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TWO of the brightest young talents in Clare ladies amateur golf, Sarah Cunningham and Ciara Pender were in action for Munster in Girls Inter- provincial at Bangor last week.

Over the three days, Cunningham played in six games, in both four- somes and singles. She took three points out of a possible six from matches against Ulster, Connacht and Leinster opposition. Pender palyed in four matches, takes two points out of a possible four.

However, Munster’s hope of win- ning the title really perished on the first day when they went down by 7-1 to defending champions Ulster. Indeed, Ulster were in imperious form all week, claiming the title for the fourth year in a row on the back of further victories over Leinster and Connacht.

Ulster beat Leinster on day two by

6 1/2 to 1 1/2, while they finished off the competition in style on their home ground by whitewashing Con- nacht on a scoreline of 8-0.

Meanwhile, Cunningham, who is a scholarship student in St Patrick’s College in Maynooth played solidly all week. On day two she teamed up with Laura McCarthy in the four- somes to beat Connacht’s Hannah O’Connor and Sarah Helly by 4 & 3. Then in the afternoon singles she beat Carmel O’Connor by 5 & 4. Pender beat Leah Kerr by 7 & 6.

In the final day, Munster scored a 7-1 win over Leinster, with Cun- ningham playing her part when her- self and Laura McCarthy beat Carla Reynolds and Patrice Delaney 2 &l, while in the afternoon singles Pender scoreda one hole victory over Rebec- cas Mulholland.

Both Cunningham and Pender were on the Ennis team that won the All- Ireland senior cup last year.

A JURY returned a verdict of acci- dental death in the case of a woman who died last year following a road traffic accident near Daragh.

76-year-old Mary McGuane died on September 23, 2007 after she was struck by a motorbike while out Weenies

The coroners court in Ennis heard last Wednesday that Garda Frank Ryan arrived on the scene of the ac- cident at approximately 12pm. Ms McGuane’s body was identified by her son-in-law, Michael Ryan and was removed to Ennis General Hos- pital shortly afterwards.

Pathologist Dr Elizabeth Mulcahy told the court that analysis of blood revealed no evidence of alcohol in Ms McGuane’s body.

Dr Mulcahy told the court that death was due to extensive injuries including transection of the spine consistent with the deceased being involved in a road traffic accident.

Advising the jury on their options, County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said, “*T put it to you that the only appropri- ate verdict is a verdict of accidental death. I extend my deep sympathy to Mary McGuane’s family and ex- tended family.”

The foreman of the jury said mem-

bers were all agreed on a verdict of accidental death.

On behalf of the Garda, Supt Gabri- el O’Gara extended his sympathy to Ms McGuane’s family.

“NAPPIES should not cost the earth” is the message being delivered by Clare County Council ahead of an unusual event aimed at encouraging parents to think about the alterna- tives to disposable nappies.

A Real Nappy Day will take place at Dunnes Stores Foyer in Ennis on Wednesday, April 9, from llam to 3.30pm, when real nappy suppliers will speak about their products and

their benefits for parents, babies and the environment.

A real nappy is one that is washable and is used over and over again. Sig- nificant advances in real nappy tech- nology mean modern parents need not return to washing nappies, safety pins and folding.

Research shows that by using real nappies, parents can save over €1,000 on the cost of keeping a baby in disposable nappies and at the same time protect the environment by di-

verting a huge amount of waste from going to landfill.

According to Joan Tarmey, Clare County Council’s Environmental Awareness Officer, “There have been amazing advances in technol- ogy, even in the past five years. Real nappies come with poppers or velcro for quick and easy fitting, are incred- ibly soft and comfortable, and are available in lots of cute styles, shapes and colours. So, you get many of the benefits of disposable nappies, more

money in your pocket and you are helping the environment.

“Using real nappies helps prevent up to 2.5 tonnes of waste being gen- erated. So that’s good news for the environment. But you can buy your entire real nappy kit for 2.5 years for about €300.

“The same amount of money would only buy 12 to 16 weeks of dispos- able nappies. So it makes economic sense too.”

