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TWO Clare men are to brave the rugged terrain and sweltering heat of Cuba to take part in a gruelling six- day fundraising cycle in aid of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.

John Stack from Lisdoonvarna and Ennistymon man Matthew Grilf- fin will arrive in the country on November 6 to take part in the mam- moth challenge.

“I do a lot of charity stuff. I heard about this about three months ago, looked it up and it seemed like a good thing to do.

“IT have done fundraising work for cancer and the Irish Heart Founda-

tion but I haven’t done anything for the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind,” said Mr Stack.

“We are going to Cuba on the November 6 and will be cycling for six full days out there. Matthew is going out as well but there will a group from all over the country.

“I do a lot of cycling myself but it’s mostly all charity stuff. In the past I have taken part in the Clare 250, the Wicklow 200, Inishowen Peninsula Cycle, Tour of Lough Corrib, the Tour of the Burren and the Ring of Kerry, so I am well used to the challenge.”

Last summer John was part of a eroup of cyclists from north Clare

who took on the most famous climb of them all, the Alpe d’Huez.

“It really was very challenging, the temperatures were totally unreal. When we started in the morning it was 29 degrees and before we be- gan to climb Alpe d’Huez it was 36 Olfeaneteny

“It was very hot but there was three massive climbs to tackle as well. It is the exact same stage that the rid- ers on the Tour de France did a week later,’ Mr Stack added.

“We are hoping to get a bit of a different type of challenge out in Cuba. That is one of the reasons for going, to get the change of scenery and to see what the terrain is like out

there as well.” Following the success of a charity poker challenge in Lynch’s Hotel last Saturday, John has organised another fundraising event for Doolin later this month.

“We have organised a 45-card drive game in McDermotts in Doolin for October 24. That’s starting at nine and people are welcome to come along to that,” he said.

“Otherwise, if people want to donate money to Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, they can contact me directly on my mobile number, 086 2552709, or they can post anything to John Stack, Lisdoonvarna. Any donations made would be very wel- come indeed.”

can reveal as part of a Spe- cial Investigation into gay issues in the county.

According to the first nationwide survey ever conducted into gay men in Ireland, as many as 3,000 Clare men have left the county and settled in bigger centres of population.

Clare men numbered less than half a percent (0.467) of the total respond-

ents to the online survey while, according to the most recent census fig- ures, Clare people make up almost three percent (2.75) of the total popu- FE TaTone

Responses to the sur- vey, Which was conducted by Sigma Research and part funded by the English Department of Health and Welsh Assembly, were drawn from the users of a number of Irish gay NOLO Moy. QTV OCsre DUNN MA ULol ONS [Kote

These figures suggest that more

than 50 per cent of GE ccecm on OOO ack: tomethy population may have left the county. “Many gay people have moved away from Clare – to Dublin, Cork and Galway – so that they can live more openly some- where else. This leaves the remain- ing gay population in Clare largely invisible,” said Franciscan Brother Cathal, who runs the GIFT support group for gay men in women in En- he

Reports of homophobic violence have also become more common in the county.

‘The violence that is in this town is unbelievable, the violence that is in Ennis and in County Clare. Physical violence towards gay people, I have experienced it. My partner, who I have been in a committed relation- ship with for 10 years, he has expert- enced it. He was nearly killed in this town,’ said Alan*, a gay man, born in west Clare who now lives in En- ahs

THE Keep Clare Clean Environ- mental Project is currently being run by Golden Vale Clare Commu- nity Games in association with Clare County Council and Shannon Devel- opment. The purpose of the competi- tion this year is to create awareness about the impor- tance of keeping our community clean and _ free from all types of Tit me CC OE hae) entries will take place later in No- vember. At present, 97 schools in vari- ous communities throughout Clare are registered for the Green Schools programme. 42 of these schools hav- ing been awarded the __— prestigious PaO N MEIER a lee mee number of schools involved since the start of the programme 10 years ago. Joan Tarmey, Environmental Awareness Officer commented, “I am delighted that Clare Community Games is SO proactive in encourag- ing good citizenship to bring about a cleaner and greener County Clare. “It 1s wonderful to see the young people making their parents and

community more aware of environ- mental issues. This bodes well for Wee RUIRUT Koa

Pat Daly added, “Shannon Develop- ment is very pleased to be associated with such a worthwhile project and we wish all the participants the very best of luck in the competition.”

The competition will be run with

three categories – poster, poem, slogan.

Each category will be run at under six, under eight, under 10, under 12 and under 14 age groups, with a special category for children with Special Needs. Siva lebKoismpeeleniam eye under group age on July 31, 2008. One competitor in each age group in each category from your area will go forward to the county compe-

tition.

