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IT was back to Thursday nights at the stadium last week where the feature was the Student Nurses Voulenteer- ing Abroad 575 that took place on the eighth race of the card. Top prize went to the Noel Mullins trained Ballingown Boy who produced a good finish in testing conditions. The outside runners were fastest away here and off the first bend trap five Donail Blueboy shaded the lead.

At the third bend, Ballingown shot to the front and despite the renewed attempt of Donail the Mullins trained tracker ran on to beat him by a length in a time of 31.99.

The strong running Burnpark Pad- dy in trap three ran on for third spot just under three lengths back.

John Fitzgerald of Kilrush was on the mark in the third race over 325 yards as his Ler Thisnthat made all to take this. Coming away well from trap three, this fellow was chased all the way by trap five Crannagh Jim but he held him off on the run to the line by just under a length in a time of 18.32.

Donies Dasher for Ann Carey of Cooraclare came away fastest and led up to the first turn in the fourth race over 525 yards followed by trap two Maxical owned by Michael Browne of Kilrush who took over off the second bend. From here the Browne owned tracker was always in control and ran on win by just over two lengths in a time of 29.74.

Owen Treston’s All Time Classic got back into the swing of things in

the tenth race as she notched up her fifteenth victory here with a decent performance. Got Derailed for Frank Browne of Quin in trap six was the early leader here but Classic was hot on his heels and led down the back straight and win in a time of 29.50.

The best wine was saved until last as the Michael Downes of Killa- loe trained Sloanes Beauty kept her excellent run of form going when making all in the bumper over 525 yards. Coming away fast from trap two, she pulled away quickly as there were some traffic problems with the placed greyhounds.

From here on, she was never getting caught and ran on to beat trap three Millview Roy by four lengths in a time of 29.43.

Friday night’s card at Galway fea- tured the three semi-finals of the UCG A4 575 which came late in the card on this very cold night. The track here was rated slow for the entire night as a result of the condi- tions.

Fastest of these was the Tom Fit- zgerald trained Black Bush who got back into winning ways when taking heat two of this.

Pat Curtin got into the winners en- closure as his Tullagower Blue took the third race over 525. Taking the lead into the last bend, this fellow ran on to win by just over a length in a time of 30.12 (-0.30).

The Semi Finals of the €30,000 Green Lane Pet Foods 525 came down for decision on Saturday Night Where connections of the 12 runners as well as the 12 Schools attached to

the greyhounds waited anxiously for the heats that came in the 8th and 9th races on the card.

Tyrur Taco owned by P.J.Fahy was the slight favourite here and things looked tough for him after a slow start from trap four.

Here trap two Carhugar Bobsie led up to the opening turn followed by trap one Clonfeigh Nikita for own- ers Johnie Maher Kilmaley and Noel

Gavin of Ballyea who took over at the second turn. Along the back straight Tyrur moved up into third spot and then exploded with pace to go right up to the leaders.

The door was shut here however, as Clonfiegh stayed at the front but Tyrur steered a wide course off the last bend and on the run to the line he powered up to snatch victory from Clonfeigh by a neck in a time

of 29.14.

Carhugar stayed on for third spot to get his Quin owners and trainer Michael Downes of Killaloe a sec- Oe OVE TKcmmebeNelolmBEOMelomEDeT-UE

A MAJOR jobs announcement for Shannon is expected today (Tuesday) with Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin (right) arriving in town.

The minister is to announce an in- vestment by an international player in the medical device manufacturing arena at 3pm today at the Park Inn Hotel at Shannon Airport.

The jobs announcement is being described as “significant” according to sources close to the free zone but both the department and Shannon Development have remained tight- lipped on details in advance of to- day’s announcement.

The good news on the Shannon jobs front comes at a time when work- ers at two Shannon manufacturing companies have expressed concerns about the future of their jobs.

Staff at Unbrako Europe S.P.S. International Limited voted in fa- vour of industrial action last week. Members of the SIPTU and TWU unions, are angry at what they say is the company’s continued failure to inform them about widely rumoured but unconfirmed moves to sell the company. SPS is a subsidiary of US based Precision Castparts Corp (PCC) which according to sources is involved in negotiations to sell the Shannon operation. The company

produces socket screws and other fasteners for industrial machinery and equipment.

A former PCC subsidiary, Mohawk Europa, also based in Shannon but sold off by PCC some years ago, closed last August with the loss of 90 jobs. Meanwhile, workers at another PCC company in Shannon, Highlife Tools, are also concerned about their future and are monitoring the SPS situation closely.

A SIPTU spokesperson said yester- day, “With all the rumours and sto- ries going around and in the absence of any information from the compa- ny, our members are understandably concerned for the future.”

