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EAST Clare has never been behind when it comes to being generous in a good cause and with Christmas loom- ing large, organisers of the Shoebox Appeal are hoping that people local- ly will come up trumps again.

Every year, thousand of shoeboxes, filled with toys, warm clothes, toilet- ries and sweets, are shipped to chil- dren around the world.

The gaily wrapped boxes are the only Christmas presents these chil- dren see, living as they do in war- torn countries or in third-world areas devastated by famine and disease.

Under the auspices of the Samari- tan’s Purse organisation, Operation Christmas Child – also know as the Shoebox Appeal – brings a bit of cheer into the lives of the children involved.

In east Clare, Joanne Allen is gear- ing up to collect boxes from the gen- erous people in Scariff while a sepa- rate shoebox appeal is under way in Tulla.

Joanne got involved with the appeal after her daughter Rachel started do-

ing it in school.

‘People are very generous when it comes to making up boxes. We have one collection at the school and we are also asking anyone who wants to fill a box to drop it into Bane’s Gift Shop,” said Joanne.

The numbers taking part in the ap- peal has been rising steadily, despite the recession. “We got 150 boxes from the school alone last year which was fantastic,’ she Joanne.

As well as co-ordinating the col- lection of boxes in the Scariff area, Joanne works in the warehouse in Ennis, checking the boxes and pre- paring them for the onward journey.

Asked about criticism which claims that project organisers are plac- ing religious literature in the boxes, Joanne says that this is not the case. “The boxes have to be checked to be sure that the contents are suit- able for the age group and within the guidelines but once that is done, they are sealed and sent off. There is no literature put in them and they are given to children of every religious background. What does happen is that nuns and priests who travel to

where the children are to give them their gifts also give them a leaflet on the story of the first Christmas or some other religious story if it’s ap- propriate. The Samaritan’s Purse is a religious organisation – they make no secret of that. And if I was a child be- ing handed a lovely box all wrapped up, and a sheet of paper at the same time, I know which one Id be inter- ested in.”

Anyone in the Scariff area who would like to make up a box is asked to drop it into Bane’s Gift Shop be- fore Saturday, November 7.

Ennis co-ordinator of the appeal and east Clare man, Louis Duffy, told

LEGENDARY ‘Tulla walker and dancer, Kitty Leyden, is to feature as one of the contestants on this week’s ‘Jig Gig’ programme.

T na G have started another 13 part series of the popular show and Kitty said she was “delighted” to be asked to take part.

“T got the shock of my life when they rang me and said I had been nominated – I thought they were cod- ing me. But they called back and I had to go to Jury’s in Limerick first to dance for them to see would I get through to the next round.”

Kitty made it through the Limer- ick try-outs and was asked to go to Dublin to the RTE studios where the filming would take place.

“T was delighted – I didn’t get any further in the competition than that but I got to take part and I had a love- ly time in Dublin. I always wanted to see RTE and I got to meet all of the newsreaders and the cast of Fair City – | really enjoyed it.”

The episode featuring Kitty danc- ing will be screened this Sunday, November 9

A LEADING expert on the Burren has called on the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley (GP), to consult with the people of the Burren before pushing forward in seeking World Heritage Status for the area.

The Green Party leader yesterday announced a new tentative list of po- tential Irish nominees to the World Heritage List which included the Burren and six other possible loca- tions.

Speaking yesterday, the manager of the BurrenLIFE Project and found- ing member of the BurrenBEO Trust,

Brendan Dunford, said that the local people needed to be consulted to avoid hostility to the project arising because of a lack of information.

“The important thing about this process 1s what happens next – the real challenge will come when they try and push this project forward,” said Mr Dunford.

‘In contrast to Ireland’s two other World Heritage Sites, the Burren is a relatively densely occupied area and this whole thing will require a lot of engagement with the people.

‘“BurrenBEO did a survey last year on this subject and it revealed that most people didn’t know much about

the World Heritage status. There was curiosity but not necessarily hostil- ity and most people wanted to know nee) Ree

Speaking at yesterday’s announce- ment, Mr Gormley said that the “World Heritage List has evolved considerably since its inception and it is now much more difficult to meet the UNESCO requirements for in- scription.”

Yesterday news was welcomed by the Mayor of Clare, Tony Mulcahy (FG), who said it could be a real tourist draw for the county.

“By securing World Heritage Site Status, the Burren would benefit from

a wider international profile and, as a result, would experience an increase in visitor numbers,” he said.

‘Furthermore, such status would ensure the conservation of the fragile landscape and its habitats for future generations.”

