006, show that the Michael Lynch (Group) Ltd increased its profits be-

fore tax from €507,000 in 2005 to €1.6 million in 2006.

Last week, An Bord Pleanala gave the company the go-ahead for a large-scale housing development at Lifford in Ennis which should go some way towards making up for failing to secure a planning permis- sion for a €50 million retail park at Clonroadmore.

The Ennis company almost dou- bled its turnover going up from €27 million to €42 million, underlining the money-generating capacity of the firm during the building boom.

The accounts show that the group’s operating profit was €2.1 mullion in 2006 — up from €1.52 million in 2005 – and retained profit combined with shareholders’ equity funds

amounted to over €8 million.

Underlining the importance of the company to the local economy, the number of people on payroll was 71 with staff costs for 2006 amounting to €4.8 million.

And the value of the company’s landbank continues to increase with the returns showing that in 2004, the company had development lands val-

ued at €5.7 million. This increased to €12.4 million by September 2005 and to €15 million at the end of Sep- tember 2006.

The accounts stated that the com- pany proposed not to pay a dividend in 2006.

The returns to the companies office list Seamus Lynch and Mary Lynch as directors of the firm.

KILLALOE singer/songwriter K1i- ernan McMullan will help launch a new night for local artists later this evening in Lahinch.

The up and coming east Clare art- ist, who last month signed his first professional contract with American based label One Eleven Records, will be joined on the night by Shan- non’s David Hope, Limerick’s Wal- ter Mitty and the Realists and Lynda Cullen from Cork.

They will all help to launch Clare’s newest free singer songwriter night, The White Horse Sessions, in Ken-

ny’s Village Inn in Lahinch. The evening is being organised by Clare singer/songwriter Louise McMahon and Kenneth Kenny from Kenny’s.

“We want to have a good mixture of acts in the White Horse Session and with Kiernan as well as the other acts I think we have achieved this. We don’t want to have all bands or all singer songwriters – we want to break it up,” said Kenneth.

“Clare has always been very good for musicians and at the moment there is something really good going on in Lahinch. There is a great lit- tle scene here, everyone helps each other out. People are crying out for

the music but they need a stage. Our real aim is to bring the music back to the west.

‘So we were thinking of something we could do here. We thought about an open mic but they’ve been done. We really wanted to get some real talent in, people who are really good. So Louise came up with the idea of the sessions and it has all snowballed from there,’ said Kenneth.

The aim is to create an intimate venue for candlelit sessions through- out the summer. The organisers hope to provides a stage and a listening au- dience for both the cream of up and coming and the established original

Irish and international artists.

The sessions will take place each Tuesday throughout the summer months with plans already being formed to continue the gigs into the winter if the demand is there.

Meanwhile, the next month looks set to be a busy one for Kenneth. Be- sides working on the new album, he plays the Sugar Club in Dublin next Tuesday, June 10, and will be the second artist in

MENTAL health services in Clare are significantly under-funded, ac- cording to the annual report of the Mental Health Commission (MHC) released last week.

The report also pointed to a sig- nificant reduction in the amount of patients admitted involuntarily to in- patient mental health units.

“The Clare Mental Health Service had been proactive in developing a community-based model of care over the five years since the closure of Our Lady’s Hospital,” said a spokes-

person from the Mental Health Com- mission.

“It had sourced external support to further develop the workings of teams and had a written plan based on the national planning document, ‘A Vision for Change’.

“However, Clare faces consider- able challenges in reconfiguring ex- isting nursing resources, introducing health care assistants and accessing funding to achieve appropriate staff- ing levels on all teams.”

The figures, which covered all of 2007, revealed a 25 per cent reduction in the number of involuntary patients

in health care centres since 2005. Na- tionally, just over 2,000 people were involuntarily admitted in 2007.

“2007 was a milestone year for men- tal health services in Ireland. It was the first full year of the implementa- tion of the Mental Health Act 2001 and this has had a significant effect on the delivery of mental health services in Ireland,” said Brid Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of the MHC.

