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DISBELIEF, amazement, agony, glory turned into depression. Just some of the expressions used to de- scribe the Clare Junior team’s year in review. Camogie in Clare enjoyed new heights in popularity as the Jun- ior team forged its way to an All-Ire- land final appearance in Croke Park. The coverage that camogie got this year opened the minds of many to the game and the girls playing it.

This coupled with the live coverage on the final day and the lead up to it allowed the sporting people of Clare watch and enjoy what was a skilful game of camogie and wait in hope of that elusive All-Ireland title. This seemed to be in the offering as the final few seconds ticked down but the announcement of six minutes of injury time which turned into eight did little for the nerves.

Then within 30 seconds of that eventual full-time whistle the pow- ers that be in Croke Park had to whip the saffron and blue ribbons from the New Ireland Cup and re-adorn it with the red and white of Derry as a last gasp goal denied the girls of the Banner.

Strange as it may seem, this loss

has awoken the plight of camogie to an even greater number of people within the county as support over- flowed in the county. Those who never before batted an eyelid at the mention of camogie were now inter- ested and expressed their wishes for Clare to succeed.

That team, after losing the All-Ire- land, went on to win a Munster title, proving their mettle and gave some consolation to the deserving players.

The management of the Junior team was only established in February and with games fast approaching there was little time for settling down.

The team quickly got into training and markers laid down for all. The team had wins in the League over Kildare, Offaly, Derry, Antrim and a draw with Down which gave them a place in a play-off with Down for the league final. With little between these teams in the last number of years, Down edged this encounter by a one point margin. Clare threw themselves into preparations for the championship and with easy home wins against Antrim and Down, Clare then had a thirteen week wait to the All-Ireland semi-final, after Kildare failed to field and the sem1i- final dates were changed.

Clare were impressive winners over Waterford in that semi-final and faced an All-Ireland final appear- ance with Derry, one point losers the year before. Clare were confident of their ability heading into that final and many will say that they were extremely unfortunate to have lost in the way that they did.

With a young squad of players and six of the panel Under 18, the fu- ture 1S positive for this team. There are no retirements from the team at the moment, there is the return of Laura Linnane and Claire McMa- hon to look forward to and they also possess many strong underage play- ers. This will make competition for places very tough in the coming year which should be extremely beneficial for the Junior team.

This team represented Clare in the Munster Intermediate Final in Octo- ber and while the team was largely comprised of the All-Ireland squad, there were additions to the panel as some were unavailable. Shona En- right, Chloe Morey, Mary Clune, Ci- ara Lynch were all part of that panel and should be amongst those pushing for places this coming year.

Captain Deirdre Murphy and corner forward Claire Commane were both

nominated for All-Stars and although they were unsuccessful in that chal- lenge, the nominations were merited after solid displays from Deirdre at centre back who was a driving force for Clare throughout the campaign. In a position where she was unaccus- tomed to, Deirdre quickly settled in and was easily the best centre back in the Junior Championship.

Claire was Clare’s top scorer and added 1-6 in the All-Ireland fi- nal and received the player of the game award. Just some of the stars that shone through were Catherine O’Loughlin who had had a strong campaign at centre forward and Kate Lynch, Carina Roseingrave who made huge contributions as younger players. Dee Corcoran was very re- liable at full back while behind her Denise Lynch had kept Clare ahead in the semi-final with some fine saves and catches. Aoife Ryan had a great campaign as did Sharon O’ Loughlin, Amy Colleran, Sharon McMahon, Cathy Hally and Jane Scanlon.

The panel was then bolstered by the presence of Siobhan and Fiona Lafferty, Helen McMahon, Aimee McInerney, Aine O’Brien, Stehanie Moloney, Maire O’Halloran, Jane O’Leary, Edel Keating, Aiveen

O’Shea, Aoife Griffen and Rachel Lynch.

Clare are now ready to re-group and are anxious to start into a new campaign. They’re again setting their sights on preparing for a challenge on the All-Ireland title and the hope to lead Clare to the Senior ranks.

CHILDCARE, education, social housing, training, healthcare and physical infrastructure were the ar- eas targeted for investment in Clare under the National Development Plan during the past year.

Childcare services were allocated funding of €7.3 million for such projects as Cuan Aire Creche in En- nis, Kildysart Community Focus and West Clare Early Years Care and Education Service.

