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TWO pupils from St. Annes school were Selected for the Munster schools team that won the interprovincial soccer title in Tullamore last week. The Munster team won all their games without conceding a goal.

Michael O’Shea from St. Annes school was one of the players select- ed. Michael is presently studying for his leaving cert at the school.

Aaron Connolly was also a starter on the Munster team and scored two goals in the final game. He was one of the youngest players on the team and will feature again in the coming years. Aaron is currently doing his junior cert at St. Annes.

School coach Damian Walsh was

delighted with both players and it is a great honour for the school to have an international player.

The tournament is organised and run by the FAI. There were a number of training sessions in Cork for the Munster team prior to the tourna- ment. Colin O’Brien of Cork City was in charge of the Munster team and he was ably assisted by a number of FAI coaches. After the tourna- ment ended the FAI coaches from all provinces selected an Irish team to play in the home countries quad- rangular tournament which this year takes place in Scotland in April.

THE driving force behind the Ennis Tidy Towns committee, Donal Grif- fin, has resigned after 13 years as Chairman.

Mr Griffin announced his decision at the AGM of the Ennis Tidy Towns Committee on Thursday night.

He said he was very proud of the progress made by Ennis in the annual Tidy Towns competition. The princi- pal highlight of his time, Mr Griffin stated was Ennis being named Ire- land’s tidiest town in 2005.

He also highlighted the challenges faced by a growing town like Ennis in trying to maintain the high stand- ards achieved so far.

Last year Ennis was again success-

ful in the Tidy Towns competition (1) Gold Medal status (2) County Award (3) Category G & H Building a Bilingual Society Award and (4) Notice Nature Biodiversity Award.

In his address Mr Griffin said En- nis’ had achieved global recogni- tion for its achievements in the Tidy Towns.

He said, “Our success has been recognised locally, regionally and nationally and internationally. We peaked in 2005 winning Ireland’s Ti- diest Town. In 2006 we won Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre. As a town with over 25,000 population we are unique in these achievements. Winning a Silver Award in 1997 in the Entente Florale and Gold in 2002 put us on the map internationally. We

also entered and won Pride of Place Award in 2003 which is an All-Ire- land competition”

Mr Griffin said partnership be- tween Ennis Town Council, Shannon Development, Clare County Council and FAS along with the important role played by resident’s associations and schools, was at the heart of En- nis’s success.

He said, “I would like to thank all the schools both primary and sec- ondary for their involvement and for their interest in the environment. In particular for inviting us to give a presentation on the Importance of Caring for our Environment”

“I congratulate Scoil Chriost Ri on being awarded two Green Flags one for waste recycling and one for ener-

gy conservation and Ennis National for achieving a green flag for waste recycling last year. Ennis CBS is, I believe, is in the process of applying for a waste recycling green flag this year’.

Mr Griffin said many challenges lay ahead for Ennis.

He said, “In trying to maintain the high standard achieved to date, En- nis 1s facing many new challenges in 2008 such as a rapidly increasing population, the planned drainage of the Fergus, the completion of the inner relief roads, the upgrading of Market Street and the laneways, etc. It is vital that we hold on to our Gold Medal Status which we have for the last seven years and that we continue to develop”’.

OFFICIALS in Kilrush are planning to extend the John Paul Estate Re- generation Programme following the success of the pilot project.

Officials from Kilrush Town Coun- cil are in critical talks with the De- partment of the Environment this week about expanding the project.

Kilrush Town Clerk Fiona Mooney said, “Our approach to the depart- ment is that we want to be even more ambitious than we were at pilot stage.”

“The department is in a process currently of meeting all housing au- thorities with a view to determining

resource needs for the coming three years. Kilrush Town Council has submitted and stressed the need for a further phase of the John Paul Estate project.

“Tt is likely that housing authorities will be notified of their department allocations by May of 2008,’ she Sr NLGe

“The pilot phase of this project is ahead of schedule and has been marked by positive relations and a high degree of cooperation and fa- cilitation by the local community. The redesign objectives of the pilot phase of increasing security and pri- vacy by the removal of back lanes and derelict open spaces have been

achieved and the quality and specu- lation achieved by the pilot phase is high,” said the clerk.

“Kilrush Town Council officials appreciate the support of the Kil- rush elected members and of the Clare Oireachtas members in terms of convincing the department of the need for the allocation of resources to advance and complete the project for John Paul.

“This support has been very im- portant thus far in what is a long term and strategic programme, and involving social and economic devel- opmental elements as well as physi- cal infrastructural improvements. In this regard, the ongoing support of

the council’s multi-agency partners is also acknowledged and appreci- ated,’ she said.