All entries for the competition should be returned to Mrs May Phe- lan, Shannon Road, Sixmilebridge.

The closing date for the competi- tion is Friday, November 16.

Further details can be obtained from Mary Phelan at 061 369628 or your local Community Games Com- POD LA Rorer

CLARE matchmaker Willie Daly and Matchmaking Festival organ- iser Marcus White are to travel to south-east Asia to share their match- making expertise with the people of Singapore.

The pair have been invited to address a conference next month organised by that country’s ministry of community development, youth and sports on November 2 and 3.

The Matchmakers’ Trade Seminar, which is the first meeting of its kind ever organised, will feature keynote speakers from Japan, Korea and Chi- na as well as the Lisdoonvarna pair.

“The Singapore chamber of com- merce is paying for them to come out and speak. They have witnessed the success of the festival here and have seen how it brings in €3.6 mil- hon for Lisdoonvarna,” said festival organiser Mark Flanaghan.

“It’s a double-edged sword really. They have invited us over because they want to start their own festivals in Asia.

“At the same time, we want to forge connections in that region so we can increase the number of people visit- ing Lisdoonvarna. We want them to bring a plane-load of people here for next year’s festival.”

Thousands of people _ visited

Lisdoonvarna over the past six weeks in one of the best-attended festivals in years. “This year was different from the last few years. We started to get a more middle-aged crowd back, people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. I think that the television advertis- ing had a lot to do with that,” added Flanaghan.

“We have six weeks of a festival here, with dancing going from first thing in the morning to the last thing at night. There is no place in the world with that going on.

“The daytime dancing was really great this year. It’s not Lisdoonvarna, it’s the whole catchment area. People take trips to Fanore, out to Doolin,

all around the place. We get all kinds of people.

“We get people who would just come for the dancing and would have no interest in the matchmaking and we would get other people who would not have a dance through the whole festival.

“It is a great benefit for the area – there is really nothing like it.”

This year’s festival ended last weekend with the Mr Lisdoonvarna and the Queen of the Burren com- petitions. The coveted Queen of the Burren title was won by local woman Roisin Crowe, while Michael Hugh- es from Limerick city won the Mr Lisdoonvarna contest.

THE threatened stoppage which would have grounded all Aer Lingus flights from today has been averted after marathon talks in the Labour Relations Commission.

The pilots had threatened to down tools in a row over pay and condi- tions for staff at the airline’s new bases in Belfast.

The agreement, reached early yes- terday, still has to be voted on but union bosses have said they will be recommending the deal.

The package also provides a frame- work for the opening of future bases on local terms and conditions, ac- cording to Aer Lingus.

The deal was reached after more than 20 hours of continuous negotia- tions at the LRC.

The two sides have reached an agreement on pension conditions and promotions based on seniority for pi- lots at the Belfast hub.

Had the 48 hour action gone ahead, passengers bound for and return- ing from to New York and Chicago would have been stranded.

As he left the talks, Labour Rela- tions Commission Chairman Kieran Mulvey said it was up to both sides to consider the proposals.

Aer Lingus Chief Executive Der- mot Mannion said he was delighted with the outcome of the talks, par-

ticularly for passengers.

Michael Landers, Assistant Gen- eral Secretary of IMPACT, said on balance it was a deal which could be recommended to its members.

Meanwhile, Ryanair has comment- ed on the European Commission’s confirmation that it has properly re- jected Aer Lingus’ request to force Ryanair to sell its stake in Aer Lin- gus on the basis that Ryanair has no influence or control in Aer Lingus.

“Given that Aer Lingus has twice rejected Ryanair’s request for an EGM, it is impossible for Aer Lingus to claim that Ryanair have any influ- ence or control over them. We pre- sume this initiative was designed to cover Aer Lingus’ embarrassment at a current share price of €2.35, which is 20 per cent less than Ryanair’s of- fer of €2.80 almost one year ago” the airline said in a statement.

The statement continued “sadly, Aer Lingus passengers continue to suffer higher fares and increased fuel surcharges as a result of the EU Commission’s prohibition of Rya- nair’s offer for Aer Lingus, which guaranteed to deliver those passen- gers lower fares and to remove fuel surcharges.”

THE percentage of people speaking Irish in Shannon has dropped, ac- cording to Census figures.

Figures revealed during the Census of Population, which was undertaken last year, reveal that 41.8 per cent of people in Shannon can speak Irish.

This compares with 44.5 per cent, When the previous Census figures which were compiled in 2002. Na- tionally, 41.9 per cent of people can speak Irish.