Ten schools received funding to manage their own building projects, while under the Summer Works Scheme, 26 schools received a total of €2.1 million for remedial works. Schools to benefit included Quilty National School, Ennis Community College and Kilrush Community School. A number of health projects were completed, including the Health Clinic Extension in Ennistymon which received over €500,000.

Meanwhile hundreds of local people are employed due to participation on a wide range of FAS training courses and other programmes. Industry and jobs have been created through the support of the NDP-funded County Enterprise Board (CEB). Clare CEB was allocated over €874,000 with 28 different projects grant aided. Com- panies included De Barra Publishing Ltd; Authentic Ireland Travel and Olga O’ Malley Childcare Creche.

Clare received €14.9 million for social housing, including projects in Sixmilebridge, Corofin, Scar- riff, Killaloe and Kuildysart. Over €332,000 for voluntary housing was provided for projects such as Kilmi- hil Community Housing and the Banner Housing Association. The Local Development Social Inclu- sion Programme (LDSIP) continued to fund local partnerships like Eiri Corca Baiscinn, Ennis West Partners and OBAIR, Newmarket-on-Fergus Limited.

The Clare Accessible Transport Initiative, which provides services to rural communities, was also assisted, while €900,000 was allocated for refurbishment of the Bus Eireann station in Ennis. Over €20million was allocated to non-national roads including the Ballybeg Road.

Over €25 million was allocated for national road improvements and maintenance. The opening of the En- nis Bypass is estimated to have taken 20,000 vehicles a day off the streets of Ennis.

The second phase of the NDP’s Metropolitan Area Networks pro- gramme will see the roll-out of broadband infrastructure to many towns. Kilrush was selected for this scheme and the network is currently under construction.

The waste infrastructure grant in 2007 was over €1.04 million to pro- mote greater use of recycling and

recovery. The allocation to upgrade and expand water treatment capac- ity, improve drinking water quality and supply, and improve and expand wastewater treatment was over €24

million. €24 million was allocated to upgrade and expand water treat- ment services.

Clare received an allocation of €1.13 million for tourism develop-

ment. The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre opened and other projects included Blackhead Angling Facili- ties and Lough Derg International Waterpark.

A CLARE politician has accused the HSE of telling lies in its response to a query from Kilrush Town Council.

Outspoken Councillor Deirdre Cul- ligan (Ind) was reacting to a response to a query about the future of Ennis General Hospital and its services, presented to councillors at their De- cember meeting. In the letter the HSE reiterated its statement that the mam- mography unit at Ennis would not be recommissioned.

It said its decision was driven by the “need to provide the best possible clinical practices for patients in the mid-west”.

The letter added that, as a stand- alone unit, Ennis would not have the benefits and protections of a centre of excellence with the associated “checks and balances”.

Cllr Culligan asked, “If the mam- mography machine at Ennis General Hospital is not to be recommissioned, why does the planning application for the re-development of the hospital make provision for a Mammography Unit at the Hospital – with separate offices for two radiologists?

“The HSE refuses to accept that dig- ital mammogram equipment at Ennis would enable women to have the con- venience of having a mammogram in Ennis – and it could be relayed digit- ally for analysis by teams working at

the cancer centre,’ she said.

“It 1s worth noting that Prof Tom Keane, who 1s heading up the cancer programme, has said he accepts the case of localised cancer services sup- porting the cancer centres.”

The town council also asked the HSE what its plans were for the hos- pital. The HSE replied that it had en- gaged an “independent management consultant” to review the services and visit the hospitals in the mid-west. In addition to site visits, a number of fact finding interviews were held with consultant representation from each of the hospitals, senior nurses, GP representatives, ambulance, risk management staff were interviewed.

“Individuals or bodies were encour- aged to forward written submissions in relation to the scope of the current and future service activity for consid- eration. The management consultants are currently finalising their report,” the HSE said.

“The HSE reneged on public under- takings that the Teamwork consult- ants (independent consultants) would consult widely with all stake-holders. SW sleavas nate Mm sl Oe MnO elomm elo yo)lesDemere)ecuseNI tee for just 30 minutes. It is com- pletely untrue to claim Teamwork invited public submissions – no pub- lic notices inviting submissions were advertised,” said Cllr Culligan.

