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IARNROD Eireann has lost as much as €1 million as a result of the 50- day closure of the Ennis to Limerick eNO Maelo

The service, which carried up to 600 passengers daily until the track became flooded on February 6, reopened temporarily on Thursday morning before closing for some of the weekend.

The weekend closures were due to routine maintenance and not directly related to the flooding.

Although officials from the rail company declined to comment on losses incurred as a result of the

flooding, it is estimated that as much as €300,000 was lost in direct rev- enue over the 50-day stoppage.

It has also been estimated that more than €300,000 was paid out to finance the replacement bus service. Passenger numbers are also expected to be down until confidence in the service is restored.

“I can’t reveal exactly how much was lost as a result of the flood- ing. That is commercially sensitive information, it would weaken our hand in the future if the need arose to contract someone to operate a bus service. The less people know about this, the better,” said Jim Gallivan of larnrod Eireann.

‘The service is very reliable. We advertise a 40-minute journey but each day we are coming in at around 35 or 36 minutes.

“It is a very reliable service. The public impression of the service is still strong.

“We don’t have numbers yet but we would expect passenger levels to be back to normal capacity quickly, maybe in about two weeks.”

It is as yet unclear what corrective action will be taken to prevent future flooding but an investigation is due to start in the coming days.

‘The OPW are looking into the sit- uation. It’s not just a question of how the water came. It’s also a question of

how the water soaks out in the area.

‘There are a number of different things to be looked at before a deci- sion 1s made as to how best to deal with this situation in the future,’ continued Mr Gallivan.

“It is a turlough and that makes it a very complicated situation to deal with. Last year was an exceptionally heavy year for rain and it was prob- ably water from last November and December that caused the flooding and not rain from this year at all.”

Jarnrod Eireann last month gave cuarantees that the re-instigation of the Western Rail Corridor, due to take place next year, will not be de- layed by this flooding.

NORTH Clare is the only place in the world to see a production of Me and My Girl this year. The Arthur Rose musical, which was revisited and updated by Stephen Fry in the SQs, 18S the choice for the 35th annual musical of the Ennistymon Choral NYere ei As

Plans are already well advanced for an American company to bring the show to London’s West End next year, so this Ennistymon Society 1s the only other group who will be eranted the rights to the romantic comedy until the end of 2009 at the earliest.

The story is about a cheeky Cock-

ney lad in the 1930s who discovers that he has inherited a fortune. But will he abandon his Cockney love Sally for the more glamorous Lady Jacqueline Carstone?

“It’s a romantic love story and a comedy. It’s similar in a lot of ways to Pygmalion or My Fair Lady. It’s a love story but with a twist. In a lot of musicals it’s a love at first sight situation, but in this story it builds throughout. It’s a question of will he or won’t he 1n the end,’ said Maureen King Browne of the Ennistymon Choral Society.

“It’s a very funny show and the cast are having such a ball while they are going it. The music is great and there are some very good songs in it.

The real show stopping songs will be well know to most people like the Lambert Walk and Leaning on a Lamppost.”

This years musical is directed by Peter Kennedy and produced by Mary Madigan. Some of the main performers include Michael Mc- Cormack, Meave Curry, Mary Kelly, Caroline Kennedy, Sinead Black- well, Mark Mulqueen, John Morgon, Jimmy Considine, Ailish Lawlor, Jerry Wheeler, Caroline Kinch.

“We will have almost 50 people on stage at one time or another through the production and more than 25 helping out behind the scenes. So yes, it’s a major operation,” contin- ued Maureen.

‘We have been working hard at this since October and everyone involved has really given it there all. We have students taking part from the CBS and Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon and Mary Immaculate in Ennistymon.

“We have people involved from as far north as Ballyvaughan and as far west as Miltown. Everyone is always welcome.”

Me and My Girl takes place in Slu- agh Hall in Lahinch each evening from April 3 to April 6. To book contact 7071828. Tickets are €15 and €10 concession.

HEATHER Nolan’s accident couldn’t have come at a worse time. As one of Ireland’s most promising golfers, the Shannon native was gearing up for a summer of European Tour dates until a unfortunate accident caused her to shatter her elbow into ten pieces.

“I was running to my car to go golf- ing but I slipped and fell on a speed

bump and landed directly on my left elbow.” explained the 24 year old Shannon golf Club member.

“It just shattered the bone. The specialist said it was left in about 10 pieces. I’d never injured it before and the pain was incredible.”

It was particularly disappointing for Nolan as she had just been called up to the Team Ireland Trust in March and had received a €7,000 grant in

preparation for the European ‘Tour. This setback now means that she will have a several week lay-off in a bid to heal the elbow and will have to endure a tedious reabilitation pro- gramme before resuming her career.

“I was down in the dumps for the last few days but now I’m focusing on getting well as soon as possible and getting back playing golf. It’s going to be a long, hard process. My target

is the summer but the physios prob- ably think differently.”

The only upside of such an unfor- tunate incident is that she still has the backing of the Team Ireland Golf Trust who have reinforced their com- mitment to the Clare native despite her serious injury and have offered the services of the Irish Sports Coun- cil’s extensive team of physiothera- pists and doctors to aid her recovery.