The Department of the Environ- ment, Heritage and Local Govern- ment is inviting comments on the draft new tentative list to be made to it’s office before the end of the year.

IT HAS been confirmed that US- based firm, Emerson Electric, is to buy out Avocent, which employs more than 100 people at its base in Shannon.

But it is understood that the $1.2 billion deal to buy the company is unlikely to harbour any major chang- es at the Shannon concern.

Under the deal, Emerson 1s paying €25 per share, a premium of 22 per cent over the price which was quoted for shares a few days before the deal

was agreed.

It is understood that the deal will be completed by the New Year.

There was no-one available today to comment on the Emerson buy-out but it is understood that employees were aware that the deal is going through.

The parent company, Avocent In- ternational, announced a restructur- ing programme in July of last year which involved the loss of 57 jobs at the Shannon operation as well as another seven in Dublin. The cuts affected research and development,

marketing and technical support functions as well as the transfer of its Asia operations from Shannon to its newly established operations in Sin- gapore.

The functions of Avocent’s Dublin office were also transferred to the US, resulting in seven redundancies.

Shannon remained the company’s support centre for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

There was good news on the con- struction business front in Clare this week as a Clare company landed a €2 million contract. The Limerick Mar-

ket Trustees yesterday announced the appointment of Clare-based L&M Keating Ltd as the main contractor for the development project at Lim- erick’s Milk Market. This is a sig- nificant coup for the Kilmihil-based firm, with demand for construction work currently at an all-time low and intense competition for the limited work that is available.

L&M Keating Ltd won out over a to- tal of eight building contractors who submitted tenders for the project.

‘Key factors which led to Keatings’ success include their superb track

record in the building trade, expertise with heritage projects and the value for money they offered,’ said David O’Mahony, Chairman, Limerick Market Trustees Ltd.

Other projects completed by L&M Keating Ltd include the construction of the Doonbeg Hotel and Golf Club and restoration of the 18th-century Clifden House in Corofin.

Commenting on the appointment, Louis Keating, Managing Director, L&M Keating said they are “delight- ed to win such a high-profile project, especially in the current economic

THREE MEN from west Clare will travel to South Africa later this week, where they will help to build new houses for families living on the breadline.

Kevin Burke and Pat McMahon from Cooraclare and Kevin Whelan from Kilkee will join dozens of other volunteers from across the country in the Niall Mellon Township Trust Building Blitz. A total of 1,000 volun- teers will complete 100 new houses in Cape Town, which will replace shacks that the families currently occupy.

Mr Burke and Mr McMahon trav- elled with the Niall Mellon team

last year and were so moved by what they experienced that they both de- cided to undertake the trip again this year. Each of the three men had to raise €5,000 for the trip and they are indebted to the people of west Clare who generously helped them out.

Mr Burke, who currently lives in Killimer, is a part-time farmer and also drives machinery for Clare County Council. He explained how he got involved in this project.

“T was talking to a friend in Feakle and he said his brother was going. I said I’d like to do that some time. That was last year. We were accepted. We went last year and we said we would like to give it another shot,’ he said.

The group spent almost two weeks building houses, in intense heat, but they were pleased to be able to give something to those less well off than WNIT Aone

“It was a complete eye-opener. It was unreal. The living conditions were unreal. You would be crying coming out of it, but it was a great experience and well worth it. I can’t wait to go again,” he said.

Pat McMahon also said the experi- ence was amazing last year. “It was unreal. Those people are living in a totally different world to what we are living in. Most people haven’t got a clue what the recession is here com- pared to what they have out there. A

lot of them have no education,’ he said.

“When everyone is out there to- gether, it is easy to do the work, es- pecially knowing that the families are going to get proper homes out of it,’ said Mr McMahon, who is a wind turbine installation technician.

He paid tribute to those who helped him to raise the funds to take part in the challenge.

‘People have been very good, espe- cially with the recession. They came in their droves with money,’ he said.

The three men organised various fundraisers including a head shave, table quiz, bag pack and céili. All of the events were very well supported.

CHRISTMAS | shoppers will be making their way to Kinvara this December for the annual Christmas Fair, organised by the local farmers market.

After celebrating their first full year in operation last Friday, the Kinvara Farmers Market Committee announced details of their upcoming Christmas Fair which will take place on December 5 and 6 in the Kinvara SroysveleviA monies

The Christmas Fair will be very different from the weekly farmers market, with a much greater focus on crafts for Christmas presents rather than the usual supply of local fresh food.

“This event isn’t really a farmers market as such. There is a much big- ger emphasis on crafts. The farm- ers markets can only have a small amount of crafts where as the main focus of this event will be on the

crafts side of things,” said Rosaleen Tanham, secretary of the Kinvara Farmers Market.

