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CLARE played well on Sunday but there must have been moments when Mike McNamara felt a twitch of panic.

Even as Clare blitzed Waterford in the second half and McNamara watched impassively, some doubts must have surfaced.

Clare, after all, hadn’t won a game in Munster in five years. This was uncharted territory. Waterford may have lacked the usual rapier thrust but John Mullane was swatting over points for fun. Was McNamara wor- ried? Even just a little bit?

‘The last time I got worried was 1963 or four, I think, when I was sent off to boarding school,” said McNa- mara afterwards, standing, coinci- dentally enough, underneath a fire “EbweeP

Don’t worry be happy lads, seemed to be the message. And why not. Be- side McNamara, the Clare dressing room glowed with a sense of achieve- ment and with good cause. Clare won by nine points. They scored two goals. The new lads, particularly Mark Flaherty looked comfortable. More importantly for McNamara though, the win went some way to restoring Clare’s reputation in Mun- Nis

He said, “We’ll we’ve prepared for this the same as an All-Ireland final. We had to come out of the hole we were in. Clare hurling was slipping in a bad way. Even our supporters were deserting us in droves. We had to put in a big performance. We trained for this like it was an All-Ireland final because we felt we had to. It would be interesting to know whether there is anymore in us or not, but that’s for another day.”

McNamara was un-sparing in his assessment of Clare’s recent out- ings in Munster. Clare, he said, had reached a point of no return making a win on Sunday essential.

‘“We’ve been close to a disgrace in Munster for a long number of years now. For those of us, who came up in the old school, the old way, Mun- ster was our goal and our ambition and our pride and our honour. We’re proud to be part of a Munster tradi- tion of hurling and we have to put our

best foot forward today. We couldn’t let 1t go down the line any further.”

By the time they had clocked off, Clare’s forwards had put in a solid 70 minutes of hard work. McNamara was pleased.

“It’s the key to success, work rate. If you have a forward line that aren’t working then you can’t win matches, particularly big matches. We spoke a lot about the lost cause and the one ball that they didn’t contest; it may or may not change the whole course of the game. We spoke about it now for a month. Every ball was vital to those lads today and every ball had to be won and that’s they way we saw

it. That’s the way we approached it and as you saw they did it right until the very end.”

The goals, McNamara acknowl- edged were hugely important and perhaps a little surprising.

“Funny enough we haven’t been scoring them, even in training we were missing goals. It was a pleasant surprise that we could get the goals and the goals came today.”

Asked to consider the challenge of Limerick, McNamara’s thoughts drifted back to 1996 and Clare’s de- feat at the hands of their neighbours in the semi-final of the Munster Championship.

“Of course there is always a bite in a Limerick/Clare match. We can go back, was it 12 years ago, here on that famous day, that we might be able to get a bit of revenge. Who knows, who knows.”

About an hour later, on the Coon- agh roundabout, a proud looking Ollie Baker could be seen riding shotgun in the team bus, shaking his fist defiantly, as Clare headed home. Who knows indeed?

PJ HOWARD did not marry Sharon Collins after he was advised by his solicitor that pre nuptial agreements were not recognised in Ireland, he told the trial.

Mr Howard said that he and Sha- ron had discussed marriage, but he decided against it on advice from his solicitor, Michael Houlihan.

Asked by Prosecuting Counsel Tom O’Connell was he married to Ms Collins, PJ Howard replied, “No.”

He said after his wife died marriage had been discussed but he decided, on legal advice, not to go ahead with i

“We discussed it and I took some legal advice from Michael Houlihan,

a local solicitor. I was advised a pren- uptial wasn’t accepted and wouldn’t be recognised in Ireland . . stating what would happen to my assets if I died,” he said.

‘IT was informed if we had any type of a marriage, legal or church, it would affect my assets. Sharon and I discussed it. I told her the situation. We came to an agreement. I think it was 2005. We signed an agreement, the two of us, to say we weren’t mar- ried and we weren’t getting married,” he said.

Asked who drew up the agreement, he said, “I think it was Sharon. It was between the two of us and we both signed it.”

“We went to Sorrento after we signed it, just for a holiday. We

agreed we’d go to a church, just the two of us, and say a few prayers,’ he added.

He said there was no ceremony, “none whatsoever.”

“Sharon said to friends we had got married and I didn’t have any objec- tions to this,” he said.

He said there was a party “I think about two nights later.”

