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THE minor hurling management have dramatically invited Cratloe duo Liam Markham and Cathal McInerney back into the Clare panel for the upcoming Munster semi-final against All-Ireland champions Tip- ares It follows Clare’s impressive display against Cork in the Munster Minor Hurling Championship first round on Wednesday.

Dual county players Markham and McInerney, along with fellow

clubmate Conor Ryan left the squad earlier in the year when asked by the hurling management to choose either football or hurling.

However, after Clare were knocked out of this year’s Munster Minor football championship by Limerick, manager PJ Fitzpatrick and his team reviewed the situation and invited both players back into the set-up. In effect, it adds another dimension to the Clare team ahead of their crunch UeCereL BUSTA LHS MOBO) eoe-T as

“They’re great additions to the squad,” said selector Gerry Kennedy.

‘And the thing is, the players believe in a team effort right down to the last vere

“On top of the return of the lads, we re also hopeful that Eoghan Mad- den and Brian Hehir will also be back from injury for the next game.”

Clare’s battling 2-17 to 2-16 victory over All-Ireland finalists Cork was fully merited and while Kennedy is delighted with the win, he says Clare have to continue to focus for the challenge of double Munster and All-Ireland champions Tipperary on tt ioay

“T think a win 1s always a good thing and the fact that we haven’t won a first round in so long is a bonus. It’s important for the team to win and the victory in Pairc Ui Chaoimh should improve team morale and spirit any- eA

“We’re delighted to have got over the first round but we will have to sit down now and prepare for the next game which will be equally tough if not tougher.

“At the end of the day, Tipperary are going for three All-Ireland’s in- a-row and four Munster titles in-a-

Ke) Aa

In preparation for the Tipperary game, Clare have organised a chal- lenge with Offaly this Wednesday, with further challenge matches in prospect after the completion of the Leaving Certificate.

Liam Markham and Cathal MclIn- erney will rejoin the squad in White- gate on Wednesday for that Offaly challenge and with Eoghan Madden and Brian Hehir expected to return in the coming weeks, Clare are con- tinuing to move in the right direc- nt)

EMPLOYERS lobby group IBEC, has welcomed the statement from the independent Referendum Commis- sion that there are no changes in the Lisbon Treaty with regard to tax. IBEC Regional Director Chris O’Donovan said the Treaty clarifies the position on tax, and confirms that every country in the EU has a veto over decisions in this area. Speaking at the launch of the Ref- erendum Commission’s information campaign, Chairman Mr Justice Jarfhlaith O’Neill said it was their view that the present veto on taxation will continue.

“One of the main reasons IBEC is calling for a yes vote, is that Ireland’s veto on tax issues is secure. This was a significant achievement for Irish negotiators, who protected national interests in the years of debate that led to the Lisbon Reform Treaty,” continued Mr O’Donovan.

‘The Treaty will create a more ef- fective, democratic and transparent EU, that works harder, smarter and performs better’, he said.

IBEC also welcomed the launch of the Referendum Commission’s infor- mation campaign, which will include the distribution of two million cop- ies of a guide to the treaty to every home in the country.

A NEW club for teenagers in Scariff is giving youngsters a chance to let it all out and to learn forms of self-ex- pression they might never otherwise sa

Youth Express, a spin-off from the Every Moment Counts youth club, allows younger members to get to- gether, play music, talk to each other and learn new crafts and other crea- tive carry-on.

At their meetings between 7pm and 9pm behind Brian and Joe’s Café,

the young girls – for girls they all are – are creating a stained glass mosa- ic under the tutorship of Natalie El Baba.

The project is funded by the Arts Section of Clare County Council and the finished stained glass will be put on display during the Iniscealtra Fes- Mee

Learning expression through dance and music is also on the cards for the 13 to 17 year olds.

“This is a place where they can express themselves in an informal way which is impossible for them

in school,’ said youth worker Tracy Boyle

“They are all learning from each other.”

