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CLARE ladies football celebrates 25 years in existence in 2008 and with new Chairman of the Clare ladies football county board, Johnny Hayes at the helm, the board hopes to pro- pel the sport forward significantly in the coming year. Hayes, who took temporary charge of the board after the resignation of James Lafferty in October, was ratified to the chair af- ter The Banner’s Paul McKenna and Fergus Rovers’ Mary Keane with- drew their nominations leaving the position open for the Fergus Rovers’ delegate Hayes.

In his speech following the ap- pointment, Hayes placed the provi- sion of a county field for Clare ladies

football as top of his priority list for the coming year. The new chairman also spoke out against the increas- ing threat of drink and drugs in Irish society and felt that everyone must work to eliminate that ‘evil threat’ before it causes serious long term problems for the clubs and games as a whole, stressing the need to support the headquarters promoted drug and alcohol prevention programme.

Mr Hayes also paid tribute to his predecessor James Lafferty who held the position for two years until his resignation in October.

Outgoing county secretary, Michael Fitzpatrick in his report to the delegates outlined the past year’s achievements in Clare ladies football. He praised the Clare U16

team on winning the All-Ireland B championship as well as the West Clare Gaels on their impressive and historic run to the All-Ireland Junior championship final, only losing out to Foxrock/Cabinteely a few weeks ago. He dwelt on the heartache suf- fered by the Clare Intermediate team in their second successive one point defeat in the All-Ireland semi-final and wished them better luck for the year ahead. Finally, he saved spe- cial praise for the work of everyone involved in the sport in Clare from team management, players, match officials, organisers, county board officers from all codes, sponsors and anyone who assisted and promoted the game in the past year.

The finances for 2007 were dealt

with by outgoing treasurer Christy O’Connor who gave a detailed report and of all the board’s funds during the year. At the beginning of the year, the board had an opening balance of €12,169.50. The income for 2007 was €98,626.68 while the overall ex- penditure came to €82,523.55, leav- ing a surplus including the opening balance of €28,272.63.

The income was broken down fur- ther by O’Connor who revealed the main source of revenue was from church gate collections (€9,193.78), race night (€14,088), Flag day (€2,360) and a bucket collection (€2,480) while the main expenses were the central council registration costs (€31,278), Clare Intermediate team (€18,273.55) and the Under 16

B team (€6,898,55).

SINCE the opening of the library building in Scariff last month, hun- dreds of new members have signed up to rediscover the joy of reading.

The library staff are delighted, if a little overwhelmed, with the re- sponse from the public to the airy, state of the art new facility.

‘“We’ve been inundated. It’s amaz- ing,’ said Senior Librarian, Caroline Ahearne.

“We have had literally hundreds of new members joining and a lot of people whose memberships had lapsed have come back to us.”

SU slomebbeKnoi(omrI MBE: bla Comers mmnats new library, which shares it’s home with Clare County Council’s new

offices, 1s tremendous, Caroline ex- plained.

“In the temporary building, the li- brary was only open 18 hours a week – noW we open more than 50 hours, with two late evenings until 8pm and people find Saturday opening from 10am to 2pm good. They can come when the children are off school.”

The new building is home to 20,000 books, a huge leap in the book stock for the Scariff facility, eight internet connected PC’s and a whole range of music and film DVD’s which were never available before.

Photocopying facilities and a full range of newspapers, magazines and other publications are also available.

Last week, the library played host to Christmas storytime, craft and

games sessions for youngsters who came along to enjoy the fun and make their own Christmas cards.

The four full time and one part- time staff who have been brought on board to up the staffing from one part-timer all hope to see many more of these activities in the com- ing months.

“We have an exhibition space so were hoping to stage exhibitions,’ said Caroline. “And we have room for things like regular arts and crafts classes and storytelling so there will be a whole new programme to look ICO) ays: 0 Kem One

In addition to visiting the library, people will also be able to take ad- vantage of the council offices being in the same building to pay bills, col-

lect forms and get information on is- sues such as planning.

“It’s a very exciting new start and we re looking forward to having lots more events for people to attend here as well as welcoming new members,’ said Caroline.

The library will close at 3pm on Friday, December 21 and will re- open on Friday, December 28 at 10 am. They are closing for New Year at Spm on Monday, December 31 and re-opening on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 10 am.

Telephone 061-922893 for details.

CALLS for the abolition of the In- terprovincial Championships in hurling and football are never to far away, but another Clare loyalist has emerged in the shape of Pat Fitzger- ald. The new full-time secretary, Pat Fitzgerald, added his voice to those supporting the competition that dates from 1927.