This pilot phase of the regeneration programme consists of work on 28 existing dwellings in Willow Green and Sycamore Drive.

At this month’s meeting of Kilrush Town Council Ms Mooney told the members that a show house demon- strating the works to date would soon be available for people to visit. The show house will be situated on Wil- low Green.

The town clerk also asked the councillors for their support as nego- tiations with the department began, which she received en mass.

HOUSE-BUYERS across Clare are facing massive hikes in house prices arising from contentious new Clare County Council charges.

Yesterday, council officials unveiled new draft proposals that would result in development levies increasing from less than €5,000 to €21,360, a 400 per cent rise.

House builders constructing homes on unzoned land who currently pay €4,180 will have to fork out a levy of €12,456 under the council’s Devel- opment Contribution Scheme 2008- 2011.

Those seeking to build holiday homes are facing a 300 per cent levy

increase from €9,500 to €27,050 per home.

The council imposed the levies on house builders to finance water, sew- erage, road and community infra- structure. They must be paid before houses are occupied.

The council is proposing the in- creases in order to raise €105 mil- lion to pay for new infrastructure across the county between 2008 and 2011, according to the draft docu- ment published yesterday,

The new charges came under fire yesterday. Ennis-based auctioneer, Philip O’Reilly describes the pro- posed hikes as “incredible”.

“This is a conspiracy against the first time buyer, builders, employers.

How are these figures justified when it takes six weeks to see a planner?”

At the council’s Special Policy Committee (SPC) for Planning yes- terday, Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) said, ‘These charges place on unfair bur- den on young couples wishing to construct a new home.

“IT can’t see why new home builders are the only ones to pay for roads and water where everyone will benefit.”

SPC chairman, Cllr Richard Nagle said, “I think that we are all agreed that the charges are unfair.

‘This is a policy foisted upon us by the Department of the Environment and its water pricing policy and they have passed the problem on to the council.”

Cllr Keane said that it was now important that the council came up with an alternative way to raise the money.

According to the draft document, €34 million has been collected in the existing scheme covering 2004 and 2007.

Senior council official Monica Meehan said that the proposed €12,456 charge for homes in un- zoned land would not apply in most cases as house builders would be covering water and sewerage costs themselves.

Cllr Nagle told the meeting that the charges would not be agreed at the SPC but would go before the coun- GIMME Kes mestccnnitee

is pleased to announce that a heat of the pres- tigious Paddy Powers Lovely Girls Contest 2008 will now take place in Vaughan’s Barn on Tuesday, Febru- ary 26.

“Yes, the big news is that we have added the lovely girls contest. There has been a few heats around the coun- try already but this is the chance for a lovely girl to qualify for the finals on the Aran Islands,” said Fergal Mc- Grath organiser of TedFest.

“We are looking for overall loveli- ness in the girls. It will be down to WALoMAWE-UGDOTSMm DOCOMO oME UE @USTcomE-DOCOM DN we have a tie break situation then we

will have to hear their lovely laughs. And of course, they will all have lovely bottoms.”

With full festival ticket sold out, or- ganisers have made a small number of single event tickets available.

‘We have been able to make a few more tickets available. So many peo- ple wanted to come to the events that we have tried our best to make as many tickets as possible available for people,” said Kilfenora TedFest co- ordinator Janet Kavanagh.

‘We wont be able to get all the peo- ple into every event but there are a few tickets available for some of the events and we will do our best to ac- commodate everyone.”

The festival opens next Monday with registration in Vaughan’s Pub

before the official opening ceremony, Chinese reception and the Ecumeni- Ceili. Tuesday, or Mustarday as it’s being called, will see the arrival of the MilkFloat for the Milk Float and Banger Parade through town and the brick fada contest.

Later that evening Ireland’s first ever All-Ireland blondes-only snakes and ladders championship will take place as well as an evening with Fa- ther Ted creators Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews. Other events on Wednesday include the Linn- nane’s Music Emporium, Acoustic Karaoke with the singing Postman, Caesars Palace at Nagles, the all- Ireland Open Elvis lookalike contest and finally the Pat Mustard Memo- rial night featuring Mrs O’Reully and

the Hairy Babies.

Wednesday will see the ‘Ted Trail which will take in the Paro- chial House, the Chinese pub, Mrs O’Reillys house, the Song For Eu- rope waterfall and the caravan park from hell.

Linehan and Mathews will also unveil a commemorative plaque to mark the event at the Kilfenora Com- munity Centre.