The upcoming information event in

Ennis will also feature the launch of the new Limerick/Clare/Kerry Real Nappy Voucher Initiative. There are 10 €150 vouchers to be won by par- ents of babies of 18 months or under who agree to participate in surveys at three, six and 12 months once they start using the real nappies.

Entry forms for the vouchers will be available on April 9 at the real nappy event in Ennis and will be ac- cepted until April 17, after which 10 lucky winners will be drawn.

WEST Clare will have its own Las Vegas on the plains of Moyasta this April – for one night only.

Poker enthusiasts from around the county and country are expected to descend on the small west Clare vil- lage for its first ever-major Charity Poker Classic.

While poker classics may have been held in Clancy’s Bar before, they have never reached the scale of the one organised for April 11 in aid of the Cahercalla Hospice Fund.

Depending on the success of this inaugural classic, organisers hope to

make this an annual event and mark it as one of the biggest fundraisers from the area for the popular char- ity. The official opening of the €2.7 million extended Hospice Unit in the Garden Wing at Cahercalla Commu- nity Hospital and Hospice took place last month and the ongoing fundrais- ing events are necessary to keep the unit functioning to its full capacity The multi-million euro extension 1s providing a state of the art hospice unit with 10 private rooms, social space looking out on gardens, a fam- ily room providing overnight accom- modation and a kitchen serving the

hospice facility.

Employing a staff of 120, to under- pin the expanded free hospice care and make up the shortfall in running a non-profit community operation, fund raising requirements will now rise to € 500,000 per year.

Ten further beds are being pro- vided for the nursing home and the seven beds, which previously served as hospice, now become step-down hospice beds.

Since coming into community ownership in 1995 the hospice has provided for more than 1,000 termi- nally ill patients.

The Charity Poker Classic in Mo-

yasta will take place at Clancy’s Bar Moyasta on Friday, April 11, from 8pm sharp.

Prize money is €/7,000 pro rata with a 70 per cent payout guaranteed on the night. Tickets are €100 each and the competition is limited to 100 players. There are no buy backs. There will also be spot prizes and a raffle on the night and food will also be served. Michael Talty will be the master of ceremonies.

Further information on the poker classic 1s available from Michael Garrihy, proprietor of Clancy’s Bar at 087 9978769 or M Haugh 065 90 Pee

THE first of this year’s 40×20 AII- Ireland handball semi-finals were played over the weekend and while three of the ties had Clare involve- ment, there was Banner success in only one.

Conor Cooney and Cathal Hannon secured their place in the All-Ireland Under 21 Doubles final after an im- pressive semi-final win over Mayo’s Dara Reid and Kieran Burke at Clare- castle on Saturday. After losing the first game 13-21, the O’Callaghans Mills/Tulla pairing fought back to win the next two by a convincing 21- 13 and 21-11.

Cooney will be searching for an Un- der 21 two-in-a-row, having won the

same title last year with his brother John while Hannon is still in the u- 21 singles race, again playing Mayo’s Kieran Burke at Newport this Satur- day in the semi-final.

Cooney and Hannon will play Tyrone’s Padraig McGlinchey and Darragh Daly, after they won their semi-final against Kilkenny over the weekend and the date and venue for this encounter has yet to be con- firmed.

Also in Clarecastle on Saturday, Shannon’s John Cawley was defeat- ed by JJ Farragher of Galway in the All-Ireland Silver Masters B Singles semi-final.

Despite wining the first game 21-8, Cawley could not keep up the pres- sure and Farragher took the next two,

21-12 and 21-9.

In Minor Singles, Diarmaid Nash was defeated by Stephen Cooney of Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final at Ballaghadereen on Saturday.

After pushing Cooney all the way in the first (17-21), the Tuamgraney man was comfortably beaten 21-11 in the second. Nash, also part of the Clare minor hurling panel, had been widely tipped for All-Ireland hon- ours but on the day could not cope with Cooney.

On Tuesday, Jimmy Walsh and PJ Counihan brought another Munster title back to Clare when they defeat- ed Cork’s Michael Jordan and Jim Kennedy in the Diamond Masters ‘A’ final at Galbally (21-7, 21-10).

