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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

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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.

ese terday, a spokesman from the De- partment of the Environment said that applications for one-off houses would not be affected.

‘The situation will be the same in Clare as it is in south Galway; the presence of Hen Harriers and the position of a site in the Special Area of Conservation will not be a factor

in the granting of planning permis- sion for one-off housing,” said the spokesman.

These commitments leaves too much ‘wiggle room’ for planners, ac- cording to Clare IFA president Sea-

mus Murphy. “There are real fears in the area. Farmers need to be able to build in their own areas. It’s the Irish way of life. Why should we put the welfare of Hen Harriers ahead of the welfare of farm- ers,’ he said. “We would like to remind all farmers that they can still object to this classification until February 8.”

As much as 35 per cent of Ireland’s Hen Harrier population – some 40 pairs of birds – is believed to live in the area between Clare and Galway.

Last year, Minister Gormley des- ignated some 61,000 hectares in the Slieve Aughty Mountains in south Galway and north Clare as a Special Protection Area for the preservation of the rare bird.

The Hen Harrier is facing extinc- tion in Ireland and the UK with only 20 currently in existence in England.

A MAN caught urinating in a door- way in Ennis told gardai his name was ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ follow- ing his arrest, a court has heard.

Aidan O’Connell (24) of Consid- ine Road, Cloughleigh, Ennis was arrested at 12.l5am on January 23 last, after a Garda patrol observed him urinating in a doorway in Ennis town centre.

Garda Ian Kenefick told Ennis Dis- trict Court that the accused was very intoxicated and had to be assisted by gardai. He was taken to Ennis Garda Station where he was asked for his name. Garda Kenefick said after the

third time of asking, the accused re- plied, “Baa Baa Black Sheep”.

Gardai later established the man’s identity after finding a credit union card in his pocket.

Mr O’Connell is charged with be- ing intoxicated in public and with failing or refusing to give his name and address when asked.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client had no memory of the incident and wanted to apologise to gardai. Ms Godfrey said her client was “a young man who has lost his way and was in a “rut.”

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the matter, for preparation of a pro- bation report.

SUSI SeRCibeCoKone chm PIMs INN Oats people of rural Clare are viewed by outsiders forms the subject of a new installation which opened last week at the X-PO project in Kilnaboy.

Mr and Mrs Krab’s Utopia is a vid- eo-based installation by east Clare artist Amanda Dunsmore, which ex- plores the opinions of a Dutch cou- ple who have made rural Clare their home.

The installation came about as part of Clare County Council’s Ground Up Project, in which Dunsmore con- ducted a series of interviews with people who have moved into the ru-

ral areas of the county.

“Mr and Mrs Krab were perfect for this project, they are such open and endearing people. They have led an interesting life themselves before they got to Clare and they are very straight with their opinions, but also quite humorous,” said Amanda.

“They had had a very tough time working in Holland. Mr Krab had been suffering from depression. But they came on holiday to Clare and suddenly the depression lifted. After that holiday it became their dream to come and live in Ireland.

“They also have a unique view of how rural Ireland has changed over the last number of years: from the

amount of time that people have to the changes that have come around with drugs in rural Ireland.”

Mr and Mrs Krab’s Utopia is the latest exhibition to take up residency as part of the X-PO Project in the old Kilnaboy post office. The project, which is the brainchild of local artist Deirdre O’Mahony, is attempting to reactivate and record the community interaction that once formed around local post offices.

“It is always interesting to get an outsiders perspective of ourselves,” continued Amanda. “As part of this installation I recreated the post of- fice counter from three of the origi- nal drawers.

“The video piece is being shown on a very small monitor in the top drawer. All the technology is hidden, so when you walk in you hear the sound and you have to go over to the counter, open the drawer and watch the video.”

Meanwhile, Local Ground, an exhi- bition by Deirdre O’Mahony, is cur- rently running in the Siamsa Tire in Kerry. In this exhibition O’ Mahony examines the reality of rural life in the light of social and ecological changes in the west of Ireland.

X-PO is open from 2-5pm daily and is funded by the Arts Council, an Chomhairle Ealaionn and Super- Valu.

COUNTY councillors last night voted to accept the budget for the authority for 2008, but struck out controversial plans to introduce re- cycling charges at centres and also voted to reduce certain water meter- ing charges.

Earlier members of Clare County Council were told that while Clare’s TDs support their calls for more funding for the local authority, noth- ing could be done until the members passed the budget they have.

Minister Tony Kileen (FF), Deputy Pat Breen (FG) and a representative of Fianna Fail’s Deputy Timmy Do- ley attended the third meeting which had been convened to try to reach agreement on the budget proposals drawn up for 2008.

Members had invited the deputies to air their concerns about short- falls in the council’s funding which had resulted in proposals to impose charges on recycling centres, among other measures.

At an earlier meeting, Mayor Pa- tricia McCarthy (Ind) issued a stern

warning that unless the councillors voted to approve the budget, the local authority would have to disband.

After hearing the members express their concerns about shortfalls in the amount of money allocated from central Government, Minister Kileen told the meeting that he understood their frustration but under law, he and the other elected TDs could do nothing to help until after the budget has been approved.