For Youth Express member Re- becca Doyle the club nights are a chance to “do stuff we like to do and talk about things – share our experi- Co Neren ae

Una Moir says the club is “about being there for each other and sup- porting each other”.

Elli Ford-Elliot says that the club is “the only place we can really open up to people – it’s a chance to talk

things out and it’s confidential”.

Catriona Godbold says it’s “a great way to make friends” while Emma- Lee Talbot says the club night are “really great and good fun”.

Youth leader Sam Talbot says the club “allows the girls to express their feelings freely in a safe environ- jeatoslmae

Next on the club’s activity list are belly dancing classes – which will also be open to mums and guard- lans – and the “Cop On” programme, which deals with the topic of not get- ting yourself known to the gardai.

OVER 200 people paid tribute to the memory of a well-known Clare busi- nessman and supported a number of worthy causes at the second annual John Burke Commemorative Ball, hosted by the Armada Hotel in Span- ish Point on Sunday night.

The evening was a glamorous oc- casion with the newly extended hotel taking on a 1940’s style “Casablanca’ theme and transformed into a picture of that glamorous era by Fun Ireland, the well-known Limerick event man- Poses MUU EEE

The evening commenced with a champagne and cocktail reception, followed by a five-course banquet in the ocean-view Atlantic suite, with entertainment by the Irish Rat Pack.

Last year’s event raised €46,000 for local charities and this year’s funds will be divided between the palliative care team at Milford Hos- pice and the Miltown Resource Cen-

tre, which hosts many worthwhile local groups such as senior citizens, Youthreach and library facilities.

One of the highlights of the evening was the auction carried out by well- known local Clare auctioneer, Cor- mac O’Sullivan.

Among the many items donated by generous sponsors was a top-of-the- range gents’ Rolex watch from the sports submarine range donated by Keanes jewellers of Limerick, Kil- larney and Cork.

The auction created quite a stir and excited guests watched in anticipa- tion when Cormac finally struck the hammer at €5,500.

Thanking all the sponsors and guests for their support, commit- tee member John Burke said he was grateful to the event sponsors and to everyone who attended the ball.

“We are delighted to be able to make a sizable donation to local charities and to make a positive dif- ference to their lives,” he said.

CLARE County Council has taken the first step in seeking to develop a large-scale marine-related industry in the Shannon estuary.

One of the primary aims of the council’s enterprise strategy, launched on Thursday, is to under- take a feasibility study on the estab- lishment of a Shannon estuary deep sea port in Clare.

But before the study is undertaken, the council will have to bring the key stakeholders together to discuss, identify and raise the resources re-

quired to undertake the necessary research. The study will investigate if the north shore of the estuary can attract large cargo and other vessels and develop Clare as a marine-based Keyes tsi alex sltloy

Long-time critic of the council’s failure to facilitate industry on the Clare shore of the estuary, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) yesterday welcomed the initiative but said it would be an empty slogan unless it is followed through by action.

He said the Clare County Develop- ment Plan was the single biggest ene- my of the development of the estuary

on the Clare side.

“A necessary prerequisite before any action is undertaken is that the area along the estuary is rezoned for maritime development. The present crisis in relation to the non-develop- ment of the estuary has its roots in a long-held belief that the southern side of the estuary was for industry, while tourism and aquaculture for the northern shore.

‘That has now proven to be wrong”, he declared.

Stating that the Shannon Foynes Port Company had “zero interest” in developing the Clare side of the estu-

ary, the Lissycasey councillor added that the council’s planning depart- ment needed to come on line in rela- tion to the initiative.

‘There is no point in one arm of the council doing one thing and another arms doing another.”

He claimed that the plan also faced an additional obstacle of Shannon Development being anxious to sell the remainder of its landholding at Ballylongford on the southern side of the estuary.

“Shannon Development is_ not putting Clare’s interest first. They are not even on a par,’ he said.

