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FAI chief executive John Delaney laid out the vision for underage soc- cer in Clare saying such programmes would a true reflection of the work carried out by the FAI. In his first visit as FAI supremo to Ennis Dela- ney officially kick started the proc- ess that will eventually see a full time County Development Officer appointed to Clare.

The officer will co-ordinate the development of soccer at grassroots level by working closely with clubs, schools, Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council.

Addressing league officials, play- ers, politicians and coaches Dela- ney outlined the vast level of work carried out by the sport’s govern- ing body. In total the FAI caters for 450,000 people a week. The number of coaches now stands at 17,500. By the end of 2007 it is anticipated that a 100 technical staff will bee in situ at the FAI’s new centre of excellence in Abbotstown.

He hailed the work being done by local volunteers as “extraordi-

nary’ and also heaped praise on the achievements of Clare’s Oscar Traynor team.

Speaking after wards Delaney ex- plained how the County Develop- ment Officer would lead to more fo- cused player development.

He said, “That individual will work with the club, the kids, schools devel- oping a mass participation level. The best players will come through at the top. Their role is very much based on getting participation and tackling anti-social issues like obesity, alco- hol abuse/ drug usage, getting girls active in the game. By doing that, the better players will come through always, but soccer in this country is not about the elite level, it’s about participation for everybody who lives TbO MO etemexelbbeL nm aes

Delaney has strong Clare connec- tions. His wife Emer is from Ennis. He counts Clare’s unforgettable All- Ireland win in 1995 as among his fa- vorite sporting moments.

“My wife is from Ennis. Her father was Paddy O’Dea, I think he played football for Clare. Her first cousins were Seamus and Colm Clancy who

won that famous game in 1992 when they won that Munster football final. Her aunty Kitty played in the Kil- fenora Ceili band. My father’s moth- er was a Darcy from Ennis. I used to spend two or three months of my summers in Kilkee. Every summer we’d go to Kilkee for maybe 16 or 17 years of my life. Probably one of my most memorable days outside of soccer would have been 1995 when Clare won the All-Ireland. I was there with Emer, her brothers and her mother and Dad. That was a fantas- tic day. In terms of a sporting occa- sion, to see Clare win an All-Ireland, I don’t think they’d won one since 1914. They’d won the Munster final in 1932 but got beaten by Kilkenny. I think when they won in 1914 Michael O’Hehir’s father was the manager”.

On qualification for the Euro- pean Championships the former St Michaels clubman was cautiously optimistic. He believes the public must be patient.

“You must remember we were a fourth seed going into the group so that means you should finish fourth de facto. That’s not what we are aim-

ing to do. I think everybody should realize we are in transition from where we were. Some of the older players have retired since 2002. I’m very much encouraged by, like I think everybody in the country is, by young Hunt, he scored again for Reading today, Shane Long, Paul McShane, Kevin Doyle, young Darren Gibson who is at Manchester United and on loan at Antwerp, Terry Dixon at Spurs, Billy Clarke from Cork who’s with Ipswich, young McCarthy who’s with Hamilton his grandfather was from Donegal. I think there are a lot of very good players coming through. I think patience is required as we bring those players through. The omens are good”’.

TWO shotguns, jewellery and a variety of electrical items which were stolen in a bur- glary in Ballyvaughan 16 months ago have been recovered, abandoned on land.

The discovery by gardai was made close to Ballyvaughan, on Saturday morning.

According to gardai, the guns were found in the same state they were taken, from a home in Ballyvaughan in December 2005.

The other items recovered were two televi- sions, radios, a computer, printer, scanner, flatscreen monitor and a significant array of jewellery, which is of sentimental value.

A substantial sum of cash, which was also taken in the burglary, has not been recov- Ksrn

The discovery was made a short distance from the house which was burgled.

Gardai believe the items have been ex- posed to the weather for several months.

Ennistymon Superintendent Noel Clarke said the items will be technically exam- ined.

“The find was made as a result of Garda investigations. They will be examined.

“Most of the items are of limited value, because they have been left out on the land,” said Supt Clarke.