“We are still confirming the stall- holders but already it looks like we will have lots of different crafts on Show and, as with the farmers mar- ket, as much as possible will be sourced from local producers.

“There will be a great atmosphere on the day, with lots of things for children to do and a great festival at- mosphere.”

The Kinvara Farmers Market has gone from strength to strength this year. So much so that they have al- ready confirmed their start date for 2010, with the first market due to take place on Friday, April 2.

“It’s been a fantastic first year. We were very lucky with the weather all summer long and always seemed to have a lovely sunny Friday for the market. The whole market was very well supported by the local people and it very much became a social

occasion for the local people. People come along and have a cup of coffee or tea, listen to the music and then have a look around at what is on offer to buy,” continued Rosaleen.

“At the height of the summer, we had about 25 stall-holders and it was very much a farmers market. What I mean by this is that the vast majority of what was on sale was food which

was produced in a 35-mile radius of the market. We did have a small amount of crafts and a few bits and pieces which we could not source locally but the majority of it was lo- cally-produced foods.

“The whole committee has worked so hard all year and we are all very pleased at how things have gone so ie

MIDFIELD on the stand side of Cusack Park and Fiach O’ Loughlin is locked in an embrace and goes on and on. It’s longer than the couple of minutes injury-time allowed by Rory Hickey at the end of this All Souls Day county final.

Given the day that was in it, he was surely thanking some higher power from the hurling heavens. Whatever, the streams were stream- ing now as the realisation at what Cratloe had achieved shine through the rain clouds.

“Tm stuck for words,’ he says after a few minutes. “I can’t really talk, give me a few more minutes”.

Meanwhile, Barry Duggan’s words flow as he addresses the Grecia elem ntl eCOeMOKeyeoMe)OmmONEAMBNOMENAL™ Ard Comhairle. “There’s a man who came in when we were down,” says Duggan. “He’s played for and captained Ireland, he’s captained Shannon to an All-Ireland League title and he picked us up after being beaten by Newmarket and made us believe what we could do. It’s Fiach O’Loughlin and I salute him.”

It’s the perfect cue for O’ Loughlin to explain his role in this romantic hurling story. The 125th year of the GAA’s founding. The 125th year to the day, to the afternoon. Cratloe. First time champions in their first ever senior hurling final.

“Belief,” he says. “It’s all about be- lief. That’s what this team is about. We had great faith in our guys all season and knew that we could win this title. It came down to belief at half-time. In the dressing room we said to the lads, ‘we believe in ye, we know ye believe in yourselves and it’s a matter of going out and winning it’.

‘They showed the belief they have as a team out there. The one thing I’ve said to the guys, whether it’s at half-time in games, the start of games, or 1n training 1s just “believe in yourselves because you are win- ners’. Anything we asked of them they did. They’re amateurs but they did it like a group of professional athletes. That’s the commitment they gave to the cause this year.

“We were never going to give up, whether we were one, two, three, four points down or whatever. The belief was there in the team that we knew we’d come good and win this championship. Never say die, that’s what did it for Cratloe today. We never said die and that’s why we got there in the end.”

At once you know this means as much as anything O’Loughlin has achieved on the rugby field.

And, why not. He’s Cratloe after all and this was with his own. The parish. The pump. The very rocks on which the GAA was built 125 years ago.

BEAMING and panting, Sean Chap- lin is coming to terms with the hour he has just logged and the trophy he has helped secure for Cratloe’s al- ready crowded cabinet.

‘This is beyond my wildest dreams,” he says. “As a young lad myself and the lads would go down and watch the Cratloe seniors. We were about ten or 12 and we would follow those guys every season. To us they were the next big thing when they won the intermediate and things died down for a while after that but it’s great to bring success to the club again.

“We had had so many years of los- ing but when you get that winning feeling it’s very hard to stop it be- cause that feeling 1s unreal.”

Sunday was the club’s 13th game in 14 weeks and the winning percent- age from that butcher’s dozen — in both codes — has been phenomenal.

“We have massive momentum in

this club. We had the football to build on and I’ve heard that some people have said football should be banned in Cratloe. I don’t believe that.

“We’re mad for football, we’re mad for hurling. These fellas are mad for action. I don’t care if we’re playing every week from here until Christ- mas. That’s what we want. We want to play and we want to train. That’s what we get the buzz from. That’s our life.”

From beginning to end, Chaplin was at the core of Cratloe’s win but for the midfielder, the final score of the game proved the sweetest mo- ment.

