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THE €1.4 million lands at the centre of a bitter family dispute in the Tulla area have failed to sell at public auc- nO)

However, leading auctioneer John de Courcy, who is handling the sale, said yesterday that he is confident that the land will be sold in the near future, stating, “There is plenty of in- terest and it will sell in due course.”

Mr de Courcy said that the lands didn’t sell at auction “due to the cur- rent climate and time of year”.

The lands at Larraroe and Ran- nagh, Tulla are being sold in five lots and include two ruins and an old resi- dence, with the lands having substan- tial road frontage.

The proposed sale was allowed to proceed after Judge Harvey Kenny ordered that Marie O’Halloran va- cate the 66 acres of farmland near

Tulla in response to an action from her sister-in law, Josephine Barry (72).

Mrs O’Halloran told Ennis Circuit Court that her late husband, Stanley O’ Halloran, reached a deal in the late 1970s with the owner of the farm, his late brother, Michael to purchase the lands for £65,000.

Mrs O’Halloran also told the court that Stanley paid different sums of cash over the years to Michael, who was a bachelor farmer. However,

counsel for Mrs O’ Halloran, Leonard Parker BL, admitted that no record of the agreement exists, nor has Mrs O’Halloran been able to recover any record of cheques paid by Stanley due to the time that has elapsed. Counsel for Mrs Barry, Gerry Kie- ly BL, said that Michael O’ Halloran died aged 64 in May 2004 intestate. Without a will being made, his farm was divided three ways, between his two sisters, Mrs Barry and Ida Ro-

han, and Stanley O’ Halloran.

Stanley died four months later aged 68 and his share passed onto his wife, Marie O’Halloran.

In his judgement, Judge Kenny granted possession of the lands to Mrs Barry, an injunction against Mrs O’Halloran from re-entering the lands, damages of €30,000 with a permanent stay if there is compliance with the order and that Mrs Barry be granted her costs.

WHEN Santa landed with his sleigh in Killaloe at the weekend he was on a mission to bring a smile to the faces of east Clare children and help a good cause to boot.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Con- vent Hill Shopping Centre’s Christ- mas grotto opened its doors so that youngsters could give Santa their wish lists and Santa could raise cash for the Clarecare Molua centre.

On hand to add to the fun were Silly Sally and Crazy Daisy, who entertained the youngsters with face

painting and balloon sculpting.

Adding a touch more festive spirit to the proceedings were the Clare- care Molua carol singers performing Christmas favourites.

Clarecare volunteers packed bags for hard-pressed shoppers and they also helped by bag-packing in Queal- ly’s SuperValu on both days.

Centre manager, John Cannon said that this is the second year they have built the outside Alpine grotto.

“We had it inside the first year but this was much better. There was a great atmosphere about the whole thing. Everyone loved it.”

The little wooden hut which be- comes Santa’s temporary home is donated each year by Galway man, Tim Clune.

“It’s perfect for Santa and it looks lovely when it’s all done up,’ said John.

Last year, the grotto was open through the week, but 80 per cent of Santa’s little visitors came at the weekend, so it was decided to make this year’s visit a three-day event.

The takings from the weekend have yet to be totted up but even the bad weather didn’t dampen the enthusi- asm of Santa’s little visitors.

“Last year, we totted up €1,500 for Clarecare and I would hope it would be at least that much again,” said John.

And whatever was bagged for the charity, Santa went away with a bag full of requests and left behind a bundle of promises for good boys Nee Mean U he

THE Clare County Handball Board appointed a new manager, Matthew McMahon, to the post after their board AGM at the weekend.

At a lively meeting at the Clooney club, the game received a full as- sessment of its development in the county and it was agreed that despite competitive success and high num- bers playing handball, it would take more effort, particularly in terms of finance, to ensure handball had a safe standing in Clare.

Outgoing Chairman John Cawley delivered a detailed address, high- lighting the enormous success of the year just gone and informed the meeting that he was stepping down from the Chair after five years at the to bone

He received great thanks and praise from everyone at all levels of hand- ball in Clare and following his res- ignation, nominations were taken for the vacant position and the only name put forward was that of Matthew Mc-

Mahon from the O’Callaghan’s Mills club.