If you are interested in sponsoring the plaque, getting involved in the lovely girls contest or book tickets contact Janet at 087 6277000.

A COURT has heard that a young man who was carrying a _ baton dropped it as gardai arrived at the scene of a late night disturbance in /Syeyeb ay

William Roche of St Michael’s Villas, Ennis, and Colm Connick (31), of John Paul Park, Murlintown, Wexford, appeared in court arising out of an incident at 3am on October DePAUerE

Roche was charged with possession of a baton, while Connick was ac- cused of possession of a knife. Both pleaded guilty.

Garda William Delaney told En- nis District Court on Friday that an altercation took place at O’Connell Street, Ennis.

“An independent witness pointed out Mr Roche as having dropped a baton when gardai arrived,” he said.

“He denied this initially, but admit- ted it later on,” said the garda.

He said that Connick had a knife in his back pocket. Roche claimed to gardai that he had the baton for his own protection as he had been threat- ened by a group of people earlier. He denied that he had used it.

It was, he said, the type of baton you would get on holiday and had the

word *“Lanzarote’ written across It.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said that there were no complaints in relation to the use of a baton, while it was not being alleged that the knife was pro- duced.

The court was told that Connick, a tradesman, had travelled from Wex- ford to do work on his friend Roche’s house.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said there was “no inference” that Connick had produced the knife.

She said that Roche was carrying the baton “in case it was needed for protection.”

“It’s an offence to good taste rather

than anything else. There was no evi- dence that he wielded it as such,” she SrnOe

“If anyone was going to attack him, he felt he should have it. If anyone ar- rived at the scene and saw ared baton from Lanzarote, they would prob- ably die laughing. The fashion police might be on their back as well,” said Ms Godfrey.

“T don’t think any self-respecting criminal would be seen dead with that,’ she added.

Judge Joseph Mangan asked what was the baton for, if it was not for criminal activity.

Ms Godfrey replied, “The mind

boggles.”

Inspector Kennedy pointed out however, “A wallop from that would be no different to a wallop from any 0} Tos mm As Ole Oyen balcie a0 bee Ces 01 ime

“Just because Lanzarote was writ- ten on it doesn’t make light of his re- sponsibilities,’ said the inspector.

Judge Mangan imposed a _ four- month jail term on both men, sus- pended on condition that they keep the peace for six months.

He ordered both to enter a bond to behave for two years and fined them €1,250 each.

He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

has received a number of complaints from north Clare locals in recent days, concern- ing a section of the R479 which, they claim, is extremely dangerous.

The number of motorists using the road increased dramatically over the last six months since Clare County Council temporarily closed the main Ballyvaughan to Fanore route.

“The road in Fanore is very narrow and we need to preserve as much of the width of that road as possible.” said councillor, Martin Conway.

“I was in Fanore on Sunday and it would amaze you the amount of people who were there. There was a

lot of traffic there and access is the big issue. I reported it to the county council”

The local authority has just 10 days left to take action and improve access on the road, as they are prohibited from undertaking hedge-trimming work in the area during the bird mat- ing season from March | until Au- eau

Meanwhile, Doolin Search and Rescue was involved in two rescue

Operations in the north Clare area this weekend. A foreign national had a lucky escape after falling while walking outside of the official view- ing area at the Cliffs of Moher.

‘We made contact with the man and managed to winch him to safety. He was brought to the hospital where he was treated for minor injuries includ- ing a broken leg,’ said Matty Shan- non of Doolin Search and Rescue.

At 4.30pm that afternoon, a young

boy went missing while walking with his family in the Mullaghmore area in Corofin. The 12-year-old boy had been climbing with a number of family members when he became separated from the group.

The Doolin Search and Rescue was called to the scene but the boy was found and rescued before any major search effort was began.

The boy suffered no injuries in the incident.

AFTER a brief hiatus, The Funktion Room returns to The Falls Hotel in Ennistymon this Friday, February 22. The occasional club night has been in operation for nearly two years and attracts a growing crowd from all over the county and beyond.

On the decks on Friday will be B: barham, Kid Cosby and local favour- ite Tokin’ White Boy. Funds raised on the night will go to an organisa- tion working as part of the Shell to sea Campaign.

“Doors open and music kicks off at 10pm and we will be going until 2am. We will have a decent disco,

strictly vinyl, 3 deadly Dy’s and lots of lovely people. What more could you ask for in a decent night out,” asked event organiser Roisin Garvey.

