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WITHOUT doubt the huge success story of this year was the re-emer- gence of Sixmilebridge as a dominant player in underage camogie. Should this development continue they will also be vying for senior honours in the not too distant future.

The ‘Bridge made a clean sweep of underage titles from Ul11l ground camogie through UI12A, UI4A, Féile, Ul16A and UI8B. The club will now have an all A grade status next year which is something they are very pleased about. Great struc- tures have been put in place and this year, undoubtedly, all their hard work paid off. A fitting tribute to all these girls, mentors and club of- ficials was paid recently in the Old Lodge Hotel in Shannon when the camogie club joined with the minor club in celebrating their youngsters achievements. Niamh Mulcahy of Limerick, this years underage player of the year, presented the Sixmile- bridge girls with their huge medal haul. Many of the girls were on the U14, U16 and UI18 panels and had great cause for celebration. This is definitely the club to watch out for in the future and in the next year or two players like Aiveen O’Shea, Ni- amh Corry, Chloe Morey and Aine McNamara will certainly be pushing for their spot in the county set-up. In addition, Rachel O’Halloran, Ciara

Whelan, Tricia Fawl, Ellen Roche, Alison Quinlan and Sinead Tuohy are just some of the younger talents to watch out for in the future.

Kilmaley have been moving up through the ranks in recent years and this season that push came to fruition When they had a narrow win over Newmarket-on-Fergus in the UI8A final. This will help herald a new dawn in Clare camogie as new clubs emerge and press for honours. These two clubs are steeped in talent at this age with Shona Enright, Eimear Considine, Sarah Reidy and Orla Keane of Kilmaley all improving with each encounter while Newmar- ket can boast Iris and Carol Kaiser, Carol O’ Leary and Roisin McMahon amongst their ranks. Deirdre Cassidy was in fine form also and if they can continue their progress in the com- ing years, the Senior Championship will be far from an obvious outcome in two or three years time.

Clooney have been knocking on the door of winning an underage title in the last number of years and this year they overcame that hurdle in fine form with a win in the U14B cham- pionship over Whitegate. They have exciting players coming through the ranks in Orlaith Duggan, Said- bhe and Aisling Corbett, Rebecca Kennedy and Hannah O’Sullivan. This club are putting a lot of work into their underage at the moment

and in another few years will hope to see the benefit of this as they retain their senior status.

St. Joseph’s won the U14B title last year and followed that up with U16B this year so expect more from this team. Louise Woods, Niamh Martin, Catriona Hennessey, Michelle Mc- Mahon, Marie Bell and Emma Casey are all promising players for the fu- ture. Inagh, though, had some say in this and Patricia O’Loughlin, Helen Hehir and Gillian Lafferty will all have something to offer camogie in Clare. Corofin were UI16C win- ners and this title will boost the club who have been very close in the last number of years and were the ones who ran Clooney closest in the U14 competition where Jessie Jordan, Doireann Hanrahan, Aoife Davoren and Brenda Lee made a huge impact teauee

Ballyea are a relatively new club and added to their promise of last year when they won the UI4C title this year. This is a huge boost to cam- ogie in the county to see new clubs emerging and doing well and if they can hold the interest of their young- sters, this will surely help in the fur- ther promotion of the game.

Tulla, who enjoyed huge success of- nthe hurling field this year, will hope that some of their glory will continue to bring new families to the field and

this will benefit the girls also. They won the U12B title this year and that in itself will help in this matter. Where the emphasis is on the youth, the rest will somehow manage to take care of itself and although they didn’t field at senior level, hope is high for the future and the work being car- ried out from the ground up will pay off. As every successful club knows, you must persevere with this even in KFAVOM Oba elon ers DOCG MAO Tom MO) aKo) MAU OT-Lm Br-hYAs most dividends in the long run.

The town of Ennis has been going through a lean patch in recent years and it’s often hard to compete with the more high profile sports but the Eire Og club are fighting back and now look to be back on the road to success. To their benefit they won the U12C competition this year and had a magnificent turn out at the camogie fun day in the week after the All- Ireland Junior Final where up to 100 girls turned up and enjoyed a great day’s camogie. It’s hoped that this SAUD ated OM UeComO UO MDDOMBLAMBKecerm UU LBesTo ILI of girls to the Ennis cause and also some more eager adults who will give of their already hard pressed time to the benefit of these young girls.