“While we acknowledge _ that changes have taken place in a lot of approved centres, there are a still a number of centres which are not op- erating to best practice. It is the goal

of the commission to continue to pro- mote high standards during 2008 and onwards.”

Despite improvements made in mental health services in 2007, the MHC expressed its concern about the lack of progress in the implemen- tation of the Government’s policy on mental health.

“The implementation of “A Vision for Change’ is necessary so that a modern, comprehensive person-cen- tred model of mental health service provision is available for all of those who need to avail of it,” said Dr Ed- mond O’ Dea, Chairman of the MHC.

LAST Tuesday at training, Jim Gully gathered his players and faced them in the direction of reality. He said Clonlara can now rightly call them- selves a senior team and he pointed out that they have the players to cope at the highest level.

He named a couple of other clubs who had made decent progress down through the years only to eventually fall by the wayside. His point was that Clonlara should take advantage of the pool of players at their dispos- al and do their best to get out of the eaveleiey

It’s not that Gully is overly-con- fident. He rightly says that the next two or three years should be about consolodating their seinor status, but he’s optimistic enough to aim for the play-offs.

Last season’s heroics in the Inter- mediate championship and in the provincial championship are partly down to Gully’s positive approach. Players thrived under his influence and the success of last year spread much wider than winning the Inter-

mediate championship.

“It lifted the whole place, gave hurling a great foundation in Clon- lara,” says Gully. “You saw kids in school making up songs about the team. It was the kind of thing you dream about.”

This year hasn’t started too badly either. The Under 21s captured the A title in Cusack Park defeating a seasoned Nermarket-on-Fergus side and nine of those players had a role to play in the senior squad of 2007.

“People are going around saying that we’re in with a chance of win- ning the championship year and that’s the sort of thing we have to guard against. People around here think these guys are unbeatable but playing in the senior championship 1s going to be a big step-up.

“Senior teams can stop open hurl- ing easier than intermediate teams and that’s the kind of hurling we like to play. Then there’s the speed of the game. Players, I reckon, will have two seconds less to make up their minds this year. Our lads will have to think fast and act fast. Basically, you’re go- ing to have to make decisions imme-

diately and go with them.”

Gully is also pleased that unlike the last time Clonlara were a senior club, there isn’t a two-tiered system.

“We were relegated three years ago having played in what was a Senior B championship. There were eight top teams that year and 12 on the second level. So we didn’t really have an op- portunity to have a go at the big boys. The way things are this year, it’s far better.”

Clonlara’s youth factor, Gully reck- ons, means that the team may be bet- ter positioned to adapt to taking on some of the more seasoned sides.

‘Before the final last year, the young lads were going around as though it was just another hurling game where- as we [the management] were having sleepless nights. What I’d love to see is our more senior players leading the younger lads and that way, we can all adapt straight away.”

For Clonlara’s opener against Ogonnelloe, they’ll have to do with- out Darach Honan and John Conlon who are both sitting the Leaving Cert. The O’Donovan brothers are also America bound after the first

round and they won’t return until the end of August.

With typical positivity, Gully man- ages to see the bright side.

“We’re not going to use any excuse. Of course we’d love to have the lads but you show me a team that won’t have to deal with something simular. The lads we have, once they’re cer- tain that they’re not going to let this chance slip by, then I’ll be happy. We’re not the same as the likes of Clarecastle or Sixmilebridge. We don’t have a conveyor belt producing players year after year.

“We’ don’t have a large pool of players and we’re in this competition to battle and to give a good account of ourselves. Nothing less.”

Last Christmas, in the middle of the All-Ireland championship, the club took a short break from hurling. Gully recalled the panel for train- ing on January 2. Close to 30 play- ers showed up. They may have fallen short in Munster earlier in the year, but a new challenge is about to be- gin.

With Gully steering the ship, they’ll strive to break through any icebergs that come in their way this summer.