Opening Mr Howard’s evidence to the jury last Tuesday, Prosecutor Tom O’Connell put it to him, “You are a comparatively wealthy man’, to which he replied, “You’d wonder.”

Mr O’Connell then put it to him that he was financially well off and he replied, “Yes.”

Asked did he have a mortgage on either his Ennis home or his apart-

ment in Spain, he replied, “No.”

He told Mr O’Connell he spent “ap- proximately” half the year in Spain, where he owned a boat.

He said he married Teresa Con- boy in 1974 and the couple parted company in 1992. They were legally separated. He then had a relationship with Bernie Lyons who died from cancer in 1998.

He said that his wife continued to live in the family home on the Kil- rush Road in Ennis and their sons lived with her. Mr Howard said he met Sharon Collins in 1998 and they started going out together. She and her two sons moved in to Ballybeg House for Christmas 1998 and effec- OAM RCINOT-NDNSOMO)Om Nels Ken

Asked by Mr O’Connell did Sha-

ron Collins have a furniture business which closed down in 2002, he re- plied, “I think so, yes.”

PJ Howard agreed with counsel that he had medical problems over the years and had decided to take a “back seat” in the business and spend more time in Spain.

Mr O’Connell asked Mr Howard whether Ms Collins was good at computers. He replied, “She was reasonably good at computers and her skills were self-taught.”

Mr O’Connell put it to Mr Howard that he took a lot of medication as a result of his medical problems and asked whether Ms Collins played a role in this. “Yes, she did,’ he re- plied. Asked for how long this went on, he replied, “For years.”

THREE worthy north Clare organi- sations are vying for the chance to invest 10 grand of AIB’s money in their own special project.

The Kilfenora Community Centre, Ennistymon Daycare Centre and St Flannan’s National School in Inagh are all taking partin AIB’s Better Ire- land Programme. Local people have been invited to text in their votes to decide which of the worthy organisa- tion should get the cash windfall.

ACen EDU Kore mn WOU MOO MED TOMO NCoamsr-D ONY 1980’s and it has been working away ever since,” said Pat Kenny from the Kilfenora Community Development Group.

“At the moment we are in the proc- ess of furnishing the interior of the

building and making it suitable for things other than sport – because the sports is already up and going.

“This is really something for the whole of north Clare. At the moment we have youth club, the fitness groups, Irish dancing, hip-hop, indoor soccer, badminton, trad for teens and cards. We’d also like to look at providing an after school service.”

Also in contention is the Little Dears Childcare Centre in Ennisty- mon.

“We are a full-time childcare cen- tre with créche, pre-school and after school facilities. We are a non-profit organisation so we rely on grants to get by,” said Marilyn Smith of Little Dears.

“If we were to win the money we would upgrade our outdoor play fa-

cility and make things more secure for the children. We have around 50 children at the moment and we are the only full-time childcare centre in iW slomreN usr b

‘AS we are non-profit, we have spe- cial rates for people on low income.”

The final organisation looking for your texts is the autism specific class at St Flannan’s National School in Inagh.

“Tt’s really for children who would not be able to go into regular classes. They might have sensory issues or imaginative issues or some problems with communication,” said a spokes- person from St Flannans.

“A lot of these children come to us with no language at all. They really have to work very hard on this and we would use the money if we won to

buy computers that could help them overcome their communication dif- ficulties.

“Tt’s about integrating the children into mainstream classes, but they will have this unit as their base.”

To vote for your chosen group text ENNISTY followed by A (for Kil- fenora Community Centre), B (for Little Dears) or C (for St Flannans) to 53099.

IF 2007 showed us anything, it was that anything is possible. This time last season, only the wisest sage would have predicted that Tulla would win the county championship. And at that, such a prediction would probably have been laughed at.

What it means is that with dawn coming over this year’s champion- ship, there are at least a dozen teams who will figure they can emulate Tulla and their achievements of ’07. And why not?

Only a few days had passed after the county final last year and Tulla captain Michael Murphy was fielding phone calls from clubs all over Clare wondering what the secret to their success was. What could he say? He

told them the truth. That Tulla put in one big, honest effort. That no player shirked any responsibility. On a pan- el that realistically had less than 20 players capable of mixing it at senior level, that was crucial.

Tulla also knew their limits. They had a handful of players with sub- lime skill, but the bulk had to hurl with passion and commitment. That was the most evident characteristic throughout their group games and even more so as the knock-out stage progressed.