The figure in Shannon is lower than that in Ennis (47.5 per cent) and Kil- rush (42.9 per cent). Overall, 48.8 per cent of the population of Clare can speak Irish.

The figures show that 3,580 people

in Shannon, over the age of three, have some knowledge of Irish, 1,684 of them were male, with the remain- ing 1,896 female.

There were 4,991 non-Irish speak- ers in Shannon, while 228 did not state if they spoke Irish.

Four years earlier, 3,539 people spoke Irish, while 4,418 declared them as non-Irish speakers.

Residents filling out Census forms were also asked to state whether they were frequent Irish speakers. 1,033 people said they spoke Irish daily, within the education system, while 47 said they also spoke it outside the education system. For those who were not in the education system, 65 said they spoke our native tongue Neto) AYA

182 said they spoke it weekly, while 1,242 said they spoke Irish less often than weekly.

One national statistic was also re- flected in Shannon, in that more fe- males than males used Irish. 44 per cent of females in Shannon spoke Irish, while 38.9 per cent of males were able to speak cupla focal.

In 2002, 47.3 per cent of females and 41.8 per cent of males, had the ability to speak Irish.

Overall, 1.6 million people in Ire- land said they could speak Irish, in mau eToys

The chairman of Club na Sionna, Sean O Nuanain said he was happy to hear that so many people can speak Irish.

“I would be delighted to hear that

SO many people can speak Irish. The figures are encouraging,’ he said.

He said the Irish is widely used among a number of groups in Shan- non, particularly Duchas na Sionna and its sub-groups, whose work is bilingual.

These include Conradh na Gaeilge, Glor na Gael, Shannon Wetlands Group and wildlife and historical groups.

“We work together in Duchas na Sionna to further the aims of the dif- ferent groupings,” he said.

One seanfhocal to be remembered in the use of Irish, he said, is “Fao1 Scath a Cheile a Mhaireann na Dao- ine (We live in the shadow of each Other/We get strength from each 0) ds 0

is the title of the DVD which features a magical night of mu- sic by Mickaleen Conlon and friends, which was recorded in Greene’s pub, Ballyvaughan, on August 17, 1994.

The 13-year gap between that famous session and the release of the recording will be bridged on Octo- ber 26 when The Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna hosts the launch of the

DVD, which also features some of the great names of traditional music.

Mickaleen Conlon was born in Poulnagun , three miles outside Lis- doonvarna, and lived all his life in an area that had a rich tradition of mu- sic, particularly “box’ music.

He learned the concertina from his father at a young age and was to car- ry his distinctive ‘hob’ style of play- ing with him all though his life. He later learned to play the accordion, at which he became equally adept.

The country house dances provided the setting for Mickaleen’s music in his youth and, in later years, he played in the pubs of north Clare,

especially the Roadside ‘Tavern, Where he enjoyed music for more than 50 years.

Apart from the rich musical tradi- tion which he represented, Micka- leen was also a great storyteller and humourist who is fondly remembered as a gentle and colourful character.

Indeed, one of the musicians who featured in that memorable session in August 1994, Sean Tyrrell, recalls Mickaleen’s legacy in the sleeve notes to the DVD in which he credits the Poulnagun maestro with teaching him the “art of magic in music”.

“T owe him a huge debt of gratitude for all the wondrous nights of music

we played together and shared with another musician, Shane Holden, who, like Mickaleen, is no longer with us. Shane helped me forge the style I have in song. No matter what rhythmic ramble I took, he was always there beside me, right on the beat. They were both masters of the rhythm, the bedrock of music’, ‘Tyr- rell said.

The DVD, which was produced by Dark Horse Films, also features the music of Vincent Browne (gul- tar), Gabriel Casey (whistle), Shane Holden (guitar), Liam Lewis (fiddle) as well as Tyrrell on vocals, mando- cello and banjo.

IT WAS justified. It was relentless. And most of all, for Lissycasey, it was historic.

The game itself wasn’t a pretty thing to watch, but with the cloak of success falling over them for the first time, that won’t matter to the new champions.

Perhaps the familiarity bred the dour nature of the game or maybe Lissycasey just got it right on the day. This was the third champion- ship meeting between the two in only twelve months and it was clear who had learned more in that time and who hungered more over the past year.

From the start, Lissycasey were

like lions targeting a gazelle. They sped out of the dressing rooms with- out a care for the usual pre-match sit down and smile for the camera. And coming back out after the half-time breather, their substitutes lined the entrance and roared their 15 back onto the field.

It was a frenzied approach and they compressed the life out of their op- ponents, pythonesque.