With every winner there’s a loser and while Sixmilebridge came out well in the winners enclosure, Feakle will be wondering what they have to do to make the breakthrough. They’ve been knocking on the door of success

over the last two years, reaching sev- en finals but having won none. A club that has worked very hard in keeping camogie alive with very small popu- lation to work from and in need of a break along the way, winning the B section of the U11l ground camogie this year may just be that helping hand that they need.

The breed of young players on the way up in Clare camogie is very strong and more and more clubs are erowing increasingly stronger and will have much to offer in the future.

This year a huge step forward was taken in the U8 and U10 Go Games for girls. There were organised out- ings in O’Callaghans Mills, Lees Road and Gurteen where teams from all over the county got involved. Giv- ing girls a chance to play the game and enjoy it without the pressure of winning was of huge benefit and the emphasis was on all the girls being winners and the game was the big- gest winner of all.

Forward moves like this and the in- troduction of the U13 league – albeit in its infant stages – will benefit the game and credit to all those who are entrepeneuring new ideas into cam- ogie in Clare.

THERE were 17 suspected suicides in Clare last year, according to provi- sional figures provided by the Clare County Coroner’s Office. Sixteen of the deceased were male.

This is an increase on the 13 lives lost through suicide in 2006 and 10 in 2005. It also eclipses the 12 road deaths in Clare last year.

The figures show that in 2007 – for the second year running – suicide in Clare was a predominantly rural- based phenomenon, with I1 of the 17 suspected suicides taking place in rural Clare.

In relation to the profile of those af- fected, the figures show that young males were the most vulnerable. Those aged in their 20s were most likely to commit suicide, with six men in this age bracket losing their Taerse

Three men in their 30s, 40s and SOs also lost their lives through suicides.

Two suspected suicides occurred at the Cliffs of Moher. In contrast, there were none at the cliffs during 2006 or 2005, though there were four sus- pected suicides there in 2004.

The figures also show that the largest proportion of suicides took

place, once more, during the summer rnaKeyeld else

Last year, over a third of the total number of suicides (six) occurred during the month of June. There were two in May and two in July.

Consultant psychiatrist, Dr Moosa- jee Bhamjee said that it was worry- ing that the numbers of suicides are

increasing in Clare.

“It 1s a source of concern and | would say to people that there 1s help available and for friends or family to intervene on a friend or a family member’s behalf if they feel that they are in trouble,” he said.

“I feel that there isn’t enough of an emphasis on older people being vul- nerable to suicide. Often older peo- ple won’t go for help and their de- pressions can be prolonged and quite deep. But these suicides are prevent- able if help is sought.”

Dr Bhamjee also called on the Health Service Executive (HSE) to have in place more resources to deal with mental health issues and to pro- vide quicker access to services for those requiring assistance.

On suicide being an almost exclu- sively male phenomenon in Clare last year, Dr Bhamjee said: “Men don’t seek help because of pride and because they have difficulty talking about their feelings.”

The Samaritans in Ennis can be contacted on 6829777.

VISITORS to Tulla next week will be able to go away with a piece of the past as well as having a look at the future of art in east Clare.

In conjunction with a ‘Percent for Art’ project commissioned by the Clare Arts Office, resident artist, Kathleen Moroney will open her stu- dio at The Stables to the public on select Saturdays during January and February.

Kathleen was given the opportunity by the arts office to create a project that would reflect her local surround- ings at the studios.

The themes that have inspired Kath- leen’s work to date reflect on gradual change and the passage of time. This

current project, entitled ‘2nd Gen- eration’ 1s in direct response to the transition of the stables into artist’s studios.

The facility was lovingly restored under the eagle eye of award-win- ning local architect, Siobhan Mul- cachy and has been running for two years now.

The building was originally the stables for the local great house and now rising artists are awarded leas- es of studio space to help them get SIDE Kslee

“In recent time a number of public buildings in Tulla have been success- fully renovated and continue to func- tion in a new capacity. These build- ings serve as a visual timeline that unites the past with the present,” said

Kathleen.

For her project, Kathleen is using the old cobblestones from the site, ‘as a metaphor to reflect change”’.

She is currently making plaster moulds of a number of the stones and in the coming weeks will re-create them in porcelain clay and fire them in the kiln to create a bone-like ce- ramic cobblestone, that will resemble the original — “the ‘2nd Generation of the stone”, she explained.

Kathleen is particularly interested in the cobblestones as they were part of the original structure, dating from 1817, containing tangible traces of the past.

While this project is ongoing, Kath- leen will welcome visitors to view the process and participate. Her stu-

dio will be open to the public from 11.00am to 4.00pm on seven con- secutive Saturdays: January 12, 19, 26 and February 2, 9, 16, 26.