For every player, there comes a turn- ing point in the season. For some, it was Tulla’s honest meeting in a local restaurant when a few home truths were told but for most, it was the at- mosphere in the dressing room prior to a game that most clubs would have

simply seen as fulfilling a fixture.

That game took place in Sixmileb- ridge in the middle of the Clare Cup —a competition that Tulla weren’t ex- actly setting on fire. That day, they were missing some players but they were asked for honesty, they were asked could they put pride back in Tulla, pride that had been missing for a number of years.

The players responded, they went out and hurled with honesty and they prevailed. From there, the momen- tum began to build and confidence began to seep in.

When the county final arrived, they had beaten two established teams and it suited Tulla that they were go- ing into the game against a team who also had zero big-day experience.

It’s almost eight months since that

game was played. Afterwards, there was a feeling among those with no stake in the game that the occasion didn’t live up to expectations, that the hurling was static. Fair point then, but eight months on, nobody remembers the type of game it was. All that’s recalled, is the novelty and hope that Tulla brought.

Now, for Tulla, it’s a matter of maintaining that momentum and those standards and given the group they’re in, that won’t be easy.

For the other 19 teams, it’s all about playing with that honesty that Tulla personified throughout 2007.

DEFENDING Cork City marathon champion, Tracey Guilfoyle had to settle for second place yesterday as she completed the 26.2 mile course in a time of 3.01.22 hours.

The race was won with an out- standing display of front running by Lucy Brennan from Sligo in 2.54.47 hours.

Guilfoyle, running for Kilnaboy

AC, said she was relatively satisfied with her performance adding that she has raced against Brennan previous- ly and was aware the race would set off at a fast pace. The Sligo woman broke from the leaders within the first mile and stayed away until the tape. Guilfoyle was unable to stick with the fast pace, but held her sec- ond place throughout the race. She passed through the ten mile mark in a time of 66 minutes and complet-

ed the first half of the race in 1.28 hours.

Sinead Ni Chonchuir, Eagle AC, was third in 3.01.52 hours.

It wasn’t all bad news, however, as the Kilnaboy athlete took home the ladies 040 prize.

The senior men’s race was won by Roy Fahy, East Cork AC, in 2.33.55 hours. He was followed home in second spot by Eoin O’Connell, Cork Triathlon Club, and Cathal

O’Connell, St Finbarrs AC, was third.

The first relay team home was Rivergold Road Runners, which in- cluded last year’s men’s winner Alan O’Shea. The team covered the dis- tance in 2.23.38 hours.

Around 8,000 people went to the starting line for the second annual Cork City marathon, and there were also 600 relay teams, one including legend Sonia O’Sullivan.

THE owner and manager of an En- nis business park has appealed a town council decision to approve a proposed three-unit industrial ware- house facility in Ennis.

Last month, Ennis Town Council granted planning permission to John Bonfil to construct the units at the Clonroadmore business park.

In response, Alan Lewis has re- tained planning consultant, Brendan McGrath to lodge the appeal against

the council decision.

In the appeal to An Bord Pleanala, Mr McGrath said Mr Lewis was fun- damentally opposed to the develop- ment because it would undermine the character and operation of the busi- ness park.

“The Clonroadmore business park is being transformed into an urban facility with a distinctive community role. That role is entirely appropriate for this central urban location and should have the support of the local authority. My client accepts that the

site should be developed but wishes to see development that is fully com- patible with the establishing char- acter of the business park and takes account of the fact that there is no suitable access for HGVs.”

Mr McGrath is arguing that the pro- posed development would seriously injure the amenities or depreciate the value of property in the vicinity; would endanger the health or safety of persons occupying or employed in an adjoining structure; or would endan- ger public safety by reason of traffic

hazard or obstruction of road users.

“The proposed development is in accordance with the commercial zoning objective but, in every other respect, 1s contrary to the policy of the development plan.

“The proposed land uses and ac- tivities are inappropriate given the established character of the business park; the proposed access is unsuit- able for the uses proposed and there are related deficiencies in application and assessment procedures.

“This 1s not a typical industrial es-

tate. The majority of occupiers are involved in some form of community activity. The park has a distinctive identity and function and the devel- Opment under consideration would have serious adverse impacts on that identity and function.