“I don’t agree with that response. I think it is a heap of lies.”

HEALTHIER living environments and significant savings on energy bills are on their way to Clare after it was announced that the county will be the subject of an EU-funded en- ergy efficiency audit during January.

The audit of the county’s social housing stock follows a Government pledge to acquire 9,000 social hous- ing units nationally in 2008.

The aim of the two-year project, Advanced Ventilation- Approaches for Social Housing (AVASH), is to determine the best ventilation strat- egy for existing social housing units in order to achieve maximum energy efficiency, occupant comfort and sig- nificant reductions in energy bills for householders.

All data collected will be analysed and presented to social housing pro- viders who are considering upgrad-

ing their social housing stock by performing energy intelligent retro- fitting of individual dwellings and entire schemes.

“Existing social housing units in Clare consume a large amount of energy for heating with significant emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels,” said Jay Stuart, who will lead the project.

“It’s important, therefore, to under- stand how the energy consumption

of existing dwellings can best be reduced whilst achieving a comfort- able and healthy environment for the occupants through good ventilation strategies.”

He also indicated that the audit would involve the assessment of a broad range of social housing, in- cluding family dwellings and dwell- ings for the elderly and the disabled.

“Advanced thermal imaging and pressure testing equipment will

be used to discover the state of the dwellings thermal insulation and lev- el of air tightness. Once this has been completed, computer simulations will be used to determine the best ventilation strategy for the dwelling type,’ he said.

Further information about the audit and Advanced Ventilation Approaches for Social Housing (AVASH) is available by emailing R.Southall@brighton.ac.uk

A NEW era for Clare GAA was ush- ered in at the Auburn Lodge Hotel in Ennis last Saturday as a new county

board executive was elected, while outgoing voluntary secretary Pat Fit- zgerald officially assumed the role in a full-time capacity.

Before a packed attendance, new

chairman Michael O’Neill looked to the future, while paying tribute to those who have gone before him. He

was formally proposed for the top job in Clare GAA by his Ballyea club-

mate Tom McInerney and seconded by Clondegad’s Seamus O’Reilly.

“We face major challenges ahead,” said O’Neill, “but we face them with energy and enthusiasm and I will not be found wanting when it comes to giving the level of leadership that is required for my position,’ he added.

“The best way forward is to draw up a Strategic plan that embraces all aspects of the GAA structures within the county. This plan will take a lit- tle time but it is vital to the future workings of the association within the county.

“Everything I have mentioned can only be achieved by inclusiveness. This means everyone having an input from grassroots level to county board and national level. Working together we can achieve our goals and I will no stone unturned in our quest for success on and off the field of play,” added O’Neill.

His vice-chairman for 2008 will be Lissycasey’s Johnny Hill — the out- going Development Officer defeated Tony O’Brien of Smith O’Briens by 99 votes to 69. In the two contests for positions on the executive, Ger Hickey from Feakle defeated Clare- castle’s Martin Reynolds by 131 to 34, while Corofin’s Tom Burke beat Domhnall O Loinsigh by 127 to 41 in the contest for Oifigeach Gaeilge. Burke, along with Michael O’Connor (Crusheen) and Ger Hickey make up the three new members of the county board executive for 2008.

CONTENTIOUS plans by voluntary housing organisation, RESPOND in Shannon, are now in doubt after Clare County Council refused to ex- tend the organisation more time to complete a 28-unit housing develop- ment in the town.

Five years ago, RESPOND secured planning permission for 28 homes in the face of strong local opposition. To date they have constructed eight two-bed bungalows and two three-

bed semi-detached houses out of the total proposed.

The housing association lodged an application to extend time to allow for the completion of the project.

However, a submission from the Combined Residents Association from Tullyvarraga Hill and Brook- fields claimed that the site had been landscaped and surrounded by a boundary fence, and the contractor had left the site some months ago.

“There is little likelihood that the work, involving as it does consider-

able civil and ground work, could be completed within a reasonable time. In our opinion, there is no justifica- tion for extending the perfectly ad- equate original period,” the residents Sr BKGE

‘Furthermore, the imminent 1m- plementation of plans to extend the town centre area, with commercial and residential developments, chang- es the whole basis of planning.