The coming week sees more of

Clare’s Munster champions attempt to reach All-Ireland finals.

At Newport this Saturday at 5pm Cathal Hannon will play Mayo’s K1- eran Burke in the Under 21 Singles semi-final having already beaten Burke and his partner in the Dou- bles semi-final, while in Roscom- mon town, also this Saturday at 5pm, Sarah Loughnane (Clooney) and Sarah O’Donnell (Tuamgraney) play Roscommon’s Lydia Connolly and Laura Mannion in the Ladies Junior B Doubles semi-final.

Jimmy Walsh and PJ Counihan were due to play their Diamond Mas- ters ‘A’ Doubles semi-final this com- ing weekend but the match has been postponed due an injury to one of their Roscommon opposition. Edel

O’Grady and Ashling Fitzgerald, both from Tuamegraney, will play Roscommon’s Leona Doolin and Hillary Rushe in the All-Ireland Mi- nor Doubles semi-final at a Munster venue.

On the local scene, Clarecastle and Shannon will contest the Clare League Division 4A final after two very close semi-finals last week. Clarecastle overcame Tuamgraney 109-99 while the other semi was even closer, Shannon scraping past O’C. Mills by 108 to 101. In Division 2, Tuamgraney reached the final after a comfortable win over O’Callaghan’s Mills.

The second semi-final between Clooney and Kilkishen was _ post- poned.

GARDAI are conducting a major in- vestigation into alleged interference with bank cash point machines in County Clare, a judge was told last Neto)

On a day when a number of peo- ple were before the court on charges connected with the investigation, the Ennis District Court heard from Inspector Tom Kennedy that there is a “widespread investigation” into claims that ATMs were interfered with last month.

Among those charged in relation to the investigation into damage to ATMs were Mirren Gavrila of no fixed abode, Dublin and Cosmin Merla of Apartment 710, Two Mile Inn, Ennis Road in Limerick. They were before Judge Joseph Mangan accused of three counts each of criminal damage to ATMs, causing €1,100 worth of damage to each ma- abe slen

Garda John Corkery told the court

that it is alleged that the two dam- aged the card reader on the Bank of Ireland ATM in Kilrush on March 12 before travelling to Miltown Malbay, where it is alleged they damaged a second Bank of Ireland ATM.

The third charge relates to another Bank of Ireland ATM in Ennisty- mon, which the two are charged with damaging on the same day.

Judge Mangan declined jurisdic- tion and Inspector Kennedy asked for an adjournment to prepare a book of evidence in the matters.

The solicitor representing the two accused said they are Romanian and have been in Ireland for one month. Neither has previous convictions in Romania and there was a person in court who would be willing to put them up in the house which he is renting in Sallins, County Kildare, the court heard.

Judge Mangan remanded the two in custody to appear again in Kilrush District Court on April 23 for a Book of Evidence.

LOCALS in Gillogue near Clonlara will meet tomorrow (Wednesday) night to discuss ongoing concerns they have with the operators of an enterprise centre which is the cause of heavy traffic passing their homes on a daily basis.

The 323,000 sq ft former Burling- ton plant was sold by Shannon De- velopment in controversial circum- stances in 2006 and is now home to several companies including a heli- copter maintenance facility.

Local residents are concerned about safety in the locality, especially with dozens of trucks and other vehicles using the narrow road on a round- the-clock basis.

“As long as the factory was in op- eration, going back many years, we always had concerns about safety, especially along the road where we live which is the main access route to the facility. Now that the plant has changed hands, we still have a number of concerns,” a residents’ spokesman said.

A second meeting due to take place on Thursday has been postponed. Residents were expected to meet the facility’s owners as well as officials from Clare County Council but a spokesman for the plant said that a consultant’s report commissioned by them would not be ready and that they had to postpone the meeting.

The manager of the facility, Brian Whelan, said, “We will do all in our power to alleviate the concerns of locals. When we took ownership of the plant, we promised locals that we would sit down with them and we have already had one meeting. We have already committed to contribut- ing towards the construction of a foot- path and other associated road repairs from Larkin’s Cross to the plant.”