McMahon was then proposed and seconded as the new Chairman and brings plenty of experience to the position, having been involved in the sport in many areas and successfully helping to secure sponsorship for county players.

The position of secretary was next for discussion and after initailly de- claring his wish to step aside, Tom- my Hegarty of Clarecastle agreed to hold the position for a fourth year.

Willie Roche of Newmarket was then returned unopposed as Treas- urer and also as Munster and Central Council representative. Newmarket’s Mike Kelly stepped down as PRO and Shane Walsh from Tuamgraney was ratified as his successor.

The financial state of the board was one of the major talking points, with concerns raised that handball in Clare is being run on a ‘shoestring budget’ and delegates spoke of the need for serious fundraising in the oy nebeNTSaA orb

A number of delegates also ques- tioned the role of the Clare County GAA Board in this and insisted that the GAA board should take a more active role in providing financial as- sistance.

It was agreed that the handball board would again try to sit down with the new GAA Chairman and full-time secretary when those posi- tions are filled to discuss the matter.

Michael Slattery later addressed the meeting and spoke about the Clare- castle sports complex, informing the meeting that the two alleys in Clare- castle will be closed to handball un- less there is a serious cash injection.

County Juvenile Board was also put in place as a sub-committee of the County Board. Tom Loughnane was elected Chairman of the Juvenile Committee with Fergal Coughlan of Sele a ENO Koel as

Meanwhile, the County Juvenile Leagues are also underway, with huge entry numbers highlighting the current strength of underage hand- ball locally.

A SHANNON town councillor has hit out at the behaviour of pedestri- ans, amid statistics showing that 20 per cent of road death victims are pedestrians.

More than 70 pedestrians have been killed on the nation’s roads so far this year.

Five of the 12 road deaths in Clare this year have involved walkers, while one cyclist was also killed in June.

Shannon town councillor Tony Mc- Mahon (Labour) has said that pedes- trians’ behaviour is “ridiculous”.

“Really, the behaviour of pedes- trians is ridiculous. There seems to be so much attached to the driver but no responsibility attached to the pedestrian. It should be compulsory that the onus would be on the pedes- trian,” he said.

“The whole behaviour of pedes- trians needs to change. People just walk out on the road and motorists expect them to do just that,” said Cllr

McMahon, at a meeting in Shannon last week.

However, the head of the Garda Divisional Traffic Corps in Clare, In- spector John Galvin, said there is an onus on walkers.

‘There is an onus on pedestrians to be safe and to be seen and obey the rules of the road,’ said Inspector Galvin, who has just taken up his role, having moved to Clare from Galway Garda Station in recent weeks.

“We would encourage them to be seen and wear reflective gear. At all

times, we would encourage pedes- trians to cross the roads at appro- priate places, particularly in winter time and to walk against the flow of traffic. There is a huge onus on pe- destrians to exercise caution and not presume they can be seen,” said In- spector Galvin.

According to Muintir na Tire Com- munity Alert, pedestrians and cy- clists have become increasingly vul- nerable on the nation’s roads.

Last week, the group warned that wearing a simple high visibility vest

will reduce the risk of being involved in a fatal or serious injury collision.

“The best advice that we can give, is to remind all road users of their vulnerability, plead with them, to take personal responsibility for their actions on the road and to make sure, that they and those in their house- hold, wear a high visibility vest, when walking or cycling, day or night. It could be the difference, between be- ing seriously injured, killed or stay- ing alive. Quite simply, wearing the vest could save your life,”

A MILESTONE in the Kilkee Marine Rescue Service was marked last week as its 25th anniversary was celebrated at a function in the Kilkee SE Wa elke

Since the voluntary service was established by Manuel di Lucia in 1982, it has been responsible for saving no fewer than 300 lives, while its members rescued up to 30 people from the sea.

‘The service has been serving the people for the past 25 years, not alone the local fishing community, but also tourists,” said Mr di Lucia.

As he 1s a diver 1n the local area, Mr

di Lucia was frequently called upon when someone would go missing over the years. Given the frequency of the calls, he felt there was a need for the service to be established.

aU INAS b0tl MEANS Komm c- Kom: IED e-hSCol@ AYA | would get a call. My boat would be laid up for the winter so I would have to get somebody who had a function- ing boat,” he said.

