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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).

A GOOD crowd braved the weather in Liscannor to take part in the an- nual Burren Chernobyl Projects sponsored walk.

Despite the weather, spirits were high and early indications suggest that sponsorship was up on last year.

“Tt went really very well on Sunday and we had a nice crowd,” said Car- mel Mescall of the Burren Cherno- byl Projects.

‘The weather was a bit against us on the day but besides that the whole event went very well. It’s hard to say exactly how many people took part but it’s looking like we will have more sponsorship this year than last year.

“We would really like to thank eve- ryone who took part in the walk and everyone who helped out in anyway, whether they were helping on the day or giving sponsorship to the walk- eee

Meanwhile, a volunteer training day was held in the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon on Saturday. The train- ing day was to help prepare people who are about to make their first trip to help the children and adults of Belarus with the Burren Chernobyl Project.

A steady stream of volunteers from County Clare and all over Ireland travel out to Belarus all year round, giving the Burren Chernobyl] Projects a year round volunteer presence in the affected areas.

THE students of Gort Community College last week did 30,000 good deeds for the people of Africa. Last Friday, the school presented Bothar with a cheque for €1,500 – raised through the collection of more than 30,000 copper coins.

The collection was undertaken 24 student from second year who have raised enough money to send two cows to needy families in Africa.

“They started a copper collection there before Christmas. It was going well and then Bothar, as it happens, started their own copper collection

not that long afterwards. They start- ed off my collecting up any loose copper from their houses and their cars and they they started asking everyone else to do the same,” said teacher Virginia Keane.

“At this point they have four huge buckets filled with coppers. But as they were collecting people started to give them other money – they started to get fivers and teners off of people without even asking and the whole thing just grew from there. but is mainly coppers.

“They really didn’t want to be ask- ing people for large amounts fo mon- ey because there are an awful lot of

charities out there now. They didn’t walk to be doing walks or selling lines either – they wanted to do some- thing different, so they just hit upon the idea of the copper collection.”

Bothar officials visited the school on Friday and gave the children a presentation detailing exactly where the money raised will go.

“The class voted for who they wanted to give the money to. One of the main reasons that they went for Bothar was because they help people in a good few different places around the world. They wanted to help peo- ple in different countries and now they have enough to send two cows

to two different families in Africa,” continued Virginia.

“A lot of the children come from farming backgrounds and the idea of sending cattle or animals appealed to them more than money.

“They children get a to learn a lot through projects like this. Bothar came in on Friday and gave them a proper talk – it’s great for them to see where the money that they have raised is going to instead of just read- ing about it.

“There is a good bit of fundraising going on it the school. It is a part of the philosophy around here and the children really do seem to enjoy it.”

AS CLARE manager Colm Hanley says himself, comparisons with last season’s All-Ireland decider with Derry were inevitable. In that Croke Park meeting, Derry stung Clare with a late, late win but Hanley says this experience was used by Clare to defeat Derry on Saturday evening.

“We knew we had it in us to win the league,” he says. “In fairness, we were the better team on the day and we followed through on that. I still think we were the better team when Derry beat us in Croke Park last year, but this time we stayed going.

“It’s obvious that there would be mention of that game, particularly as we were meeting Derry in another national final and in Croke Park we just didn’t put them away, so it was pleasing to do that this time round.”

As the clock ticked down and with Clare leading, Derry were thrown something of a lifeline with four minutes of injury time announced.

“When the few minutes of extra time was announced at the end it was a real flashback to our last game but even if the referee played ten minutes added time, we never looked like conceding.

“It goes to show that we’ve learned from that experience and hopefully that’s something we can use in the months ahead because Clare really showed enormous conviction.”

With the league secured, Clare move on with the championship on their minds and three more weeks of training has been scheduled before the players take a week off at the end of May.

‘The season was divided into two sections at the start of the year. The league and the championship. We wanted to play well first and fore- most in the league and maybe secure a win. Now that we’ve got the title, it’s full steam ahead for the champi- oyeravl On

“But we’re not looking at Croke Park just yet. We’ve three tough group games to get through against

Offaly, Down and Antrim with our first outing on June 29. But for now, we’re just delighted with the way things have gone in the league. The ereat thing 1s, we have a nice mix of experience and emerging talent and that augurs well for the future.”

FOLLOWING THE unprecendeted success of the first run of Rhythms of Ireland in Australia, which sold- out 35,000 seats in a matter of weeks, the show, with a strong Ennis influ- ence, has just begun its second tour down under.