“There remains a number of small- scale manufacturing and distribution activities in the park. However, it is intended that the whole of the busi- ness park will be given over to com- munity-type activities.”

A HOUSEMATE of the Howard brothers told the trial that she would not recognise a man she saw talking to Robert outside their house on Sep- tember 26, 2006.

Claire Cahir told the trial last Wednesday that she was living at Ballaghboy, Ennis, on September 26, 2006, with her partner and the Howard brothers, Robert and Niall.

She said that she arrived home shortly after 10.30pm and drove in

the drive.

Asked by Stephen Coughlan, BL, for the Prosecution, did she notice anything, she replied, “There was a gentleman sitting at the door area. He was talking to Robert. Robert was sitting with him.”

She said the gentleman “had his legs out and I said, “God, I nearly drove over your toes’ and I walked into the house.”

Some 10 minutes later, she said Robert went into the house and asked Niall for a cigarette. “He stayed about

a minute. He just went back outside,” she said.

“TI didn’t see anything when I went into the house,” said Ms Cahir.

“I didn’t take much notice. He didn’t look Irish. He had quite sallow skin. That was it,’ she said.

Asked by Mr Coughlan would she recognise the man again, she said, aa fo es

SUSU Sm bi ontromO MNase (Come ME (steno Michael Harold was recognised at Ennistymon Vocational School’s an- nual award ceremony last week.

Mr Harold, who devoted a 40-year career to teaching mathematics and Science in the school, retired four years ago and passed away last month. An image of Mr Harold was included on the cover of the award ceremony’s programme and a minute’s silence was observed in his memory before iW elomre Mise 0 6 om ol oseee TOE

During the ceremony, the senior student of the year was announced as John O’Brien, Ardnaculla, Ennisty- mon, who received the Patrick Com-

NeEN eM aNNe-HKCE

This and four other special awards commemorated students who died while attending the school and one who met tragedy a short while after graduating from the school.

Junior student of the year went to Seamus Crosbie who received the John Kierce Award, while the senior and junior sportspersons of the year award went to Micheal O’Loughlin (Jimmy Considine Award) and Pa Na- gle (Seamus O’Donoghue Award).

The Emer O’Loughlin Award for transition year student of the year, first presented last year, went to Michael McCormack.

The awards were presented by chairman of the school’s board of

management, Cllr Flan Garvey, school principal Enda Byrt, and a number of teachers. The event was co-ordinated by teacher Halimah Heaslip and the student council.

Music to entertain the big number of students, parents and staff was provided by Shona Long, Seamus Crosbie, Cathal Hogan, Mairead Fahy, Gavin Coughlan, Seamus Scholand, Shane Sexton and Sinéad RST rededee

Enda Byrt congratulated students and staff on a very successful and busy year and told the parents that they could be justifiably proud of everyone who was nominated for an award as well as those who were eventually chosen for awards.

He reminded the attendance that the school’s award concept was root- ed in two fundamental ideals – do your best and show respect.

“Ours is a small school and one in which we pride ourselves in concern for students and in our efforts to help them maximise their social and per- sonal qualities while under the care of the school,” he said.

‘“T would also like to recognise the very dedicated teaching and support staff who prided themselves in hav- ing a care and concern for students that extended far beyond the class- room door.

“T hoped that this continued to be the foundation on which the school’s success 1s based.”

IF TULLA’S explosive run to the county title taught the rest of the championship anything last year, it is that any side are currently capable of winning the Canon Hamilton. It wasn’t strength in numbers or pre- vious underage success that steered the east Clare side to victory, as they only used 18 players during the seven games and had only a minor cham- pionship in 2000 to show for their underage endeavours. No, ‘Tulla’s transformation was in attitude not personnel — a self-belief carved out by aruthless determination and stub- born unwillingness not to be beaten.

That criteria alone will inspire oth- er similar unfancied teams to organ- ise and develop with similar intent. Tulla were a Senior B side only the year before but due to the restructur- ing of the senior championship last year, the senior B sides were elevated to the top tier. The new format was so designed, that in time the so- called weaker sides would improve and develop by playing stronger op- position on a regular basis. Obvious- ly Tulla hadn’t read the script as they marauded their way to glory, leaving several notable casualties lying in their wake.