“The end was unbelievable, it was just a great way to win a county final and I didn’t know how long was left. It seemed like a fast second-half. I thought there would be more left in it because even after the goal it was backs to the wall time for us.

‘When the ball hit the net I was still cautious though because Clonlara

have some fantastic players and they had the ability to come back down and get another goal.”

A familiar refrain surrounded Cratloe both before and during the game.

“We had to work and work and be disciplined. That was the target we set. At half-time we said we had to be patient as well, that the breaks would come and that’s exactly what hap- pened. We were getting tired towards the end of the first-half because there was a lot of hard hitting but we kept going, we wouldn’t back down.

“Inside in the dressing room there were no mad speeches. We just de- cided we would stick with what had got us this far, stick with it. We knew were fit and we believed in ourselves. That counts for something.”

THE victim of an assault has told a court that he was attacked with wheel braces, while he exercised at an Ennis leisure centre.

Anthony McDonagh told Ennis Circuit Court that he was training in the gym at Ennis leisure centre on the evening of July 3 last year.

He was preparing to finish up and go for a shower when he said that the door was pushed in and a number of

men arrived at the gym.

One man was holding a machete, which, he said, was swung at him. “I put up my arms. I got a wheel brace to the side of the head. I fell to the ground,” he told the court.

He said he was also cut with a knife and was struck to the face and body. “IT was ducking the machete and I just got attacked by wheel braces and stuff,” he told the jury.

Asked by counsel for the state, Stephen Coughlan, BL, what the ac-

cused did to him, he replied, “I’m not 100 per cent sure what he did. It happened so fast. He was with them.”

The court was told that Anthony McDonagh sustained head and wrist injuries and cuts to his left arm.

Under cross-examination by de- fence counsel Pat Whyms, the wit- ness said he is currently in prison. He admitted that he had carried out a revenge attack for the incident in the gym.

“What did you do?” asked Mr Whyms. Mr McDonagh replied, “I went to a barber’s and attacked him (a man other than the accused) with an axe.”

Details of the garda interview with the accused were read to the jury. He admitted going to the gym and said he went there to train.

“One of the lads handed me some- thing. I didn’t use it. It was a Stanley knife. There was a blade sticking out of the end,” he said.

Asked by gardai why he had a knife in a gym, he replied, “I don’t know. A fella gave it to me.” Asked why it was open, he said, “I don’t know.”

He told gardai that he threw away the knife after leaving the leisure centre.

Mr Whyms put it to one of the in- vestigating gardai, Mike Kelly, that his client “at all times manages to position himself away from the ac- tion.” Gda Kelly replied, “For most of it.”

IT’S as if Barry Duggan didn’t want to leave the field. Long after the ball- game was over he was still out there, Canon Hamilton in one hand, the other working overtime as he shook all comers’ hands. Centre stage after all these years. Young and old sought captain and cup out — wanting to touch the cup, and see it up close. Duggan was hap- py to oblige, the sponge for everyone for those few minutes as he stood there in his own elevated world. Taking it all in. Living it. Nirvana. “County champions,” he says. “It’s brilliant, isn’t it? It’s unbelievable. To think we’ve won a senior champion- ship and the way we won it makes it even more unbelievable. When we went a point down with a couple of minutes to go the heads were down. It looked as if we might have missed our chance.

“But there’s something in this team this year. Going a point down brought us back to the Broadford game when we were a point with a minute to go. We got back to draw that day and today we said to ourselves that there was nothing more going past and we ll get a chance down the other end. We believed that. That’s what happened.”

Belief that manifested itself for a number of reasons, admits the in- spirational captain. Mike O’Gorman and John Gleeson telling them all year about he work they clocked up; Mike Deegan’s unfettered belief in their ability to deliver; the profes- sionalism from the world of rugby that Fiach O’ Loughlin brought to the eles

“Coming together 112 times speaks for itself,’ he says. “It shows we worked savagely hard all year — run- ning in Cratloe Woods in the hail, sleet and rain. That was back in Janu-

ary and back then we didn’t believe we’d be here in November, but once we reached the semi-final we said we were ready for anything that would be thrown at us.

“Tt was one big roll. We never had time to think about the next game that was coming up. One game was over and another game came on top of us. We just kept on thinking about the next game when it came along. Like Clonlara last year we didn’t have time to think about the hype of being in a county final. It was just a matter of going out there and treating it as another game. We did that after getting over a Slow and nervous start WOCO MO ODM OOo Kon ED Ln

Canon Hamilton was beaming up at him. Telling him he was thirsty. The dressing room was calling were the champagne was already uncorked.