The project will culminate with an exhibition of the porcelain cobble- stones in the Studio Gallery on the last weekend in March.

“Visitors to The Stables on this weekend and throughout the event, will be invited to take away one of the porcelain cobblestones, a symbol of the past and present,” Kathleen told

ENNIS Town Council has declined to sell its stake in Clare FM, turning down an offer of €10,000 for 500 shares. On Monday the nine-member council rejected the offer, opting in- stead to hold onto the shares.

There were also calls from council- lors for the jobs of the station’s 30 staff to be protected in the event of a takeover.

Mayor of Ennis, Tommy Brennan proposed that the council reject the offer. He said the local authority would be better served by retaining

its shareholding.

“I propose that we hold onto the shares. With another company set to take over Clare FM, the shares are going to get even bigger,’ he said.

Cllr Brennan’s motion, seconded by Fianna Fail councillor Joe Reidy, received unanimous backing. Fianna Fail councillor Tom Glynn said the rights of workers in Clare FM must be protected in the event of a takeo- ver.

“Tm not sure that we can do any- thing to guarantee the rights of work- ers. I would like to see employees in Clare FM protected and they would

be looked after,’ he said.

Fine Gael Clir Johnny Flynn called for Clare jobs to be protected.

Ennis Town Council originally purchased the shares for €500. The recent offer for the shares was set in a letter addressed to the council by Michael Evans, Chairman of Clare Community Radio Holdings plc.

It states that “the number of shares registered in your name amounts to 500 and therefore the total consid- eration for your shareholding will be circa €10,000”’.

The offer values shares at €20 each.

The letter continues, “The Com- pany is recommending acceptance of the offer which is conditional on the Offeror receiving acceptances from holders of not less than 95 per cent of the Ordinary Issued Share Capital of the Company.”

The proposed sale comes against the backdrop of growing profits and listenership figures for Clare FM. It would benefit a number of political and business figures across Clare who were part of a successful share drive in the early 90s.

Clare FM is currently the subject of an offer from Radio Kerry.

ENNIS has again fared poorly in the latest litter survey by Irish Business Against Litter (BAL). Ennis finished in 31st position out of 50 areas surveyed and was deemed moderately littered in a report compiled by An Taisce. ‘There has been little change in En- nis since it was surveyed earlier in 2007. While half of the sites surveyed got the highest litter classification, there were a couple with moderate levels of litter which could easily be improved with a little extra care and attention, such as the Crescent at Mc- Namara Park and the N68 Kilrush/

Kilkee/Killimer approach road.”

The area around the Ennis Leisure Centre and the N18 Limerick ap- proach road came in for particularly harsh criticism from An Taisce.

The report states, “By far the most heavily littered site was Ennis Leisure Centre. The recycle facility was re- sponsible for the very poor litter rating. It had been used as a dumping ground and was a complete mess. The N18 Limerick approach road had a serious litter problem – there were heavy levels of a wide variety of litter throughout a stretch of road that could and should have been so much better.”

An Taisce surveyed 10 areas in and

around Ennis. The Gort approach road is, according to the report, “clean to European norms”’.

The report states, “This was a clean and welcoming approach into Ennis. The overall impression was of an area which is carefully maintained and there was some colourful plant- ing which was in good condition.”

The report also reflected favourably on the N85 approach road and Cusack Lawn. Of the N85 approach road, the report states, “This was an excellent approach road into Ennis – there was plenty of colourful planting and the road surface/markings/signage were all in very good condition.”

The Crescent at McNamara Park was found to be moderately littered with the report stating, “With a lit- tle extra effort, this residential area could easily get the highest litter clas- sification. Some small scatterings of food-related litter took away from an otherwise well maintained site.”

The same was also said of the N68 Kilrush/Kilkee/Killimer approach road which was also found to be moderately littered.

The report stated, “Not much effort is required to bring this site up to a clean site. Most of the road was clear of litter but was let down by casually dropped litter.”

EAST clare land owners are calling for an extension of time to appeal their lands being included in Special Protection Areas (SPA’s) for the Hen Harrier.

Lands on Sliabh Aughty and envi- rons have been earmarked as breed- ing grounds for the birds by the Na- tional Parks and Wildlife Service.

But while many farmers are wel- coming the move as it will give them payments on land which is otherwise

nothing but mountain scrub, others say there 1s confusion about what the designation will mean, with no clarity on the matter coming from the Wildlife Service.