LOCAL legend, Tom McNamara, was the focus of the last Cuirt sa Cis- tin series of talks which took place in Crusheen last week. The talks, which are organised by the Heritage Inchi- cronan, invite interesting local peo- ple to come and tell their story in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. “Tom talked about the GAA and about the people who have come to the parish over the year like Father Minogue and Father Donoghue and people like that. They had a great interest in the GAA and helped it a lot,’ said Anne O’Doherty of Herit-

age Inchicronan

“He has his own inimitable way of telling a story and has a lovely turn of phrase. He told us about the early years and how things weren’t going so well at that time. About how peo- ple used to cycle to the matches, play the game and then cycle home again MAKIN EAU ROIS

“The also talked about his mother and the stories of the IRB. About helping different people on the run and escape routes and safe houses. There was a lot of spies in the area at that time to the locals had to work out some really good codes to get people into safe houses without be-

ing found.”

The Cuirt sa Cistin series has been ongoing since the Autumn of last year and in that time have welcomed a number of interesting local people for a cuirt into the Crusheen Com- munity Hall.

‘The whole point of the series was to get local people in who would give us their version of history. The ver- sion is not always the same as the official version but, of course, that is a Subjective version too,” contin- ued Anne. “In every parish their is a wealth of people who have different talents and knowledge. The point of this series is to get those people into

the kitchen, have a cup of tea, and get them say their piece about their own area of interest. The series was never meant to be academic, it was always a more personal look at history.

“We have recorded each of the evening on video we are not really sure what we will do with that. It would make a nice DVD for some- one. We will certainly run another Series in the Autumn, but wither it will be more in the Cuirt sa Cistin series or something else I’m not sure yet.”

For more information on the series check out www.aughty.org or e-mail heritageinchicronan@ gmail.com.

DESPITE more people on the streets, retailers in Ennis admit there has been a dip in the level of business ac- tivity in the town.

A more cautious customer, rising rents and rate levels and a reduc- tion in parking spaces are among the principal reasons behind a gradual slowdown, Say retailers

On a broader level, the overall downturn in the economy is high- lighted as another contributory fac- ro) a

Retailers also believe that a recent survey carried out by Retail Excel- lence Ireland and CB Richard Ellis doesn’t provide an accurate reflection of the business picture in Ennis. The

survey carried out in March 2007 showed that footfall on Ennis’ streets was up 39 per cent, bucking the trend at national level, which showed over- all footfall on Ireland’s streets to be down 17.3 per cent.

Gearoid Mannion, Chairman of the O’Connell Street Trader’s Associa- tion, said the findings were a snap- shot and didn’t factor in the changes in customer spending habits.

“Pedestrians aren’t necessarily shoppers. We had this before when Ennis Town Council tried to trum- pet the findings of a similar survey. Foottfall equals people on the street. That could be young children, babies in buggies. It doesn’t measure wheth- er or not people are buying.

‘Most businesses would be finding

themselves in a tight situation, with rents going up and rates too. It’s not completely drastic, that’s for sure, but the spender is becoming a bit more cautious and a small bit of reality is setting in. It is a competitive market- place and retailers are going to have to be more competitive.”

Oliver Moylan, owner of the Ennis Cash Company, believes activity has levelled off. He maintains this is due to the loss of parking spaces along Ennis’s main thoroughfares.

“At the moment, a lot of businesses in the town are struggling to sur- vive and a lot of places have closed down.

“When you take away parking on the main street, you keep away peo- ple who are in town to go shopping.”

ON April 26, 1986, reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant lapsed into a spiralling chain reaction and exploded.

Twenty-two years on and the Cher- noby] fallout and a radioactive poison 40 times the intensity of Hiroshima still infects much of Eastern Europe. More than 60 per cent of that fallout fell on Belarus.

Ennistymon man Brother Liam O’Meara was among the first west- erners to visit the affected people in Belarus. Over the last 15 years, the Burren Chernobyl Project has helped restore dignity and ease suf- fering for the thousands of innocent children orphaned by the fallout or abandoned by their families.