THE man, who is bringing a case to the High Court to ensure a right of way to Doughmore Beach remains open, has spoken out as to why he has under taken the mission.

Cree man James McNulty, was eranted permission by the Attorney General to take a case in respect of the public right of way to the beach from the Caherfeenick Road, last year.

‘For many years now I have been in- volved with the local efforts to ensure that public access to the public beach was maintained via the Caherfeenick Road resulting in a High Court case taken with the fiat of the Attorney General against Doonbeg Golf Club Limited to clarify once and for all whether or not an established public right of way exists between the end of the Caherfeenick Road L-61041

through Doonbeg golf course to the public beach at Doughmore Bay,” he ene

“My reason behind instructing my solicitor to take such a case are sim- ple. For far too long both Doonbeg Golf Club and Clare County Council have insisted that the only one who could make such a determination is the courts.

“After receiving the permission or fiat of the Attorney General proceed- ings are winding their way through the High Court system sine 2006, but I have now decided to speak out fol- lowing the comments made my Cllr Patrick Keane and Oliver Garry who recently suggested that they reached their decision on the basis that the recent extinguishment proposal was improving public access to Dough- more and that it was not interfering with matters currently before the High Court.”

Mr McNulty argued that he and his Wife were part of the original mem- bers of the Carrowmore/Caherteen- ick Right of Way action group.

“Although Doonbeg Golf Club has repeatedly (gone) on public record stating or suggesting that the golf club reached an “agreement” with this particular action group, neither my wife or I were party to any high court agreement with the golf club,” |aTemncy-H (6

A High Court Agreement exists however between five local people and Doonbeg Golf Club allowing them access to the beach through a “new” right of way that is also off the Caherfeenick road.

This allows the five named farmers (one since deceased) vehicle access to the beach from November to Feb- UCD aYs

Mr McNulty is not one of the five.

““T would like to say in relation to the

Attorney General High Court case that in 2000, I was offered and given my own private right of way across the golf course to the beach, by way of a letter from Doonbeg Golf Club in 2000. Unfortunately at the time I simply could not understand why lo- cal people and members of the public should have to give up something that they always had, used, and enjoyed over the years,” he said.

“Some years ago and out of pure frustration I instructed my Dublin solicitor to issue legal proceedings in the High Court to establish and ensure “forevermore” that public ac- cess to the public beach at Dough- more beach would be guaranteed by a High Court ruling to all members of the public I took this legal action at a personal financial cost to myself and my family, to ensure local people and members of the public could continue to access their public beach.”

THE past and future of Ennistymon basketball came together in Dublin last weekend as a group of young players from the Clare Cascaders Club met with one of the leading lights of the Claremont Admirals in the 1980s.

More than 40 young boys and girls travelled to Dublin to watch the fi- nals of the National Senior Mens and Ladies Cup. After two hugely enter- taining matches, the youngsters from north Clare got to meet Ed Randolph, former Claremont Admiral and play-

er coach with Killester who won the senior men’s final.

Randolph, played basketball in En- nistymon in the 1980’s and has a long and happy relationship with north OE

“This was our first year heading off to the finals. We had two really good games. The ladies’ final was a great match,” said Vincent Leigh of the Clare Cascaders

“Of course, we have the connection with Killester through Ed Randolph. After the game, he gave loads of time for all the kids with the cup. He talked to them and posed for pictures

e100 He loi80 ae

The club has been going from strength to strength in recent years and is attracting hundreds of local young people back into the sport. The increase 1n participation is start- ing to yield some success for the club orm aetemee)loue

‘In the last week we have had a few of our players called for trials for the north Munster boys team, that’s Michael Leigh and Ian Cuddihy. We have also had two girls called for trials, Jenny Canavan and Mairead Healy,” continued Vincent.

“As well as that, we have Ciaran

Devitt, who has been called for a trail for the Irish U-15 boys team. We have good hopes of him getting onto the main Irish panel and ever repre- senting his county.

“It’s great to have players who are making an impact on Munster and even Ireland teams. It gives great en- couragement for the younger players to see where they can get. In terms of matches the U-17 boys got to the final of an U-17 tournament in Cork just before Christmas. They beat a few Cork teams along the way and did very well. The U-12 and U-14 teams played two games each last week.”

SHANNON ~~ Development has launched a major domestic tourism marketing campaign aimed at entic- ing Irish visitors to holiday in Coun- ty Clare, at the Holiday World travel show in Dublin.

The campaign will involve an ex- tensive marketing, advertising and PR campaign to increase the coun- ty’s share of the national domestic tourism market.

Meanwhile, Failte Ireland, the na- tional tourism development author- ity, and Tourism Ireland, the body re- sponsible for promoting the island of Ireland overseas, met with the tour- ism industry interests in the Shan- non region last week to outline their plans for developing and promoting tourism in the region over the 2008 season.