CLARE FM = shareholders have called on the board to make a state- ment in relation to the collapsed sale of the station to Radio Kerry.

Their call coincides with confir- mation that the Diocese of Killaloe, which owns 2.5 per cent of the En- nis-based radio station, decided not to sell its shares to Radio Kerry.

Hundreds of shareholders across the county stood to make a small

windfall on the sale and one of those, Clare county councillor Christy Curtin, said yesterday that the board must make a statement to clarify the situation. He stood to make €2,000 from the sale of the shares.

“I didn’t buy shares as a speculator but because I believed that having a local station was a vital service.

“The board or management should now make a clear statement on what is happening at the company. It is right and proper that this should hap-

pen and remove the uncertainty,” he Sr AKOe

Former Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Frankie Neylon confessed yesterday that he had already spent his antici- pated share windfall – estimated to be around €4,000.

“I don’t know what the secrecy and the cloak and dagger stuff is about. We were told that the sale was due to be completed in March. That hasn’t happened and we have heard noth- ing since. The board should tell the

people and the shareholders what is Jaks} 0) olen 0 0 ba ycaua

Former Clare TD, Dr Mooajee Bhamjee was set to earn €3,000 from the windfall and he said that people expected the sale to go through and some of them would have made plans with the money that was expected. He said the board should release a statement to ease the concerns of the shareholders.

NINETEEN members of Clare County Council claimed over €30,000 each in salaries and ex- penses last year, new figures released yesterday show.

Overall, the 32 members of Clare County Council received €1.37 million in salaries and expenses in 2007.

The figures released by the council show that former mayor Cllr Flan Garvey (FF) claimed the highest amount, netting over €45,000 dur- ing 2007.

Cllr Garvey was followed closely behind by the current mayor, Cllr Pa- tricia McCArthy (Ind) who claimed €43,631.

They are just two of 19 councillors that received over €30,000 in sala- ries and expenses last year.

The figures also show that it cost 228,585 to fund councillors’ travel to conferences all over Ireland and some overseas activities as well.

Mayors receive an annual allow- ance of €27,000 per annum. Both Cllr Garvey and Cllr McCarthy re- ceived €13,500 each last year.

Councillors receive a salary of €16,/52 after tax, while they also

receive monthly allowances to attend statutory meetings.

These allowances range from €6,000 to €7,500 each year.

Senior members of the council who are chairs of its Special Policy Com- mittees (SPC) receive an additional allowance of €6,000 each.

These members, Cllr Joe Arkins, Cllr Pat Hayes, Cllr PJ Kelly, Clir Ri- chard Nagle, and Cllr Tommy Bren- nan also attend meetings of the coun- cil’s Corporate Policy Group (CPG)

The policy group is involved in drawing up the agenda for each month’s council meeting.

The figures show that Cllr McCa- rthy also received an allowance of €4,500 through being chair of the County Development Board from January to September 2007.

Cllr Brian Meaney (Green) and Cllr Bill Chambers (FF) shared an allowance of €9,000 for being dep- uty mayor.

For the first time last year, council- lors were able to claim a maximum of €600 for usage of mobile phone Viste Reon

The allowance is to represent 50 per cent of total vouched mobile phone costs associated with a councillor’s public duties.

THE 16th Annual Frank Gallery Basketball Tournament was played in Ennistymon over the Easter week- end and produced some top class entertainment and plenty of excite- ment, with no match won by more than three points the tournament.

The event is held annually in memory of the late Frank Gallery, a leading member of the Claremont Admirals National league club on the 1980s.

Since the 50th anniversary of the club in 2005, the format has been teams representing past and present club members bringing together

a mix of veteran male and female players as well as the up and coming younger players.

The teams are called after loca- tions in the town and Lahinch where the game was played and survived from 1955 onwards. This year com- petition was contested by the Sluagh Hall Suns, the Market House Mob, the Scout Hall Skins and the Town Hall Terriers.

The opening game set the tone with Vinnie Leigh’s Sluagh Hall Suns edging out Tony Gallery’s Market House Mob 31-29. Next up were the Scout Hall Skins captained by Mark Wankel who faced off against Travis McDonough’s Town Hall Terriers.

The Terriers looked to be comfort- able with as much as an eight point lead mid-way through the third quar- ter. However, a series of turnovers opened the door for the Skins with Stephen Leigh and Mark Wankel combined for nine points to push the Terriers all the way. The Terriers eventually made the final with a tight two point win.

The third place game provided a spirited showing for both teams with the Mob looked favourites until vintage performances from Stephen Leigh and captain Mark Wankel gave the Skins a two point victory.

The final produced another heart stopper with the defending champi-

ons the Sluagh Hall Suns challenged by the Town Hall Terriers. Despite a spirited fight by the defending cham- pions, it was to be the Terriers day and they won out 30-27 victors in the Nee

Presentations were made at the Tournament Buffet in the Falls Ho- tel. The Winner of the Most Valuable Player Award was Stephen Leigh, a veteran of the 1982 Claremont Ad- mirals team. This award was spon- sored for the original Tournament by Frank Gallery’s colleagues at Mon- eypoint ESB Station The Frank Gal- lery Cup was presented by Tony Gal- lery to Travis McDonough the Town Hall Terriers captain.

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