At this Saturday’s convention, Fit- zgerald, lauded the efforts of Coora- clare man Martin Donnelly at reviv-

ing interest in a competition in recent years through sponsorship to the tune of €500,000.

“The enduring appeal of the Rail- way Cup, or the Martin Donnelly sponsored inter-provincial champion- ships as it’s now known, was placed very much in the spotlight this year with the decision of the GAA hierar- chy to stage the finals under lights at Croke Park,’ Fitzgerald told the an- nual convention.

“The finals were back in a changed environment of GAA headquarters

for the first time

since 1995 and as one who has been particularly sceptical of the Associa- tion’s direction in trying to revive interest in the competition, I have to admit that this year they almost got Lime reanle

“Almost, I say, because with a more orchestrated and better market- ing campaign, the attendance could have been appreciably more that the 10,000 spectators who went through the turnstiles. At that, it was signifi- cant in that it represented the larg-

est attendance at the finals in some thirty years.

That was the encouraging aspect, a heartening indication of a potential resurgence in interest 1n a competi- tion which provides us with a rich sporting legacy. Gone was the public apathy. Had the GAA more time than a mere five days to engage in a sus- tained public relations exercise, the attendance could have been swelled ehKerorm ene) AYA

“Sponsor Martin Donnelly, who has bank rolled the competition for the

past five years, deserves that at least. He said that this year was a missed Opportunity in that he had planned on marketing the event through Cu- mann na mBunscoil, filling the sta- dium with enthusiastic children and donating the proceeds to charity,” added Fitzgerald.

THE Christmas swim in Killaloe this year is a fundraiser for the pro- posed community playground.

Killaloe has an ever expanding population with new families com- ing in to live in the scenic location but the Lough Derg town still has no play area.

The local community in conjunc- tion with Clare County Council have joined forces to provide the amenity next year and local people have a tar- get of €50,000 to raise.

The swim at Two Mile Gate takes place at 12.30pm on Christmas Day. The organising committee are ap- pealing for volunteers to get involved in this worthy cause.

A member of the organising com- mittee, Brendan Ryan said: “the Kil- laloe community needs a playground and the Christmas swim will really put the fun into fundraising for the project.”

Volunteers are currently collecting sponsorship for the swim which has been organised every Christmas for the past fifteen years by three local

men Brendan Ryan, Christy Mc- Grath and Paul McGrath.

They have raised funds over the years for different charities collect- ing thousands of pounds.

Anyone who would like to donate to the playground fund can con- tact Brendan Ryan on 061-376963; Christy McGrath on 061-376245 or Paul McGrath or 061-375195.

CLARE GAA’s campaign to entice more people to take up refereeing is being lost, Saturday’s annual con- vention heard in a report delivered by Clare Referees Administration Com- mittee chairman, Kevin Walsh.

“We are on the verge of a crisis in relation to refereeing numbers in Clare,’ said Walsh. Since the incep- tion of the national recruitment drive in 1999 we are gradually losing the battle of recruiting referees. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main reason continues to be a complete lack of interest shown by some clubs in the county and they are the same year on year.

“Again this year we still have 21 clubs in the county who do not have a referee and have shown little inter- est in addressing this situation. De- spite the efforts of the county chair- man, we still did not get a positive response from any of these clubs.

“When it comes to moaning and suggesting what should be done with refereeing in Clare in order to 1m- prove it, the clubs with no referees make the most noise and always ex- pect to have a referee for the games in which they play, but are doing lit- tle to help the cause of refereeing.

“It is very easy to talk about and suggest what should be done. I be- lieve actions speak louder than words and if club are serious about doing something positive in this important area of our games, then the time is now,’ added Walsh in his hard-hit- ting report.

And, he didn’t leave it there. In revealing that there are only 48 ref- erees active in the county, Walsh said that numbers could dwindle further because the abuse some referees are subjected to.

“The real sad area and the one which I am most concerned over is the referees lost because of abuse. Everyone wants a referee for their

game but no one gives the beginner a chance to develop.

“This abuse factor has an even deeper knock on effect because as referees administrator for the county and charged with responsibility for recruitment of foundation referees, it has become increasingly difficult to convince someone to become a knight of the whistle.

‘The amount of abuse being direct- ed at new referees in these games 1s seriously damaging our effectiveness in recruiting referees and is turning them away from refereeing. This is a sad state of affairs.

‘The abuse of referees has to be severely dealt with each and every time and all our referees have to be protected and get the support they Caer

CONCERNS have been expressed that plans for a new quarry near Ruan will disturb the tranquil environment of patients of a proposed new day- care centre for cancer patients.

A number of locals have expressed opposition to Irish Asphalt’s plan to extract 300,000 tonnes of rock from the quarry site at Ardkearney, Ruan.