Created by Ennis dancer Michael Donnellan — still the only dancer to have performed the lead male role in Riverdance, Lord of the Dance and Magic of the Dance — Rhythms of Ireland travels all over Australia for six weeks until the middle of next month and is expected to continue the success of the first run.

This week, Donnellan’s show runs

in the cultural city of Adelaide be- fore it moves on to Hamilton and OE seen

“It’s been a phenomenal hit in Aus- tralia,” said Donnellan. “It goes to show the hunger that exists for Irish culture and everybody associated with the show is delighted with the response.”

Donnellan himself has plans to bring the show to Ennis in the com- ing months and says that such an op- portunity would provide a massive amount of excitement.

“It would be a great buzz and at the moment, we’re looking at bringing it to Glor, hopefully within the year.”

He’s in the process of returning to Ennis himself in the coming weeks

once he completes his PE training in London and the qualification ar- rives in June. It comes on the back of a unique MA in Dance Performance from University of Limerick and coupled with the continuation of his dance school, Cuchulainn it’s been a busy time for Donnellan.

“It’s been tough going for sure con- sidering everything that’s up and running at the moment, but there has been great support as well, particu- larly from the parents and pupils at Cuchulainn. They’ve been very loyal and I’m extremely grateful for their support.”

So far, it’s all been about spreading the popularity of Irish dancing and the latest Australian tour will copper-

fasten the discipline down under.

‘“We’ve tried to capture the sound and spirit of Ireland and what’s re- sulted is an exhilarating show of tra- ditional rhythms, song and dance. To me, it’s the most exciting Irish dance and music production at this present time. And so far, it has been seen by over two-million worldwide.”

With Glor in his sights, it’s the En- nis public that will provide the great- est buzz for Donnellan.

THE daughter of a prominent west Clare politician is set to become a familiar face among legal circles in ETc

27-year-old Marina Keane is be- coming a regular fixture in district court sittings across the county, hav- ing qualified as a solicitor at Black- hall Place last year.

The Kilkee woman is the daughter of Fianna Fail county councillor and former county mayor Patrick Keane.

While she is currently making a name for herself in legal circles, she has long been well-known in Kilkee, through her involvement in several projects.

Among those is her involvement in the Kilkee Housing Association and Friends of Regina House.

Although her work with Michael Houlihan Solicitors in Ennis is keep- ing her very busy, she still finds time to dedicate to those community groups.

Referring to her work with the Housing Association over the past seven years, which is overseeing 29 units of accommodation and a daycare centre on Circular Road in Kilkee, she said, “This will provide housing for the elderly and the disa- bled. There is very much a need for this at the moment.”

Marina, who recently got engaged to her childhood sweetheart Micheal Keane, grew up in a very busy house- hold where she and her brother D1- armuid (20) were encouraged to get involved in community initiatives.

Her mother Margaret is the local postmistress, while her father has

a deep involvement with the local GAA club, along with his endless work in political life.

“My father has always encouraged us to get involved in the community. My mum is centrally involved in the community and dad has been a county councillor since 1991. There is always something going on in our house. From Yam to 5.30pm it is the post office and in the evenings and weekends, dad deals with queries,’ she said.

And while her work life is based in Ennis, her heart will also be in her native Kilkee.

“I love Kilkee. That is where my heart is. I love going home to Kil- kee,’ she enthused.

Marina’s name was mooted as a possible candidate in last year’s gen- eral election, but it did not material-

ise. Although she has been a member of Ogra Fianna Fail in Clare since she was 19, she doesn’t have any im- mediate plans to enter politics.

“At the time, people were looking for a young professional female. It didn’t suit me at the time. I was stud- ying for exams. I am still very much focused on my career. I was never se- riously considering putting my name forward. I will certainly be backing up my father as much as I can,” she rene

For the moment, Marina has plenty on her hands with her legal work . . . along with fixing a date for her wed- ding day.

CARDIFF’S Millennium Stadium is a place of mixed emotions for Mun- ster men — there was the gut-wrench- ing defeat to Leicester in 2002 and the natural high of beating Biarritz four years later.

Marcus Horan saw action on both those days, but Cardiff was the fur- thest thing from his mind on Sunday afternoon as Munster threatened to throw it all away against a battling Saracens side.

He admitted as much after the heart-stopping 18-16 victory. “We were feeling the pressure,’ he said yeaterday (Monday). “There were a

few line breaks that they made at the end but everyone was battling hard to keep them out.

‘I didn’t realise they were so close — | thought they needed a try and I only realised how close they were at the end. Really, it was nail-biting stuff. It was a classic semi -final.

“Everyone expected us to breeze through it, but Saracens are a well- drilled side and we were under no illusions.