‘There are a number of reasons why these children are given up. Firstly, poverty – the mother has to work and can’t afford to have someone at home minding a child. In other cas- es, maybe there is a new relationship and the new husband doesn’t want a handicapped child around.

“Then, in some other cases, the state moves in and takes the children, be- cause the conditions at home are so bad. A lot of the children are better off within the orphanage because the conditions at home are so bad.

“But it’s not just handicapped or special needs children who are given up. Perfectly healthy children are left in these orphanages,” said Brother Liam.

‘There is a tradition of giving away children, it’s a cultural thing. There is a Shame associated with it. A lot of the parents don’t even tell the grand- parents, they just say that the child has died.

‘Mothers would dispose of children very easily.

“The state does give them some help, they do some good work and nobody ever knows about it. The state pays into the children’s bank accounts every month.

“There is so much paperwork in- volved in everything over there so the child could be hungry, literally starving, and the money can’t be spent on what the child needs. They need someone to go out there and do the paperwork at the bank, but a child like that could never do it.

“The villages out there are desper- ately poor. They really have nothing. The orphanages are located away out in forests and out of the way – so that they wouldn’t be upsetting the peo- ple in the village, I suppose.”

The BCP has helped thousands of children and adults affected by the tragedy. Over the last 15 years, they have helped raise the basic standards of living in some of the world’s most difficult locations.

“In the last 12 months, we have had a lot of people working in Tarasik1, an adult place, so we have groups going out all the time working on that. We have also started up a day- care centre in Cherven, which means that mothers can leave their children in during the day when they are at work,’ continues Brother Liam.

“This means that the children can live at home instead of in an institu- tion. We got a building from the state but it was 1n very poor condition so we had groups fixing that up.

“We have finished our work at Kylb, which is an adult psychiatric facility for 500 adults. You can never say that a place is finished, I suppose, but we have done a lot of work in it.”

While each trip to Belarus contains much sadness, happiness comes from the children’s smiles and the knowledge of helping those who cannot help themselves.

“When you leave, you sometimes feel like you are abandoning ship, but then you remember. You can see it in them – the sound of an Irish voice and they light up. It could be someone from Clare or someone

from Galway, from anywhere, but once they hear the Irish voice, they remember,’ continued Brother Liam. “At this stage, we are going back meeting friends. We know them all, all the children. But for some peo- ple going there for the first time, they can be shocked.

‘You would be upset at times. Some- times you might see a child who has been tied up and you think that if

someone had time and patience you could help that girl. She is probably being tied up because she is scratch- ing herself or hurting herself, but if we had more time, then maybe we might be able to help.

“The sad thing is that there are so many people in these orphanages who really shouldn’t be there. Peo- ple who are as gentle and would do anything for you. And these people are going to be locked up forever un- less we can get them out.

“That is the prospect for most of these people. They move from the baby orphanages into the adult or- phanages and that’s that – that’s their whole life.

‘We have to measure our success by how we react when a child cries, not by how many toilets we have built. If a child cries and we still sympathise, then it’s a success. And I think that we always have, and every volunteer always has. No-one will walk away from a crying child.

“More than anything, we would like to thank people for all that they have done. It’s truly been amazing. There has been a huge amount achieved down the years and there hasn’t al- ways been the time to thank the people who have helped. It may be that there are buckets out all the time collecting money but the money has been spent and spent well.”

GIRLS from Scoil Mhuire in En- nistymon have taken their first steps into the exciting world of the music industry by setting up music promo- tion company Bannerbeats, and win- ning their way through to the nation- al finals of the Coca Cola Blastbeat competition.

The competition, which is aimed at Transition Year students, encourages young people to set up a multi-media music management company. Each company then picks a local band to promote, with the group being pitted against each other in a battle of the bands style contest.

The girls in Bannerbeats organised a local battle of the band competition

last December, with Ennis band Mar- blechips beating off stiff competition from the likes of Robot Pirates, A Star Called Henry, Septica and Chav to become the chosen group.