“The only sensible course is to re- ject the extension and for RESPOND to re-apply for planning in light of

the new circumstances.

“There is an adequate supply, even a surfeit of apartments in Shannon, which are intrinsically better, more attractive and cheaper than the pro- posed mini-blocks and to spend pub- lic money on such a project is unac- ceptable,” the residents’ submission maintained.

“In our opinion, the mini-blocks are of defective design, would not serve the needs of Shannon and would be an irresponsible use of public money. They would be intrusive and dimin-

ish the area visually and in quality of life and in value terms.”

A report from the council’s planning inspector said that an additional four years was sought by the applicants to complete the development and this was not a reasonable timeframe for the works to be completed.

The council ruled that the exten- sion be refused “as substantial works had not been carried out to date in accordance with Section 42 of the Planning and Development Act 2000”.

ONE MORE beginning.

Just like last year, a fresh dawn will fall over Clare next weekend when the county footballers and hurlers begin their season under new man- agement.

Mike McNamara gets the opportu- nity to lead out his county on Sunday when the hurlers take on the Univer- sity of Limerick and Frank Doherty gets a taste of inter-county manage- ment with Clare as the footballers come up against University College Cork on the same day.

While results this early in the year won’t count for much in the summer and while Sunday, mainly, represents the chance to wipe the slate clean, two wins would lift a cloud that has lingered since Clare left the national scene at the height of summer.

Last year was one of the poorest in for the GAA in Clare at All Ireland level. The Tony Considine reign will be remembered for the wrong rea- sons — the spats, the county board interference and ultimately, the poor results.

To be fair, it wasn’t all negative. Philip Brennan, Kevin Dilleen and

Brendan Bugler all represent the fu- UN Ken ;

Under Paidi O Sé, Clare started well but came undone after their sec- ond league game. The defeat against Waterford represented the worst day in Clare football history and the de- mise of football in the county was copper-fastened by the withdrawal of three key players shortly before that game.

Again, the emerging talent, in the form of the Under 21s 1s there and it’s now about transferring that to some- thing meaningful at senior level.

That’s why decent showings this

winter are more important than they normally would be.

Neither the Waterford Crystal Cup nor the McGrath Cup will tempt numbers to the terraces in any mean- ingful way, but a decent run in both competitions would shine some sun on the situation in Clare.

Only the die hards will come out of hibernation on Sunday and all will hope to claim they were there on day one of the revolution. It remains to be seen if the uprising happens, but right now, at least, the only way is up.

TWO major car dealerships with their headquarters in Ennis increased the size of their businesses in 2006.

According to the latest returns to the Companies Office, Tom Hogan (Gal- way) Ltd of Ballymaley increased its turnover from €87 million in 2005 to €103 million last year.

The figures represent the sales fig- ures for the Tom Hogan outlets in Ennis, Galway, Clonmel and Shan-

nto) eF

Separate returns to the Companies Office show that Ford dealer T Sheils & Co Ltd increased its turnover from €35 million to €36 million.

The Tom Hogan group of compa- nies are Toyota and Lexus dealers and sustained an operating loss of €393,000 due to €992,000 being written off a related party debtor.

The company remains in strong financial health with accumulated profits standing at €6.7 million and

shareholders funds standing at €14.2 million.

The figures show that the company employed 153 people and had a wage bill of €6 million.

The two directors in the company are Paul and David Hogan. Accord- ing to a statement accompanying the accounts, “the directors anticipate an improved level of performance in 2006/2007”.

It continues: “The principal risk to the group is to lose market share

and as a result miss an opportunity to achieve planned sales growth with its knock-on effect on net income.

“The ongoing challenge for the group 1s maintaining sales and gross margin and controlling overheads and required capital expenditure. The strategy of the group is to con- tinue to differentiate its products on the basis of quality, service, range and availability.”

The accounts show that T Sheils and Co enjoyed a profit before tax in

2006 of €195,000. The directors are listed as Thomas Sheils and Mary- Ann Sheils.

The company had accumulated profits of €1.17 million and the fig- ures show that the company em- ployed 88 people and had a wage bill last year of €1.9 million.

According to a statement accom- panying the accounts, the directors “are satisfied with financial perform- ance for the period and anticipate improvement in future years”.