Local councillor Paschal Fitzgerald (Lab) said he had met with the op- erators and local residents and was hopeful that both sides could come to a satisfactory resolution.

The original sale of the former State-owned property at Gillogue was halted early in 2005 after local residents, politicians and business interests expressed concern about the manner in which the sale was being conducted.

Shannon Development pulled out of a deal after the State’s spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Au- ditor General, reviewed the proposed sale. Late in 2006, Shannon Devel- opment finally accepted a tender be- lieved to be worth around €8m from two mid-west-based businessmen for the purchase of the former factory and 27 acres of land. The company retained 89 of the 116 acres at the site although it had originally intended selling all the land, along with over 300,000 sq ft of buildings, for just €3.25m.

KILRUSH town councillor Collie Sweeney (Ind) believes it is time for owners of derelict buildings in the west Clare capital to clean up their ATOR

Cllr Sweeney told the March meet- ing of the council that the time is right to get owners to clean up these derelict houses or the council will use its power under the Derelict Sites aoe

When the town council adopted the Kilrush Town Development Plan it was agreed that derelict sites would be receiving special attention during

the lifetime of the plan.

Cllr Sweeney said that he noticed that the Tidy Town’s report for Kil- rush also pointed to the negative im- pact of the derelict sites.

“This is a warning call only to owners of derelict sites to do some- thing about them. This council has been ignoring this issue for far too long,” he said.

Senior Staff Officer with Kilrush Town Council, Siobhan O’Keeffe confirmed that there are now five sites on the Kilrush Town Council Derelict Sites Register.

Under of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, each local authority is obliged

to maintain a Derelict Sites Register.

In November 2005, Kilrush Town Council submitted a nomination form to the Department of the En- vironment, Heritage and _ Local Government for the entire Kilrush Town Council boundary area to be prescribed as an Urban Area by the Minister under section 21 of the Der- elict Sites Acct.

In November 2007, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government confirmed this nomination.

The nomination of an Urban Area means that Kilrush Town Council can now charge or levy a derelict

sites levy on the owner or occupier of any of the derelict sites entered on the Derelict Sites Register where the market value has been determined.

“It 1s now proposed to prioritise the five entries on the Derelict Sites Register, proceed to determine the market value of each site and impose a derelict sites levies on the owner or occupier to take any other action as possible under the relevant sections of the Derelict Sites Act.

“Over the next three months a com- plete audit of sites in the town will also be carried out and sites will be added or removed from the register as appropriate,’ Ms O’ Keeffe said.

ARE we there yet? No, still strug- cling. However, if we realise this it can work to our advantage. Plenty of hard choices for the management. It will be seriously tested in planning for Waterford. Clare exited the league in the same manner as last year. No progress in that area. No knives yet however.

Tony Considine must be smiling. Clare lost their chances of a quarter- final slot in the Limerick game be- cause of sideline inertia in not rest- ing the free-taker when he was off aN ismee-0 8 olen

In addition, when Fergal Lynch was brought in at full-forward in the second half he was persistently given low ball. Lynch doesn’t do low ball

MAN (OR

Earlier there had been a hint of panic when Barrett was red-carded against Galway but in fairness the game against Tipp was a reasonable all-round effort. Yet it proved to be as revealing as I thought it would.

Not even one position, the goalie apart, has been settled in the Clare defence and Gerry O’Grady’s so- journ in his club’s attack doesn’t do him any favours.

He was easily turned by Eoin Kelly and the Mullinahone man scored four points from play. With a dry sod and ball in June or July this tally might well be doubled. Alarm bells surely.

On any given day that I watched there was a patent lack of pace all over the Clare defence. We can ig- nore it at our peril. It was blindingly

obvious when Pat Kerwick the Tipp half forward ran at the Clare backs. Left them going backwards in his slipstream. Imagine the scenario if Eddie Brennan, John Mullane or ei- ther of the O’Connor twins had had his opportunities.

A bit harsh? Not really. Realis- ing one’s limitations is the first step towards improving them. If we were planning for Mullane, Kelly, Molumphy, Flynn and Shanahan in this League it wasn’t much in evi- dence.