Throughout the field, the focus re- mained constant. With a couple of minutes left, Martin Daly turned to the umpire and asked how long till the final whistle. Daly believed there was still a quarter of an hour to ride out and couldn’t understand the game was nearly over. That was the sort of concentration and application

Wd eLoavaer-KOn

“Last year was a massive motiva- tion,’ said Declan Conway from a perch underneath the stand. “The pain we felt standing here last year, looking up at Alan [Malone] lifting the cup. That hurt us. It’s been on our minds ever since. But these boys stuck with it. They gave it everything, had the belief and got their reward.”

For those who gave the breakaway club life back in the early ‘60s, this was a day to savour. A day they de- To Mio1em

Men and women had _ travelled home from far afield to watch this one, undeterred by the county final of 2006. They’ll go back to their new lands later in the week happy with the knowledge that the club is

in good hands. Progressive and ready to be fed by the new breed of young- sters who fill the homes on their side of the parish.

Just after he held the Jack Daly cup over his head, the first Lissycasey clubman to do so, James Kelly said this band of footballers were no long- er the whipping boys of Clare.

To be fair, they never were, but Sunday’s win puts them among the county’s elite and now, they’ve a de- cent chance of scalping Kerry side Kilcummin in the Munster champi- onship at a Clare venue on November oF

AS THE development of a school playing pitch comes to a conclusion, the people of Quin are being asked to dig deep and help fund the project.

Local primary school, Scoil na Mainistreach, is currently raising €200,000 for the extension of the school and the purchase and devel- opment of a school field.

The field has been acquired, adja- cent to the school, and the work has been completed. Half of the funds have been raised. In an effort to drive

the fundraising effort, the board of management is appealing for finan- EVE SR eUIeron

The parents of all 174 students at the school have been asked to pay €50 per month, for three years, to- wards the project. Further funds will also be required.

Pat O’Brien, who is a parents coun- cil representative on the Board of Management, said the support of the local community is imperative.

“We did not receive any grant for this project and have been fundrais- ing. We are hoping to hold *Who

wants to be a thousandaire’ in Janu- ary, said Mr O’Brien.

He said that while the field is owned by the Diocese of Killaloe, it will be available to the entire community.

“It should be a great benefit to the community. The community will be able to use it, with permission from the Board of Management,” he said.

Previously, there was no pitch avail- able to the school and local parents are delighted with the development, which will benefit their children.

Mr O’Brien believes that the addi- tion of two local sporting heroes, to

the school staff, should augur well for sport in the area, in the future. ‘Along with experienced sports co- ordinator Eleanor Gallagher, Fergal Lynch and Sile Daffy, both from Clooney, are teaching at the school. All three are of major benefit to the school. It 1s important that the chil- dren are playing sport,’ he said.

THE gloves have come off and it’s starting to get personal. The ICMSA launched an incredible attack on Teagasc last week, describing their plans for a massive increase in the milk quotas as ‘half-baked and glo- rified pub talk’.

ICMSA president, Jackie Cahill, bashed Teagasc’s call for a massive expansion in milk quota and called on the organisation to weigh up the different quota options open to Ire- land and make a recommendation based on the best interests of Irish dairy farmers and the dairy sector

which those farmers underpin.

“This is unfortunately typical of the kind of half-baked theorising that Teagasc has lately chosen to describe as ‘research’ and which always seems to obscure a question rather than throwing some light on it,” said Cahill.

‘Proper research 1s needed and this is precisely what we’re not getting. Today’s statement might be charita- bly described as useless and could more accurately be described as con- fused nonsense.

“Dairy farmers will be veering be- tween amusement and bewilderment as they try and work out how a three

per cent increase in milk quota would depress milk prices and lead to an overall loss to dairy farmers while a 20 per cent increase in quota would leave many farmers better off.

“Can Teagasc tell us how many farmers and how much better off they’d be? What we’re seeing here — yet again — 1s Teagasc’s inability to give direct answers to relatively straightforward questions. [If it’ll help them, Ill happily set out here the questions to which dairy farmers need a direct answer from Teagasc.

“What will be the impact of milk price for every one per cent increase in quota, what will be the likely

price in Ireland for every one per cent reduction in the tariff protec- tion in WTO and what will be the likely price of milk if there was no quota?”

Last week Teagasc had called for a large expansion of the EU milk quo- ta, which they claimed would benefit the Irish dairy sector in advance of milk quota abolition, but may not suit all dairy farmers.

Teagasc economist, Trevor Don- nellan, said that if a large quota increase was agreed as part of the upcoming CAP Health Check, few other EU Member States would have the potential to increase production