In one objection, the EYPO Part- nership of Clonroad, Ennis, points out, “The proximity of the quarry,

with all its associated nuisances, would not provide a tranquil environ- ment for the wellbeing of the patients in the facility.”

It adds, ““We contend that the loss of amenity that will be experienced by all homes in the area far outweighs the granting of the expansion of the CL br Nema

The partnership contends that, “The extraction of 300,000 tonnes of rock from the locality will have damaging effects to agricultural lands to the wider area with noise and vibration

upsetting both to wildlife and farm ZONBOOL-DESE

“If the application is granted, it will significantly lower the value of their investment as there will be ongoing noise and dust pollution, vibrations from blasting, with increased heavy goods vehicle traffic on roads in close proximity.

“The location of this quarry is not suited to the proposed location. This proposed quarry, outside the area that has already been worked, should not be granted due to its location in the

open countryside without the benefit of appropriate zoning.”

In his objection, Philip Comber of Ardkearney, Ruan, claims, “This area 1S a quiet residential part of Clare and there are quite a number of houses within the immediate area of this proposed quarry.

“Tt is my belief that if the proposed quarry was to get permission to go ahead, it would have a significant impact on the quality of life of the residents in the area.”

In their objection, Hugh and Mary

Rice said, “The noise from the crushing and blasting from quarry- ing activities which have taken place to date is unbearable, especially when the prevailing wind is from the south-west and that on regular oc- casions dust covers the windows of their property, trees and plants.”

The Rices’ submission points out that they are “extremely concerned regarding the devaluing of their property as a result of this quarry- ing being allowed to continue and to significantly intensify”.

MARY Kelly has been a stalwart fundraiser for the excellent work be- ing done by Irish missionaries in the poorest countries for more than 25 years.

But while the Tulla woman has raised untold amounts of cash and organised scores of events 1n her role with the Apostolic Society to sup- port the mission work, she has al- ways wondered what it would be like to go on a mission.

Which is why, now that she has re- tired from the society, she has signed up to travel to Port Elizabeth in South Africa to help with the Build- ing Of Hope Project being run by

Lissycasey nun, Sr Ethel Normoyle and more than 160 Clare volunteers. Mary will be travelling with her son Francis and daughter, Lourda Doyle, who is living in Broadford.

To help raise the €3,000 which she needs to cover her flights and ac- commodation and make a donation to the project, Mary is auctioning a Tulla shirt, signed by every member of the victorious Clare Champion- ship team.

‘“T always said I’d love to see what is it all about and so I signed up to go,” ROMY Eee

The jersey was acquired for her by Tulla team manager, Jim McInerney and, Mary says, it is an appropriate item to auction given that her late

husband’s grandfather, John “Lang- er’ Rogers was a well-know Tulla hurler.

Seven in ten people living in tin and cardboard huts in the township at Missionvale have the AIDS vi- rus. Most have little more than the clothes they stand up in and the mis- sion provides a daily food ration for almost 2,000 people.

Sr Ethel and her team of volunteers plan to build a hospice and care cen- tre at Missionvale over a 40 day pe- riod in January and February.

“TH do a bit of baking and cook- ing – anything I can do to be of help,” said Mary.

Mary is keeping mum about what offers she has had up to now for the

jersey, but she is hoping that it will raise a “good bit of money” for the Oren

While most volunteers will spend ten days in South Africa, Mary plans to stay for two weeks and her son will be part of the team whose tough task it is to get the project off the ground by laying more than 500 blocks per person per day.

Anyone who would like to make a bid on the jersey can contact Mary on 065-6835519 or Francis on 087- 9742090.

The Diocese of Killaloe was in the black at the end of last year showing a healthy profit margin of €105,160.

Publishing the 2006 diocesan ac- counts this week the Bishop of Kil- laloe, Dr Willie Walsh, thanked the people for their generosity.

The largest income for the diocese – more than half – came from parish- ioners through parish contribution.

The €459,968 gathered in this way was approximately 12.5 per cent of the parishes’ yearly income.

Investments totalled €290,324 in 2006, up more than €130,000 on the previous year.

Bequests and donations were down on 2005 with the diocese recording €41,400 in donations in 2006.

A diocesan payment totalling €191,400 to victims of abuse was made in 2006, with €23,218 going towards the child protection scheme.

“The ongoing fallout from the tragedy of sexual abuse by a small number of clergy in the distant past

continues to demand time and re- sources for healing and reconcili- ation. €191,401 have been paid in 2006 for this purpose,” said Bishop Walsh.