Against Tipp the Clare midfield pair hurled their own game, scored a couple of points, and left their oppo- nents to their own devices. The Tipp midfield pairing scored four points between them. Free scoring midfield- ers need marking as much as any for-

ward. Very often it means sacrificing one’s own game to tie them down.

Almost every Clare forward seems to do their own thing nowadays. Ominously, returns such as seven points from play in 70 minutes dem- onstrate forward poverty. Mark Fla- herty did remarkably well from frees but I wonder would he prove more productive from play further out. If Declan O’Rourke could up his work- rate for the entirety of a game he has the strength and hurling to do really well. Gaffney’s return for the cham- pionship will give other free-taking options and lead to badly needed changes up front.

Mike McNamara and his manage- ment team must make some hard choices. Shed the remaining links with the glory days and invest in a

new generation to back those who have some championship experience. Against the Decies we will need pace and hurling all over the field. Pace is the key word. To me it’s seems fool- ish in the extreme for any manage- ment set-up to invest it’s years work on one championship outing.

It is simply providing a rod to beat itself. With all the emphasis on the Waterford game if Clare are beaten, should the sideline fall on its sword? By all means do everything in your power to win in the Gaelic Grounds but don’t back yourself into a corner.

Finally Ger Loughnane is having a good year with the Tribesmen but some players look off the pace and their defensive problems will come back to haunt them before the year Tree) UL

AT least five lives will be saved eve- ry year in Clare that would otherwise have been lost once the major trauma bypass protocol is implemented in May, according to the HSE.

The protocol, announced by HSE Network Manager, John Hennessy, means that between 15 and 25 pa- tients from Clare will be brought di- rectly to the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick, bypassing Ennis.

Speaking in Ennis on Friday, Mr Hennessy said that the new standards for the management of trauma were set down some time ago by the Medi- cal Council.

“The recommendations are clear. Severely injured patients must be brought to a hospital that is specifi-

cally geared for it. In the case of the mid-west, that would be a regional trauma centre such as the regional hospital in Limerick.

“What we are proposing and pre- paring to implement in Clare has already been implemented in north sbi o)eoe- aan

Accident and emergency consult- ant, Mr Cathal O’Donnell, based in Limerick and Clare, said that out of every four patients that will be taken directly to Limerick, one will live that would have otherwise have died.

Approximately 20,000 patients a year attend the accident and emer- gency service.

“The driving force behind this is to try to save lives,” he said.

The major trauma bypass protocol

has been implemented in north Tip- perary for the past two months, with four patients in total taken directly to Limerick, bypassing Nenagh.

“Trauma care is changing, it 1s evolving, it is becoming more com- iene

“More complicated treatments, more expensive treatments, multi- disciplinary ways of treating people are being developed all the time, and the capacity to deliver that high level of care is best provided in a big cen- tre,’ said Mr O’ Donnell.

The decision to move patients di- rectly to Limerick will be the respon- sibility of the paramedics.

Advance paramedics have been Operating in the mid-west for three years, and six are expected to be based throughout the county by

May.

“Their up-skilling has led them to make more difficult decisions all the time, and more complex, but they have been well trained for that and, as medical director of the ambulance service, | support them,’ said Mr O’Donnell, “I am certainly very con- fident of advanced paramedics and paramedic staff to look after these patients very well.”

Mr Hennessy admitted, however, that staff were concerned about “re- source issues for their particular ar- eas” once the policy is implemented.

Chief Ambulance Officer, Pat Daly said he was happy with the situation but resources were always an issue.

“You never have enough resources. That has been a constant problem for the ambulance services. But what

resources are there I think are ad- equate,” he said.

The ambulance chief said that if ad- vance paramedics were not available in Clare during a major trauma, one could be requested from Limerick to meet the ambulance.

The air ambulance, being made available from the air corp, will be available to take patients from one hospital to another but not from the scene of an accident to hospital.

“T would imagine that the potential for more use of air ambulance will become a more significant reality in the future.

“It does represent a real opportu- nity to make use of new technology and get patients to the right place far quicker than traditional methods would,’ said Mr Hennessy.