THE driving force in_ Bridget Sweeney’s life is her “Burren View” bed and breakfast business in Bally- vaughan and she proved it when pick- ing up her latest award last week.

On her way to an end of year awards function for the Tourism Learning Network, her car broke down. Yet just a few weeks ago, she had won a new car in a national newspaper Leyeny oles isleyee

But Bridget opted to convert the car prize into cash which she invested in the comfort of her guests rather than her own driving convenience.

Not even the breakdown halted Bridget. Still stained with oil and erime when she finally arrived in Limerick’s Castletroy Park Hotel, she was stunned to learn that she was one of three award winners chosen from the 25-strong membership of the Clare Tourism Learning Network.

Winning ways are nothing new to Bridget from Castleblaney who was the leader of an award-winning cus- tomer care team in the telecoms in- dustry before she used the proceeds of an early retirement package to fi- nance her dream of running her own B&B in the Burren.

She took on the job of project man- ager for the conversion and refur- bishment of “Burren View” which opened in 2006 and was an award winner within its first year.

The 5-bedroom B&B with disabil- ity access in all en-suite rooms won a “Welcome” award from Failte Ire-

land as well as getting a highly rec- ommended endorsement from Fam- ily Homes of Ireland.

Before she opened her doors to pay- ing guests, Bridget conducted a series of test runs to weed out any problems

or shortcomings for her entry to the tourist trade.

She invited well-travelled friends and family to visit and provide can- did feedback.

“They told me what they thought of how I greeted them on arrival, how I informed them about what was on of- fer in the area, the comfort of the bed- rooms and the quality of the break- fast”.

Bridget’s winning ways have also helped to fit out “Burren View”. She has a flair for dreaming up winning slogans.

Her prize from one competition provided the furniture for the patio looking out over the Burren. Light fittings and an aquarium for the guesthouse were also won in slogan competitions.

Bridget received her ‘Tourism Learning Network award for her achievement in developing a “bou- tique” bed and breakfast venture at Newtown, Ballyvaughan.

Other winners presented with their awards by Clare Mayor, Council- lor Patricia McCarthy were Davnet Cronin O’Brien of Clonlara Eques- trian Centre and John Davoren of Caherconnell Fort in the Burren.

SUPPORTERS of the restoration of the Shannon/Heathrow route have hit back at claims by an economist that the route is not important.

Separately, Cityjet were this week understood to be considering a fur- ther connectivity lifeline between Shannon and Schipol Airport in Am- sterdam.

A special report was produced by economist Sean Barrett to accom- pany the ESRI quarterly economic commentary.

Barrett said in the report that argu- ments favouring Government inter- vention to retain the Shannon-Hea- throw service were “weak”.

The report highlights how just 38 per cent of the 856,000 passengers who flew from Shannon to London in 2006 went to Heathrow. The bal- ance used services to Stanstead, Gat- wick and Luton.

In the 10 year period to 2006 the numbers flying from Shannon to Heathrow declined by four per cent while the volume of passengers trav- elling between the airport and Lon- don actually rose by 156 per cent.

But John King of Shannon Devel- opment said that “even if only one third of passengers connect on or use Heathrow, that’s still an awful lot of people.

“It’s easy to dismiss it if youre just

talking statistics but the business case set out by the Atlantic Connec- tivity Alliance is the reality.”

King added that this case was up- held by the fact that Cityjet have an- nounced their route to Paris from Shannon and they saw a market in providing connectivity to a major European hub.

Passenger figures for Shannon have jumped this year by 2.95 million.

According to a report on Irish air- ports in the year to date, published by the Economic and Social Research Institute, Shannon 1s connected to 39 airports serviced by nine airlines.

While lobby groups here including the Atlantic Connectivity Alliance have called for the Government to force Aer Lingus to reverse its deci- sion to axe the Shannon-Heathrow route from January 14, Barrett says he does not agree.

Meanwhile Cityjet, an Air France subsidiary which has recently an- nounced flights betwen Shannon and Paris, is looking at flying into the Amsterdam airport from Shannon.

The Amsterdam route would prob- ably depend on the support for the Paris route, airline sources say.

Separately, Aer Rianta has won one of its largest ever contracts which will see it develop operations at a new terminal in Moscow, in a deal which will generate more than €1 billion over seven years.