In an effort to provide training for the service’s members, Mr di Lu- cia set up Kilkee sub-aqua club in October 1982. Hundreds of people were trained through the club over the years and this training has been crucial in many lives being saved at sea. “Moneypoint was a great

source of members. A lot of young people came to Moneypoint in the early years and got involved in the Service,’ he said.

Mr di Lucia has himself been in- volved in dozens of rescues since the 1960s and his work was honoured with a presentation at the function last week. He was the first chief coxswain with the service. The first crew members, Joe Haugh and Ea- mon Murnane, were also honoured with presentations, as was the cur- rent chairman, John Nolan.

Four former members who have passed away — Ian Benson, JJ Har- rington, Seamus Byrne and Michael O’Gorman — were also remembered

by the 150 people who attended the aubeTeinCOyee

Presently, there are 50 members of the service and Mr di Lucia, who is the current PRO, said it can be difficult to recruit new people.

“The rescue service can sometimes be taken for granted. There is more recognition for sports stars than for the rescue services. While we have members as young as 16, there is a little bit of a struggle at the moment, trying to get new members into the Service,’ he said.

While the service is mainly volun- tary, some funding has been made available from the Department of the Marine over the years.

LAST Sunday saw the Ennis Kick- boxing send its biggest ever contin- gent of fighters to the Irish Kickbox- ing Federation (IKF) tournament in Oranmore in Galway.

This is the most prestigious Junior tournament on the IKF calender and saw over 150 entrants under the age of 16 competing in four different cat- egories decided on the basis of Gen- der Age Height and Weight.

The Ennis Kickboxing Club under Chief Instructor Tony O’Donnell and junior Instructor Sarah Jane Ryan had 10 fighters competing across the 4 categories. These 10 fighters pro- duced an outstanding result of seven overall winners one joint winner and three runners up.

Overall winners for the Ennis club were Nikiata Doherty (7) who fought

in two different categories on the day winning both, Bonny Doherty, To- mas Mulpeter, Dan Sherlock, Darly Sherlock and Dean Cauley.

14 year old Robert Clair from Kil- rush was declared a joint winner and was unlucky not to get the decision of overall winner.

Jennifer Coote, Sean Ryan and Ju- lie Sherlock finished runners up in their respective categories..

This was a fantastic result for the Ennis club and it bodes well for the future of the club with Tony O’Donnell hoping to turn these tal- ented juniors into Senior all Ireland champions as they progress in their martial arts training.

Ennis Kickboxing Club will reopen after Christmas on Monday the 7th of January all are welcome please contact Tony O Donnell with any queries on 087 2796401.

SINCE its foundation in 1957, En- nistymon Vocational School, the town and the country have experi- enced much change but, for all of that, the school has continued to provide a much-needed and valuable education to many of the people of

the locality. That was the overview of Clare Vocational Education Commit-

tee’s chief executive officer, George O’Callaghan, as he took part in a 50th anniversary function in the Falls Hotel last week.

Former and present staff and pupils, with a host of others involved with the school, filled the banqueting room of the hotel for a night of celebration, nostalgia and a fresh look into educa- tion in Ireland as it stands today.

A multi-sectional exhibition of pho- tographs and other memorabilia of the school’s 50 years drew great at- tention in the function room through- out the evening.

Idols of the occasion were the two Surviving members of the original teaching staff, Norma Christie (nee Boland), now living in Edinburgh in her native Scotland, first teacher of home economics in Ennistymon, and Mamie Egan (nee Smyth), teacher of commerce subjects, now living in Ferbane, County Offaly.

O’Callaghan began by congratu- lating all present pupils, past pupils, parents, principal Enda Byrt and all teachers present and past, and a host of others associated with the school down through the years, embracing caretakers, secretaries and other sup- port staff.