“This payment was funded princi- pally from part of the proceeds raised by sale of land at Bishop’s House in 2001 and the Stewardship Trust set up by the Irish Episcopal Confer- ence,’ Bishop Walsh added.

“In relation to child protection the figure of €23,218 reflects the com- mitment of the diocese to ensure best practice by all people in our parish communities who work with chil- dren and young people.

“Our specially trained child pro- tection workers visit every parish to assist with the continued implemen- tation of our child protection guide- lines “Keeping Children Safe” pub- lished in 2004,” he said.

Salaries and state insurance was the largest expense to the local diocese, costing €141,793.

Charitable contributions made up €105,450 of the expenditure.

THE search is continuing today for a Whitegate man who went missing after a night out with pals in Killa- loe.

James Burke has been missing since Sunday, December 9 when he failed to get into either of two taxis which were taken by the group of friends to get home.

The 23 year-old was last seen walking near the bridge on Sunday evening. Gardai have appealed to people with holiday homes in the Killaloe area to check them in case the missing man may be in one of the elt one

Meanwhile, almost 100 locals have joined the Killaloe coastguard unit, the Irish Coastguard helicopter, the Mountshannon search and rescue unit and gardai in the shore and lake search for the missing man.

It is feared that the Ballinruan man may have slipped into the water as he

headed home from Killaloe.

The alarm was raised when he failed to return home, contact his parents or arrive for work on Mon- day morning.

A spokesperson for the coastguard said the search started in the area around the bridge where he was last seen and spread out along the shore- bb aten

“We are hopeful that he didn’t fall into the river but we have to suspect that he did until we know otherwise. It is possible that he is safe and sound and staying somewhere. If that’s the case then we would appeal to him to make contact and let us know he is all right,” the spokesman said.

The search, which continued through the weekend, had to be called off as darkness fell last night and was resumed at first light today.

Meanwhile, a man who died after falling into the River Fergus last week has been laid to rest.

The body of 21-year-old Dermot

Molloy, was recovered last Wednes- day by divers at a section of the river to the rear of Aldi.

The search was initiated in the early hours of the previous Sunday morn- ing after a body was seen moving in the river behind the Abbey Street car park in the town.

An initial rescue attempt, made shortly after Mr Molloy entered the water, had to be aborted because of the treacherous water conditions at the time.

Ennis gardai co-ordinated the huge search operation, which involved members of the Garda Water Unit, Doolin Coastguard, Ennis Sub Aqua Club, Burren Sub Aqua Club, Kilkee Sub Aqua Club, Clare Civil Defence and the Coastguard helicopter.

THEY’RE bending it like Beckham in O’Briensbridge!

The ladies of the Celtic Ladies soc- cer club held their foundation night in Darby’s Pub in O’Briensbridge last week.

The club was the brain child of Becky Bowers, Naimh_ Byrnes, Karen Murtagh and Statia Byrnes, who started recruiting in August of this year.

At the first AGM, John Slattery was elected chairman and team manager, Becky Bowers is secretary and Niamh Byrnes is the treasurer. Jack Byrnes and Luke Turner are the trainers with Pat Crotty also helping out.

To kick start finances, the ladies and friends tackled a few fund rais- ing ventures. “We wish to thank all who have worked with us on this so far – we’ve got great support,” said Jack. The club currently has thirty eight ladies on the panel and they have been training diligently since September.

“The improvements in_ fitness and skill levels have been huge and everyone is really enjoying it,’ said FToe

The ladies held a club seven-a- side recently, the final of which was played on December 5.

The competition was such a suc- cess that it’s now planned to hold it every play year.

The awards to the winners were

presented by Jim Mooney from the Limerick Ladies and School Girl Sroyenveavlaraes

Every lady present was also pre- sented with a foundation medal to celebrate the occasion.

The winning captain, Nuala MckK- eogh gratefully accepted the win- ners trophy from Jim and made her acceptance speech in Irish.

The winning team was Collette Flemming, Norma Hartnett, Shirley Conway, Caroline Fortune, Sarah Doyle, Emma Hickey, Statia Byrnes.

The player of the tournament award went to veteran centre forward Statia Byrnes who accepted the trophy.

“The club is now official with this date as its foundation date,’ said ire

“We wish to thank all those people who donated spot prizes for the event, the Bridge Celtic soccer club for do- nating the trophies and Jim Mooney for taking the time to present the tro- phies. We also wish to thank Heatons of the Crescent Shopping Centre for donating a set of gear.”

The ladies are now getting to grips with the workings of the league in Limerick and they are looking for- ward to playing in the league next season. “The future craic looks good. We’ve had a great start and we’ll certainly be back next season. The players are already talking about it. Watch this space,” said Jack.