“I don’t know if there was a huge confidence among the fans. There is an expectation built up over the past few years with what we’ve achieved getting to the latter stages of the competition but as a team, we’ve suf-

fered so many disappointments that we can’t take anything for granted. With Alan Gaffney over them, we knew we couldn’t take anything for granted and they’ve some great bat- ase

“We knew what we were up against and we tried to block out what the Supporters were feeling before the game. We put ourselves under pres- sure in the last few minutes. It must have been hell for our supporters but at least we came out the right side and it was a good test for our defence,” he added.

Only then did Horan allow his mind fast-forward to the Millen- nium Stadium on 24 May. “Looking

ahead, it should be a great occasion. Like ourselves Toulouse did enough to get through. That’s what a semi- final is all about, even if you have to win ugly.”

Winning ugly on 24 May would do too. Then Munster could think ahead to a showdown with the All-Blacks on November 18th next to mark the reo- pening of the redeveloped Thomond Park. Thirty years and a few weeks to the day of that 12-0 win that made Munster famous in the first place.

THE overpayment of road work- ers over a six-year period by Clare County Council was missed both by internal and external auditors be- fore eventually being discovered at central Government level, it was re- vealed yesterday.

Speaking at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, the Mayor of Clare, Patricia McCarthy (Ind), stat- ed her disappointment that the error was not picked up earlier, at local au- thority level.

The overpayment amounted to more than €500,000 over six years, and Deputy County Manager, Tom Coughlan, also confirmed last night that the local authority would not be seeking to recoup the money.

“Tt is disappointing that neither the internal or the external audit system picked up on this error,’ Mayor of Clare, Patricia McCarthy said.

“It was in the human resources sec- tion of the department that this error was found and that is something that is regrettable.”

Deputy County Manager, Tom Coughlan, confirmed last night that because of the amount of workers involved and the length of time, the local authority would not be seeking to recoup the money.

‘This was an error in the methodol- ogy and that is why it was not picked up quickly and was compounded over the years,” he said.

“It should not have happened but

when it was discovered, the council moved once it found out to resolve the situation. If it had been a once- off discrepancy, it is policy of Clare County Council to recoup the mon- OV ‘Because this situation was ongo- ing and involved a large number of people it was decided not to try and recoup the money.”

Councillors Martin Conway (FG) and PJ Kelly (FF) have recently been appointed as public representatives on the council’s external audit com- mittee and have given a commitment to reporting on the workings of the committee to the general council.

“I’m glad that there is not going to be an attempt made to recoup this money. The road workers in this county are a very hard-working and committed bunch,” said Cllr Con- WENA

“We have had two meetings with the audit committee and we’re not satisfied with the reporting proc- ess. We will put together a charter of what is going on at that meeting, and we suggested that this charter be presented to the regular meeting for consideration by the general mem- bers of Clare County Council.”

Independent councillor Gerry Flynn raised fears over whether a precedent of not recouping errors had been put in place while Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) called for the local authority to send out a message that the finances of Clare County Council are in good hands.

THE Citizens Information Service launched its Polish information serv- ice last Friday in the Queen’s Hotel, [Syeyevay

The Ennis and Scariff offices are providing a trained Polish informa- tion assistant to deal with clients who do not a have good command of English.

According to the service’s man- ager, Paul Woulfe, the most common queries relate to employment issues, income support and child benefit.

The Mayor of Clare, Cllr Patricia McCarthy, performed the launch of the service. Fr Tomasz Dauszkie-

wicz, chaplain to the Polish commu- nity in Clare provided a blessing.

“Integration not segregation is the key to a successful multi-cultural so- ciety, said Mayor McCarthy.

Integration should not mean for- getting your own country, language, culture or heritage. These are what form character and personality. Un- fortunately for many, economic cir- cumstances mean having to leave one’s family and country in order to seek employment.

“It is important that in bringing the language and traditions of home to a new country they do not become a barrier to integration and self ad- vancement. Rather they can enrich

your new community as you actively participate in local activities.

“The difficulties associated with setting up home in a strange country cannot be underestimated. Irish peo- ple are well aware of difficulties and obstacles,” said Mayor McCarthy.

“The Polish information service will provide information on rights and entithements. Equally impor- tantly the centre will also provide a listening ear and voice offering en- couragement, assistance and support as required.” she said.

Representatives of the Polish com- munity from across the county at- tended the launch.

Mr Woulfe outlined a number of

initiatives to meet the information needs of foreign nationals in the county. These include a dedicated advocacy service to assist with em- ployment and social welfare appeals and documents translated in various languages on the web.

Ola Szostak, the new information officer, 1s providing these initiatives.