He reminded the guests that in its mission statement, the school

firstly recognises the individual- ity of each student and through the comprehensive nature of its curricu- lum combined with the professional competence, initiative and caring of its staff, seeks to maximise each individual’s academic, practical and social talents in a safe and support- ive environment, to prepare them to cope with life after school, where they may better contribute to family, community and society in a positive per-peb Alea

Change was with them all the time and challenged them to rise to the

occasion when needed. The school continued to face the challenge of the future with vision and courage. The proposed new community school, of which the vocational school will be an integral part, offered the opportu- nity of new directions. The quality of teaching and learning that is so much part of the vocational school would be a significant building block in the community school.

Cllr Flan Garvey, as chairman of the school’s board of management, formally welcomed the guests to celebrate the wonderful past of the

school which had been achieved by outstanding principals, teaching and support staffs. It was a great pleasure for him to chair the board of man- agement of such an academy, he said, more so even than being chairman of the governing body of Tralee Insti- tute of Technology or vice-president of the Irish Vocational Education Association, the administrative body for county and city vocational educa- tion committees.

He continued by saying that the worth of vocational education was still not fully appreciated in Ireland,

nor what it had brought about for the country. For instance, the Celtic Ti- ger would not have emerged were it not for the business and profession- al men and women who had come through the vocational system armed with a practical and business back- eround that enabled them to succeed magnificently and provide example for others.

Enda Byrt had a special welcome for Norma Christie and Mamie Egan and informed the guests that another first teacher, Joe McCaw, who was called from this life earlier in the year, had been insisting, once the an- niversary began to be planned, that he had to be at the main celebratory function.

Announcing the publication next spring of a school history, he invited as many past students and staff as possible to contribute. They could do so in a variety of small but 1m- portant ways, such as how they trav- elled to school, life in the school, what they did at lunchtime, involve- ment in sport or any other activities, fond memories of favourite teachers, school trips, what they did for recrea- tion in those times, what things cost at the time and so on.

Kevin Duggan, Corofin, of the class of 1969, rolled back the years as he recalled memories of his time in the school and spoke with great emotion of the wonderful teachers it was his privilege to have and how their ex- ample and advice stood him in such good stead throughout later life.

SEWERAGE Schemes for west Clare has been one of the most hotly contested topics this year and it again became part of the last council meet- ing of the year.

Fine Gael county councillor Oliver Garry asked for a progress report on the systems for the west. Campaign- ers have long argued that the delay in waste water systems for some of the smaller villages in west Clare has hampered development.

Now, the design and economic re-

view reports for the Carrigaholt/La- basheeda scheme has been sent to the Department of the Environment and local government.

An examination of the schemes is to be carried out by the department.

According to Walter Walsh, senior engineer with Clare County Council, “At our last quarterly meeting with the department, the DEHLG’s eng!- neering advisor indicated that he had not yet completed his examination of the submitted documentation.

“As soon as this examination is completed the council would expect

approval of the scheme and also an indication of the funding which the department are prepared to commit to the project.”

The Cooraclare Sewerage Scheme is at the stage where the consultant is about to be appointed to prepare contract documents for the scheme.

““Itis expected that this appointment will take place early in December,” said Mr Walsh.

The Quilty/Mullagh sewerage scheme network contract was signed on November 28. “The appointed contractor intends commencing con-

struction shortly after the Christmas. Works on the overall Quilty/Mullagh Feakle Scariff Sewerage Scheme will commence in Feakle. The DBO (treatment plant) for this scheme had its original closing date extended from November 23, 2007 to Decem- ber 19, 2007 at the request of the contractors.

“A report on tenders will be re- quired from the consultants fol- lowing the receipt of the tenders. This process will take three to four months before a preferred contractor emerges,” he said.

THE top event at Galway Track on Thursday night was race number ten for A2 graded runners and when the traps rose the trap four runner Every Ones Fancy was first to emerge. As expected he went in search of the rail berth but was held off on the run to the bend by the white jacketed Crag- brien Magic who led by a length from Flintstone Man with Guaire Motion a close third along the rail as they entered the back straight.

Down the back the order remained unchanged until Guaire Motion went for a daring run along the rail at the third bend but he was cut off by Cragbrien Magic forcing home to check and lose valuable ground as

the Martin Cronin/Jack Markham of Ennis owned Cragbrien Magic went clear for a three length success in a time of 29.58

The the Hennellys Bar And Off Li- cence A5 525 First Round Heats were also big on the eleven race card.