Attending the meeting Shaun Quinn, Chief Executive of Failte Ireland, said they plan to “almost double investment in new and ex- isting tourist attractions and related infrastructure and to provide more practical business supports to tour- ism enterprises.’

Mr Quinn said that in light of inter- national economic challenges, cond1- tions in 2008 could be more difficult than those of recent years.

Referring to the recent announce-

ment by Ministers Seamus Brennan and Noel Dempsey regarding the Shannon Airport Catchment Plan, Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Paul O’ Toole said that an additional €3 million had been provided to pro- mote tourism to the West of Ireland in the post-Open Skies era.

“Tourism Ireland, together with Shannon Development and the Failte Ireland regions, has formed a work- ing group to agree a marketing plan for the Catchment Area; this plan will be implemented as soon as possible. It will aim to highlight the many at- tractions of the Shannon Airport Catchment Area in our core markets, to show how easy it is to get there from overseas and to showcase the good holiday value available from the tourism industry in the area.”

Meanwhile, the Western Develop- ment Commission (WDC) has out- lined how rural communities can tap into the potential of ecotour- ism. Addressing the Greenbox All Island Ecotourism Conference, Gil- lian Buckley, WDC Chief Executive, outlined the WDC’s experience of developing the Greenbox, Ireland’s only ecotourism destination, and told delegates how communities could use the WDC Model of Rural Devel- opment to help develop ecotourism and other innovative projects in their local area.

A YOUNG man was robbed of €40 while he walked to a local shop in Ennis, a court has heard.

Christy Donovan (21), of Clancy

Park, Ennis, pleaded guilty to rob- bing €40 from an 18-year-old youth, at Dalcassian Park, Ennis, on March 18, 2007.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told Ennis District Court on Friday that

the 18-year-old went to the shop for his mother at 5pm. He had €40 in his hand.

He was just a short distance from his home when the defendant and an- other individual approached him.

“The defendant was all friendly at first asking him how he was,” said the inspector.

He said the victim was asked to hand over the money and got a “dig into the ribs”.

He said the youth was “very shak- en” and had known the defendant all his life.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a four-month jail term and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

KILMIHIL is the latest west Clare community developing a life saving programme for its citizens. Following on from the success of the Kilrush meeting the community met to organise the Kilmihil Public access Defibrillator Programme. The brain child of Kilrush RNLI man Ian Lynch five years ago Kil- rush will soon have a number of defi- brillators, as will Kilmihil, to be fol- lowed by Cooraclare and Cree. Supported by local GP Dr Michael Harty, who outlined the medical benefits of early CPR and trained de- fibrillator personnel in the locality, it is hoped local people will be trained

in using defibrillators as early as Xoeartaas ce

A mass CPR training course will also be organized for west Clare. As many people as possible can attend the two-hour course, which is pro- vided, free of charge by the HSE.

From the course it 1s hoped that more will come forward and volun- teer for the three to five hour defibril- lator-training course.

LM Keating Ltd has already agreed to sponsor one defibrillator for Kilm- ihil, while the community hope to provide a second.

In Kilrush it is hoped to have five defibrillators by this time next year. To date ESB Moneypoint and the Kilrush Credit Union have agreed to

sponsor one each.

The importance of a defibrillator in remote communities and at sporting venues was highlighted last month when a young Cork schoolboy was revived by the machine after he col- lapsed following a_ cross-country eeTOon

In county Clare, a grieving mother has raised €37,000 to purchase de- fibrillators and facilitate cardiac resuscitation training for sporting clubs, following the death of her 16-year-old son from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

Brid Manning began the campaign after her son Robert died while play- ing rugby in the front garden of his Cratloe home.

Defibrillators work by _ sending shock waves to kick-start the heart. According to health experts, quick access to the machines greatly im- proves the survival rate of the pa- OL

Registration forms for anyone from Kilmihil who may be interested in becoming involved with the local programme are available at local outlets.

The forms should be completed and returned as soon as possible to allow training sessions to be organised.

A committee to organise a rota, funding and training will be formed from the information received on the registration forms. For information ring 0872862304 or 0863633998.

THE memory and music of Crush- een’s Joseph Browne will be the cen- tral focus at the second annual Joseph Browne Spring School of Traditional Music.

The school, which takes place in Gort from February 14 to 17, is or- ganised each year in memory of Joseph, who lost his life tragically in 2006.

“Last year was a great success re-

ally, maybe because Gort is such a central location. We had people here from Clare, Galway, Tipperary – we had people here from as far away as Mayo,’ said organiser Maire O Ke- BTR

“The concerts were great but the school itself was phenomenal. I re- member us sitting in the foyer and we could hear the strains of music from every different classroom. There was just a lovely feeling of passing on the music and the tradition to the next

generation.”