“It’s €10 cover charge and all funds raised go in support of a national en- vironmental and social justice group called Gluaiseacht, who at the mo- ment are putting some of their energy into raising awareness of the ongoing plight of the people of Rossport in Mayo.”

The Falls Hotel has organised a number of special offers for club goers who wish to spend the weekend in the hotel. Interested people should contact the hotel on 065 7071004 and quote the Funktion Room.

Meanwhile, there was celebrations in Ennistymon last week with the news that the Mol an Oige Steiner School is finally to get State recog- nition and funding from September 2008. The school, which has been in operation with no state assistance for some years now, has seen it’s en- rolment growing greatly in recent years.

“We are delighted with the an- nouncement, and look forward to opening the new Mol an Oige school in September at its temporary home at the Falls, Ennistymon,” said a spokesperson.

“The Mol an Oige Group wish to thank everyone who supported the

school since it was founded in Sep- tember 2005. The school could not have continued without the generous support of parents, teachers, friends, volunteers, local business people and all those who performed at and sup- ported our various concerts and fun- GTeTS ECA

Mol an Oige, along with Raheen Wood Steiner School in east Clare, will both becomes the first Steiner schools in the country to gain official recognition.

Mol an Oige has been in operation for two years and has more than 40 pupils while Raheen Wood started off as Cooleenbridge 22 years ago and has more than 100 pupils.

THREE Romanian nationals have appeared in court charged in connec- tion with alleged criminal damage to a bank ATM in Shannon.

The two men and one woman were brought before Shannon District Court last Thursday where the men were remanded on custody and the woman was released on bail. One of the men is also wanted in Mullingar on foot of outstanding warrants.

The three were charged in connec- tion with an ongoing garda investiga-

tion into an alleged ATM skimming operation in Shannon, which could involve tens of thousands of euro.

Pavel Cirpaci (27) whose address is ‘unknown’ gave a false name to gardai when arrested. Garda Kieran Nash arrested the accused on Febru- ary 14, on foot of two warrants is- sued at Mullingar District Court in 2007. The accused told gardai that his name was Paul Negrea.

In evidence, Garda Martin Cham- bers of the Immigration Unit at Shan- non garda station said he carried out tests on an identification card which

the accused had in his possession and found it to be false.

He said he later established that the defendant’s name was Pavel Cirpaci and that he had arrived in Ireland in June 2005.

The court was told by the accused’s solicitor Steven Walsh that the de- fendant had voluntarily offered his real name at 12.45pm. While the garda confirmed this, Judge Joseph Mangan said that he was “not at all impressed that the defendant vol- unteered his real name at 12.45pm” more than an hour after court had

commenced.

Garda Nash also told the court the accused has had 13 bench previous bench warrants issued against him. While he also faces charges in Mull- ingar, he is charged with two counts of causing criminal damage to an ATM at Shannon Town Centre.

The second accused, Craciun Ca- vacio (23), claimed he lived at 21, Dominick Street, Dublin. However gardai could not confirm that the ac- cused lived there.

A third defendant, Ms Gabriella Lupo (20), also with an address in

Dublin and who was on bail from Gort District Court, gave evidence that Mr Cavacio lived at 21, Domin- ick St, Dublin, as he claimed. Asked by Inspector John Galvin how long he lived there, Ms Lupo said “a few rpetoyalee tne

When she was asked when Mr Ca- vacio left that address, she replied “December.”

Ms Lupo also faces one charge of criminal damage to an ATM ma- chine at Shannon Town Centre.

All three will re-appear in court later this month.

TOMMY Tiernan’s live shows gen- erate plenty of laughter, but when the comedian takes the stage in Ennis tomorrow night, it will be for a dif- ferent reason.

The Navan comic will be in The Old Ground Hotel as part of the ‘Living Faith in 2008’ series of Lenten talks, organised by the Franciscan Friars. The talk is due to start at 8pm.

The most successful Irish comedi- an of his generation, Tiernan’s shows are guaranteed sell-outs. His choice of material and his willingness to tackle difficult or taboo subjects so publicly have been criticised.

Part of his 2007 “OK Baby’ show dealt with integration in society, fo- cusing on people with Down Syn-

el Keyne ten

The jokes invoked the wrath of Liveline with members of Down Syndrome Ireland saying that some of the jokes had greatly upset them.

Tiernan said at the time that many of his friends with Down Syndrome had found the routine funny, and were happy to see the jokes form a central part of the show.

As well as Tommy Tiernan, two other talks are planned for the ‘Liv- ing Faith’ series.

William Reville,