The concluding heat developed into a match from halfway with the Claire Donoughue owned Larchill Lite staying on tenaciously to keep out the dogged Millymay by a neck in 30.08.

In race number two the first of the night’s contests over the minimum trip saw the John Clune of Ballan- ruan owned Burren Magic (Micks Magic-Cable Sal) open his account at the first time of asking as he de- feated Attykitt Rainbow (T6) by a

length in 18.18.

The Geraldine Ryan of Kilrush owned Ferryside Miss (Droopys Vieri-Cranky Criss) ran out a deter- mined winner of the fourth contest for A4 graders over the standard 525 yard journey as she held of all chal- lengers to record a half length vic- tory over Clonreddan Lark with the fast finishing Bodyshop Direct just a further length adrift in third place in a time of 29.63.

The third contest for S6 graded sprinters was run in an absolute downpour that seemed to commence in tandem with the traps opening. But it failed to stop the Master Colm/ Oran Fitzgerald of Kilrush owned Ler Thisinthat finally record his maiden success as he defeated the

trap one runner Miss The Story by 1&1/2 lengths in 18.57.

The winner a son of Bucks Honcho and Moveen Dream was winning for the first time in ten attempts and he was away in second place as Miss The Story broke in her usual smart style but the winner readily went past at the opening corner and was always in control from that point to the line.

The concluding sprint of the night was named in honour of Mrs Eileen Gallery who was celebrating her eightieth birthday at the stadium with a wide circle of relatives and friends and the S3 graded contest was a cracker. The Michael Purtill owned Tarbrook Henry showed superb pace to the bend into the teeth of a gale as he came clear to defeat Presixty-

three by 2 lengths in 18.03. The son of Larkhill Jo and Tarbrook Kerry was away smartly and led by two lengths racing to the opening corner and once he grabbed the rail berth as he swung out of the back straight the only question was how far as he gal- loped to success.

The bumper was a graded contest over the 525 yard journey and racing down the back Got Derailed led by a length from Woodgift Supreme as the red jacketed Welton Sue began to close along the inside rail. As the rounded the penultimate corner the Eugene McNamara trained Welton Sue slipped through on the rail and the son of Roanokee and Glassford Dawn went clear for a 4é&1/4 length success over Got Derailed in 30.17.

A DEFENDANT asked a judge to hand him a sentence after spending four months in custody for what he claimed was the offence of taking a bottle of wine.

David Mulcaire, 31 St Senan’s Road, Ennis, told Ennis District court “you wouldn’t give it to a dog – the four months I mean, not the wine.”

The accused is in custody having been arrested on a number of counts relating to theft.

Previously, Judge Joseph Mangan had heard testimony from two psy- chiatrists on whether Mulcaire was mentally fit to enter a plea to the charges.

On his appearance in court of Fri- day, he asked the judge to allow him go home for Christmas to look af- ter his father. ““He’s never spent the Christmas on his own,’ Mulcaire told the judge.

The psychiatrists had a direct clash of opinion about whether Mulcaire knew what he was doing when he al- legedly committed the offences.

His own doctor said Mulcaire suf- fered a serious brain trauma in 1999, when he was hit in the head with a concrete block. He said it was his opinion that Mulcaire would not be fit to plead.

The psychiatrist who has been treating Mulcaire for Frontal Lobe Syndrome for two years said his “frontal lobe on the left-hand side of his head is wasted… this causes disturbances in mood, disturbances

in will, disturbances in understand- ing and changes in understanding of societal norms”’.

Another consultant psychiatrist, who interviewed Mulcaire on two occasions, said he felt Mulcaire was fit to plead.

He agreed that Mulcaire had a per-

sonality disorder “but his attention span when I spoke to him was rea- sonable except that he repeatedly be- came distracted by attractive nurses and tried to draw them into conver- renee ae

Judge Mangan told Mulcaire he would remand him to the last sitting

of the court before Christmas and make a decision then as to whether he could be released.

“Well, can you not just give me a sentence now then? I’ve already been in for four months,” Mulcaire said.