After two meetings held before Christmas in Tulla and Scariff with representatives of the Wildlife Serv- ice explaining the implications of the designations, local landowner and councillor, Pat Hayes, says that there are still many questions to be answered.

“Some landowners have been told

that it will not affect planning ap- plications which they might make on their lands but we don’t have that officially. We do know that every planning application which comes before the local authority relating to these areas now has to be forwarded to the Wildlife Service but planning is the remit of the local authority, not the Wildlife Service.

“There’s a lot of confusion. Peo- ple can opt out of the designation scheme but they will still be subject to certain restrictions — it’s just not

clear to many people whether they would be better in or out of the scheme,” said Cllr Hayes.

It’s with this in mind that the serv- ice 1s to be asked to extend the dead- line for landowners to appeal being included in the SPA’s beyond Febru- ary 8.

“We need at least a couple of months for people to find out what the drawbacks and restrictions are and what the advantages might be in their own cases. As of now, a lot of people just don’t know,” he said.

IN years gone by, Clare entered the Oscar Traynor Cup brimming with hope and it wasn’t without founda- tion. Less than four years back they won the competition – something that stands shoulder to shoulder with the storied Irish Youths Cup success back in 19770 in terms of achievement.

Alas, there wasn’t too much hope in Clare soccer hearts where the Oscar Traynor was concerned in ‘07/08, something Clare League chairman Jim Madden explains away with one word.

“Rebuilding,” he says. *““That’s what it has been about this year. We were

slow in getting going this season and didn’t have Hugh Kelly or Eddie Corry who have managed the side in recent seasons.’

That’s why Jim stepped into the breach, enlisting the help of Denis Hynes and former League of Ireland player Gerry Kelly along the way.

“We were up against it,’ admits Jim, “because we decided to use the competition to blood a lot of play- ers. Evan Glynn, Derek Fahy, Eoin O’Brien, Davy Ryan and Jason Re- gan were all new to this level, but they showed that they’ve much to offer.

‘For this game, it was always going to be very hard to get the result to ad-

vance to the knockout stages. Losing the first match against West Water- ford made it impossible for us, even though we got a good draw against a very good Munster Senior League side in the second game.

“Limerick are a very good side as well, but we certainly put it up to them. What pleased me most was the workrate of the team throughout. After half-time we knew they were going to come out to try and kill the game, but after they made it 2-0 we really showed great character.

“The penalty gave us a chance and even though they made it 3-1 with a scrappy goal we had the better of the closing stages of the game. When

Derek Fahy made it 3-2 they started to panic and in the last ten minutes really had their backs to the wall. That’s a tribute to our players who kept chasing the game until the end and it certainly bodes well for the fu- ture,’ added Jim.

Back to the word rebuilding as the Clare League’s first string looks to the future. In defeat. In transition. Looking to a brighter future though.

FOUR motorists and their passen- gers had lucky escapes when three separate traffic accidents occurred within minutes of each other on the same stretch of the Ennis bypass on Saturday morning.

The incidents occurred shortly af- ter 8.15am on the main N18, near the townland of Ballymacahill, af- ter a shower of hailstones fell on an already freezing road. All four driv- ers were taken by surprise and were fortunate to escape without being injured.

Two crashes occurred on the north- bound route while the third happened only yards away on the southbound EWaYehe

Units of the fire brigade and ambu-

lance service from Ennis rushed to the scene and discovered the sepa- rate incidents on opposite sides of the dual-carriageway.

One vehicle left the road and trav- elled across a grass verge before col- liding with a timber fence while a second mounted a ditch before over- turning. Both had lost control in the treacherous conditions and were ex- tensively damaged.

While neither car could be driven afterwards their occupants escaped unscathed. There were no passengers in either car.

It is understood that one of the drivers later travelled to Belfast by jo) e-b alee

In the third incident, two cars trav- elling towards Limerick collided after skidding on another patch of

frozen hailstone. There was a sole occupant in one of the vehicles while the second car was carrying a family of four.

The roadway was closed for a short time while emergency services dealt with the incidents. Ambulance per- sonnel examined those involved: no one was injured and none required hospitalisation.

Garda patrol cars were positioned at opposite ends of the bypass, at Latoon and Barefield, to warn mo- torists of the accidents ahead and the dangerous driving conditions. By about 9.30am the scenes had been cleared and the dual-carriageway GUD Kere) ele nleer

The crashes occurred the day after unexpected snow showers caused havoc on Clare roads. Forecasters

had warned of “some snow in hilly areas’. However, heavy snow show- ers fell across the county, resulting in extremely dangerous dangerous conditions and dozens of minor ac- cidents.