This year’s event will include a number of new elements, including a Special evening of music in Crush- een.

“We have extended it this year a little bit. The whole thing began be- cause Joseph died very tragically and he was such a great musician. It was first put together as more of a project. We applied to the Arts Council for funding and they were fantastic to us and helped us get it off the ground,”

continued Maire.

“But we did always intend to ex- tend it. So this year we have a project called Bridging Traditions. We have the West Ocean String Quartet, who marry classical and tradition music, and they are going to do a concert in Crusheen Church. This was Joseph’s church and I think this concert is go- ing to be really special.

“They are also going to do a col- laboration with the children who are learning at the school. The children are going to work on three tunes and come together with the quartet.”

A whole host of musical talent will be in Gort for the school with the likes of Nollaig Casey, Arty McG- lynn, Paddy Keenan, Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill, Tommy O’Sullivan, Brock Maguire Band featuring Paul Brock, Manus McGuire, Enda Sc- ahill, Denis Carey and the Kilfenora Céili Band.

Traditional session will take place over the weekend in Hennelly’s Pub in Gort, the Highway Pub in Crush- een and the Lady Gregory Hotel in Gort.

Se oer Duome- AVNET: lo) (om Oke) O GIN AYARS in Ennis or, for more information, call 087 0674335 or visit joseph- browne.org.

THE CLARE lake where the body of a murdered Limerick teenager was found was the site of a fishing com- petition in his memory on Sunday. Mary Kelly, mother of 17-year- old Richard ‘Happy’ Kelly, put up a bronze trophy for the competition as a way of thanking the fishermen who

snagged his skeletal remains and brought her 20 months of uncertainty to a close.

Mary Kelly vowed she would nev- er go to see Lough Bridget where her son’s remains – which had been weighed down with a concrete block – were found.

Gardai believe the young father may have been murdered after fall-

ing foul of a Limerick gang lord be- cause he stole a car containing gang drugs and ammunition.

Members of the Kelly family at- tended the fishing competition on Mary’s behalf.

“I will never go back there (Lough Bridget) but it was our luck that the fishermen went there that weekend,” she said. “I will never forget the 20

months I waited for news of Happy. Now I’m waiting to get justice for my son,” she said.

Mary said the organising of the competition and the presentation of the trophy – a bronze of fishermen in a boat – is a way of letting the anglers know what they did for her family.

The two anglers who snagged the Limerick teenager’s remains were

among those who took part in what is hoped will become and annual competition.

Happy went missing on April 26, 2006 and might never have been found except for the fishermen’s ex- pedition last November.

In a twist of fate, one of the anglers who found Happy’s remains is an ac- quaintance of the Kelly family.

ARTS groups in Clare were among the beneficiaries in the latest round of funding announcements by the Arts Council. Between them, 14 or- ganisations and individuals in Clare have been granted €444,000 by the Arts Council.

In revealing its funding decisions for 2008, the Arts Council has al- located funds of over €62 million to 538 organisations and individuals to date for 2008.

€100,000 has been allocated to Glor in Ennis. A spokesperson for

the Arts Council said the venue “has truly established itself as a centre of excellence for artists, audiences, per- formers and the wider community”.

The annual Willie Clancy sum- mer school was also singled out by the Arts Council. A spokespeson said the “ongoing expansion of the organisation’s student and audience base is a testament to the quality of the programme and the dedication of its staff”.

The Arts Council has again offered funding to Salmon Poetry, a poetry publisher established in 1981. Salm- on Poetry produces work by new and

established Irish poets and, more recently, a select list of international poets.

Salmon celebrated 25 years of pub- lishing in 2006 and published The Salmon Anthology in late 2007. The publisher is based in rural Clare and is led by editor and manager Jessie Lendennie.

The Arts Council offered funding to the Ennis Book Club Festival un- der the Small Festivals Scheme for an exciting programme of events in 2008. The Arts Council has priori- tised readership and reader activities as part of its strategy.

The full recipients are: Arts Office Clare County Council (€115,000); Corofin Traditional Fes- tival (€13,000); Deirdre O’Mahony (€22,000); Doran Piping Tiondl (€4,000); Ennis Book Festival (€3,500); Foram Gaeilge an Chlair (€2,000); Glor (€ 100,000); Inisceal- tra festival of arts (€15,000); Outsid- ers festival (€7,000); Russell Me- morial Weekend (€3,500); Salmon Poetry (€47,000); Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy (€90,000); Summer Music on the Shannon (€19,000); Winter Music Weekend Festival (€3,480)