Tulla’s triumph was a huge blow to the traditionally strong sides who

now fear a similar uprising from the rest of the perceived underdogs. There have been grumblings that it was a reflection on how bad hurling in Clare had gone that Tulla were al- lowed to dominate but those acidic remarks only mask their own failings and inability to handle Tulla’s uncom- promising style. Crusheen, Clarecas- tle, and Newmarket-on-Fergus will all feel they left it behind them last year. A combination of complacency and lack of physical strength cost each of those sides dearly and Tulla deserved full credit for assessing the vunerability of the opposition and exploiting the gap which opened up in front of them.

The same predicament manisfests itself this year. With no outstanding team in the top tier, the champion- ship is wide open once again. The heirarchy at the top still remains the same with Newmarket, Clarecastle, Crusheen and Wolfe Tones standing out from the pack as favourites but unlike the English Premiership’s big four, they are by no means guaran- teed their status in those positions. After last year, Tulla and Sixmileb- ridge have significantly climbed the pecking order and the amalgamation of Inagh and Kilnamona also has the potential to provide another future superpower. Cratloe, Corofin and Kilmaley are knocking at the door as

well but there are only eight places available after the group stages and in that regard, the make-up of the draw this year was very significant.

Examining the evidence, Group | is a veritable lottery. Aside from Bal- lyea who are not as far advanced as the others, Tulla, Wolfe Tones, New- market and Inagh/Kilnamona are all capable of beating each other. Un- doubtedly this “Group of Death’ will go right down to the last fixtures in September with Newmarket to pos- sibly shade the group and the experi- ence of the Shannon side to ensure they advance with them.

Sixmilebridge appear to be a step above the others in Group 2 but it should be a scramble for the second spot with Cratloe or maybe even SoKeyimole nates

Despite their recent downward spi- ral of results, Clarecastle’s side are championship hardened and _ they should top Group 3 with Kilmaley to advance with them while the final group has only one alteration from last year with intermediate cham- pions Clonlara replacing Tulla. As the most prominent side, Crusheen should again claim the top spot and the rest will all be confident of claim- ing the coveted second spot. If this group existed last year, Scariff would be favourites but not anymore as they have really struggled to muster even

a glimmer of form this season. Clon- lara have the potential but their small squad will be severely hampered by the Leaving Cert and players go- ing abroad. It means Ogonnelloe or Smith O’Briens look most likely to make the step up, but their inconsist- ency should mean that they will have to be satisfied with just a quarter-fi- nal appearance.

Depending on the draw of course, Newmarket, Sixmilebridge, Clare- castle and Crusheen should all progress to the semi-final with per- haps the Blues and the Magpies to re- new old acquantances in what would be an intriguing decider. Going on early season form alone, Newmarket appear to have the slight edge over their neighbours but they have been favourites for a number of seasons now and only have a county final apearance in 2006 to show for all their efforts and potential. As last year demonstrated, early season form has little significance when it comes to the championship. Maybe this year, the form book should be consigned to the shredder. Pulling a name out of a hat is probably a bet- ter method of yielding the winning candidate.

ON SATURDAY evening just af- ter 6pm Clare GAA president, John Hanly, was sitting on the bench that lies near the Magpie pub in Clarecas- aloe

He hadn’t got his thumb out look- ing for a lift, but you knew he was waiting for a lift. It was destination Ruan – the only place to be for old hurlers on Saturday night.

They came from near and far – Hanly and Michael Slattery from Clarecastle, Whitegate’s Naoise Jordan, Bishop Willie Walsh, Cyril Lyons from Ruan, Pa Howard from over the road in Tubber, Tony Red- dan all the way from Tipperary.

All were there to honour one of

Clare and Ireland’s greatest ever hurlers – Jimmy Smyth. To be com- memorated at all is a signal honour, but its extra-special when that hon- our is conferred by your own.

That’s what Ruan GAA club did on Saturday evening, unveiling a plaque they commissioned noted sculptor Mike McTigue to craft in honour of Smyth, their greatest hurling son.

The piece of sculpture told the story – the Harty and All-Ireland Colleges successes, the eight Railway Cups, the Oireachtas, county champion- ships and much more.

No All-Ireland medal, but as All- Ireland winner Cyril Lyons and many other said on Saturday: “greatness is not judged by All-Ireland medal’.

Jimmy Smyth is one of the great-

est players to play the game – Christy Ring said so himself. He’s even had a stamp issued in his honour by An eye

The stamp of greatness was there when An Post was known the Posts and ‘Telegraphs.