Gale force winds on Sunday led to several problems for drivers yester- day. A fallen tree near Corofin re- sulted in the road being impassable for several hours.

There were also reports of fallen trees on the road between Inagh and Miltown Malbay and in the Kilna- mona area. They were cleared within hours.

St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point was closed yesterday, as a result of severe flooding in the area. Despite the high winds, the ESB noted no power outages in Clare.

THE innovative village of Miltown Malbay has produced yet another first this week – a new Family Re- course Centre.

The newly finished state-of-the-art building will provide a variety of Support services to parents from the area, including childcare facilities, a home work club, internet café and a meeting room.

The brainchild of a number of lo-

cal women, Spraoi Family Resource Centre, has the capacity to care for 80 children in total.

Project co-ordinator Francis Mc- Mahon said that for years working parents had to bring their children to Inagh and Toonagh for childcare.

‘There was no pre-school for our kids,” she said.

In September 1999, a group of five local women decided to open a pre- school.

They registered with the Pre-School

Association and rented a room from the community centre.

The determined group approached the health board for a grant after which they renovated the room and employed two play leaders, a special needs assistant and other staff.

The service was so popular locally the group had to rent a second room for the 36 children enrolled.

Realising the success to date the ambitious group carried out a feasi- bility study of the area to see what

1 ADE GM mis (Con LoKom ie LUUNKCOE

Leasing the land from the VEC the Spraoi committee set about building the new unit onto the West Clare Re- course Centre.

With the support of letters and emails from the local community the group received grant aid for the building in 2005.

The equipment for the new centre was sourced locally. The complete project cost €750,000 to build.

Even before the new centre, which opens this week, was advertised peo- ple were registering their children from as far away as Doonbeg and OT rer

The innovated centre will not just cater for working parents, but will provide a drop off service for parents who wish to go shopping or keep ap- pointments and require a baby-sit- ting service.

Children will also be dropped off to school and picked up in the evening.

The centre contains a baby sleep and awake room for nine babies, 20 “waddlers” for children aged nine months to two years and pre-school facilities for 40 children and after- school facilities for 20 more chil- Chon

Spraoi will employ 16 full time staff, eight part time staff, a man- ager, office and admin staff, a cook and a cleaner. Further information contact 065 7079893.

HIS first steps as an inter-county manager and though Clare didn’t ex- actly take a scalp at Miltown, Frank Doherty and his players walked away under a heavy sky with a victory. Job done and the importance of the win is noticeable.

After more than two months on the training fields of Clare, defeat against UCC could have dented morale and

stifled early season progression and Doherty recognises the importance of a healthy start.

“I think it was clear to everyone that we tried to play football when- ever we had the chance,’ he says. “I thought for the first outing of the year, the lads did reasonably well. I knew we were physical enough and we had the fitness work done, but you never know how lads are going to perform. The first 20 minutes we were well on

top and had four or five points of a lead built up and then lads kind of slipped into the comfort zone.

“They sat back and coasted for the rest of the half and that gave UCC the chance to get back into the game.”

If there was any lingering fear that Clare might be turned over in the second-half, it slowly became obvi- ous that Clare’s grip on the game wouldn’t slip. Again, Doherty drew confidence from this.

“We tagged on three points in the second-half and UCC only got one, SO we were well on top. We didn’t give them much opportunity to cre- ate anything from play but the second half was tough going. The pitch cut up, it was difficult to hop the ball.

“UCC will have high aspirations for the Sigerson Cup and they’ve a lot of work done themselves. That’s why I felt we needed to have a couple of months training to compete with the colleges. In ways, it’s easier for students to train compared to inter- county players. The Clare lads have jobs to hold down and training to go to and the physical demands are tougher.

“IT know from my own time with NUIG that colleges have a lot of training done before Christmas and in fairness to Clare, the lads bat- tled hard and the work paid off. Our forwards ran hard and closed their backs down well. Fitness wasn’t an issue for us.”

David Russell, who watched the game from the terrace, hasn’t been part of the Clare set-up to date this season and Doherty is asked what the situation is with the Kilkee player.

“T’ve nothing to add really. I haven’t made any contact with David Russell and I’ve always said that the panel hasn’t been finalised. The door is open for everybody in Clare. If some- body plays well in the club league or wherever, we’ll give them an oppor- aUb av AA