At an earlier meeting, Mayor Patri- cia McCarthy said that she had had a number of meetings with the minister

for local government, facilitated by Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) and while he gave the issues a hearing, he also could do nothing until the procedure of voting to adopt the current budget was completed.

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) said there should be money made available to fast-track the northern relief route while Cllr Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) said that “all of the expenditure on roads seems to be concentrated on Shannon and Ennis and it seems there are no proposals for any major roads schemes in the west.”

A 29-year-old man charged in con- nection with an alleged arson attack at a house in Ennis last year has been remanded on continuing bail.

Stephen McGuire with an address at Pine Grove, Ennis, faces one count of arson arising out of an incident on October 18 last.

In court last Friday, Inspector Tom Kennedy informed Judge Joseph Mangan that a file on the matter was still with the Director of Public Pros- ecutions and that the State was seek- ing a further adjournment.

Solicitor for the accused Tara God- frey applied to the court to have the matter marked “peremptory against

the State” if the book of evidence was not available at the next hear- ing. This means that the judge could strike out the charge if the State fails to lodge the book of evidence by that CF Ken

Ms Godfrey asked the court to be mindful that her client had already appeared in court seven times in re- FIR (oye com satom eer litem

Inspector Kennedy said gardai were still awaiting forensic reports and results of tests carried out at the scene and said such reports could take time to be completed.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned it until March and said he would mark the matter peremptory against the SIF Kee

WHAT started as an archaeology weekend back in 1987 has trans- formed into one of the cultural and social highlights of the year in north OE

As the Burren Spring Conference prepares to celebrate its 21st birthday this weekend, regular attendees are marking the occasion by remember- ing the origins of the event.

The festivals began as informal gatherings organised by the late Michael Green in Hylands Hotel, Ballyvaughan in the early 1980s. It wasn’t until 1987 that Mr Green, along with George Cunningham, hosted the first formal Burren Spring Soc

“We thought it would be a good idea to organise the conference in Febru- ary, at a time when there wouldn’t be that many tourists around,” said founder George Cunningham.

“We had the best of Irish scholar- ship, principally on topics related to the Burren. We devised a structure of lectures on the Friday, and had the dawn walk on the Saturday morning before breakfast, then lectures and Jno Ce IO

“They were very pleasant occa- sions, and we had a lot of repeat visi- tors. They were tremendous events.”

With the foundation of the Burren College of Art, the conference grew and moved from Hylands to the lec- ture halls of the college and the new- ly restored Newtown Castle.

“Following Michael’s death there was a change of emphasis,’ contin- ued Mr Cunningham. “For the last number of year there has been a dif- ferent convener each year, and a cen- tral topic.

“It has become less archaeologi- cal and historic and more socially based. It has a much broader aspect to it now.

“The whole Burren itself is attrac- tive at any time, but particularly so in the beginning of February. That time of the year gives a different perspec- tive of the Burren.

“Most of the people who came to the conference would have been peo- ple who were deeply interested in the Burren and wanted to explore it in a CUES KoKS LMNs: h Ae

This year’s conference, which is convened by Ann Byrne from NUI Galway, focuses on the idea of sto- ries and the ways in which they are passed on and retold.

The conference, entitled ‘°Narra- tives of People and Place: Burren Stories, Told and Untold’, takes place this weekend.

Expert speakers include Daithi O hOgain of the Department of Irish Folklore in UCD, writers Ré O Laighleis and Kieran Sheedy, Celtic Scholar Sean O Duinin, Lelia Doolin and Donnachada O’Corrain.

INCREASES in the number of beaches and days covered by life- guards, more flexible arrangements for funding rural graveyards and the setting up of a full time fire service were all items on the shopping list of Clare County Council members as they met to budget for the com- ing year.

Cllr Martin Conway (FG) called for a five-year plan to be drawn up to provide a full-time fire service which would replace the retained fire serv- ice in Ennis.

He asked that more lifeguards be brought in. “Surfing is a 52-week a year occupation now. Everytime you go to Lahinch, the car park is full. I would like to see the lifeguard serv- ice extended to this beach.”

Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) asked that some of the €206,000 allocated for litter prevention in the budget be “used to catch people who are us- ing the bring banks to dump rubbish and to bring them before the courts. Fines should be raised. The current fine is not a sufficient deterrent.”

Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) said that some larger areas were seen to be

‘getting much more favourable treat- ment in terms of allocated funding for graveyards whereas small, rural communities have to purchase land for burial grounds themselves.” Director of Services, Ger Dollard, said that two lifeguards are rostered on at a time on beaches in consid- eration both of child protection and health and safety concerns. “If one lifeguard gets into trouble, then there is a second to go and help,” he told the members at the budget 2008 meeting. “Our plan is to provide cov- er during the time that the primary school children are off and it can be

difficult to get lifeguards outside that time, as many of them are in college or having their own holidays.”

Director Dollard told the meeting that the issue of a full-time fire serv- ice 1S part of a national review.

‘There is a review of the fire service model to assess where there should be a full-time service. We will have to spend five times as much to go full-time.”

He also told councillors that litter fines are not in the control of the local authority once they get to court, “but judges are taking a sterner view now, One fine recently was for €5,000.”