Last week Marblechips won the right to represent Bannerbeats at the National Final of the Blastbeat com- petition which takes place in Dub- lin’s Tripod on May 17.

Marblechips consist of five 1’7-year- olds; David O’Sullivan on drums, Eoghan McMahen on guitar, Tim Bergain on bass, singer Mathew Ca- sey and Ivan Welaratne on guitar and synthesizer.

In order to promote the band, the transition year students first sold pro- motional CD’s to raise share capital and hosted the successful battle of

the bands in Ennistymon’s Teach Ceoil in December.

The company drew on their col- lective business social networking, teamwork, conflict management, sales and marketing skills to make the project a success.

They successfully completed tasks such as submitting a business plan and learned the ropes of event man- agement through hiring a venue, bouncers, organising sound and light equipment and selecting judges for HN eae

If successful, the band could will win a record deal plus a chance to represent Ireland at the World Wide Finals later this year. The winning promotional company will also re- ceive a cash prize worth €5,000.

Marblechips came second in the regional finals in Galway on Satur- day April 12. The national finals take place in Dublin’s Tripod on May 17.

EVERYTHING is going for Clare — they rode their luck to beat Down in the semi-final and have been handed a home tie in the final.

Playing in Cusack Park will, how- ever, pose its own problems for Deir- dre Murphy’s team and the added anxiety to perform well in front of their home supporters will no doubt add some pressure.

Donegal are a strong physical side and it was this strength throughout the field that saw them through to a 1-13 to 2-4 win against Waterford to qualify for Sunday’s decider. Clare are without doubt the more skilful side and despite having the lack of natural ball winners in the midfield area, their work rate and eagerness in this pivotal position makes up for any lack of physical presence.

Captain Louise Henchy is a Trojan worker at midfield and has recently struck up a great playing relationship with both Sandra Malone or Fiona Lafferty. Ideally Henchy should be at

centre forward but with Tammy He- hir still struggling to regain full fit- ness she is likely to again command the central role on Sunday.

Defensively Clare has searched all year for the right combination. The loss of Coolmeen’s Grace Lynch to London for this year’s league was major blow, yet the recent return to county training of her club mate Sinéad Eustace is a big boost for the ornate

While Eustace may or may not start on Sunday she will definitely play some part in proceedings. Sinéad Kelly of West Clare Gaels is also a player who is maturing into a serious inter county star. Kelly relishes the battle and gained much experience from her club’s progress to the All- Ireland final last year.

She is sure to play a big game this weekend and won’t lack in confi- dence or experience. Lorraine Kelly is also another player who won’t be overawed by the occasion. Although sometimes a slow starter the Fergus Rovers player has the uncanny knack

of getting the better of her opponent as games go on. If she gets into the game from the start in the final she could be pivotal to Clare’s chances CO) Herero ice

Up front though is where Clare will be expected to do most damage. Young player of the year Eimear Considine of Kilmihil is having an outstanding tournament to date. The Kilmihil ace, newly graduated from last year’s All Ireland U-16 B win- ning team, has contributed an incred- ible 6-5 to Clare’s total in this year’s league campaign.

The aplomb in which she took some of these scores belied her tender years and she is the perfect compliment up front for such established players as Niamh Keane (Banner Ladies) and Aine Kelly (Fergus Rovers).

Aine Kelly is no slouch either and has clocked up a formidable 3-11 in the Suzuki league to date so hope- fully this strike rate will continue on Sunday. The key however to success on Sunday could be the perform- ances of the West Clare Gael’s duo

of Marie Kelly and Majella Griffin. Kelly is a workaholic forward and often both creates and finishes her scores. Majella on the other hand is the ‘Maurice Fitzgerald’ of Clare ladies football. Often anonymous, but when in possession exudes class and has an uncanny accuracy when it comes to scoring. Her kicking and fielding technique is a joy to watch and she is without doubt the most ac- complished footballer that will be on view next Sunday (and that includes the Cork and Kerry match).