DOONBEG was again the venue for the launch of the premier golfing tournament for businesses in Clare. Ennis Chamber of Commerce and sponsors Sherry Fitzgerald McMa- hon were in Doonbeg Golf Club last week to finalise details of the Golf Classic, which takes place at the prestigious club April 26 and 27. This is the premier social event for Ennis Chamber with over 200 golfers participating from the business com- munity in Clare. It is expected that colleagues and clients from around the country will also be attracted to

this opportunity to play at one of the world’s top links courses.

Launching the event in Doonbeg Golf Club were Dermot McMahon and Diarmuid McMahon of Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon along with En- nis Chamber President John Mad- CF

Commenting on the occasion Mr Madden said, “Ennis Chamber is delighted to be back in Doonbeg for the second year running for our An- nual Golf Classic. We have received tremendous support and valued input from our sponsors Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon in order to ensure a suc- cessful event. Furthermore, this 1s

the ultimate links experience for all golfers and promises to be a hugely enjoyable event at a top quality resort – not to be missed!”

This year, Ennis Chamber has in- troduced a spa package for partners of golfers or for anyone who is not a golfer but would like to avail of the five-star treatment and comforts Doonbeg Golf Club, Lodge and Spa has to offer. All participants will enjoy a three course meal as part of their day, prepared by award-win- ning chefs. There is also an accom- modation package available for those who wish to savor the delights of the Doonbeg resort a little longer.

Teams of four will play for a range of executive prizes with the annouce- ment ceremony taking place at 9pm on Friday, April 27 in Doonbeg club- house.

Tee times are available late morn- ing as well as mid afternoon on both days. Teams of Four are €700; with individual players at €175 are wel- comed to be teamed up. Individu- als can avail of the spa package for €125.

Brochures and booking cards are available from Margaret Neylon, En- nis Chamber, 54 O’Connell Street, Ennis, 065 684 2988. Book early to secure your preferred tee time.

ALL-IRELAND glory came to Clare handball on the double on Saturday as Clare handball played the genera- tion game to stunning effect in Moy- cullen on Saturday evening last.

In the winners enclosure were O’Callaghan’s Mills doubles pair Conor and John Cooney while vet- eran John Kirby of the most famous handball clan of them all added an- other title to his name.

The Cooneys claimed the Under 21 Doubles titles with a hard-earned victory over Mayo’s Dara Reid and Ciaran Burke while Kirby’s latest hour of glory came in the Diamond Masters A Singles.

The doubles final went to a tie- breaking third game, after the open- ing two games were shared. The Cooneys won the first by 21-16, but were taken to a third game after go- ing down 21-16 in the second. How- ever, they came good again in the de- cider to win comfortably by 21-8.

Then Kirby showed that his skills remain undiminished by the years When beating Roscommon’s Pat Clarke by 21-7, 21-17. At the same venue, Lousie Hayes of Tuamgraney put in a fantastic performance in the All-Ireland Junior Ladies singles fi- nal but in the end was just edged out by the single ace by Mayo’s Pauline Gallagher.

Meanwhile, in the Girls Under 17 Singles, Kate Lynch received a bye into the All-Ireland final, as did Ais- ling Fitzgerald and Edel O’Grady in Under 17 Doubles. The coming weekend will be another big one for Clare handballers and handball fol- lowers.

Cappagh in Limerick will the be the place to be on Saturday at 5.30pm as Tuamgraney’s Niall Malone and Di- armaid Nash face Niall Smyth and Ger McGrath of Kilkenny in the All- Ireland Minor Doubles final.

At Crinkle in Offaly on Sunday at 2.00pm Louise Hayes and Ann- Marie Fitzgerald Tuamgraney are in action in the Ladies Junior B Dou- bles final against Roscommon’s Lin- da Connolly and Laura Mannion.

Also on Sunday at 2pm, John Kirby and Jimmy Walsh travel to Cashel for the Diamond Masters ‘A’ Dou- bles final against Kilkenny’s Paddy Reilly and Seamus Reade.

DOORA-BAREFIELD native, Martina Molo- ney, is to become the first female County Manager in the history of Galway, it was an- nounced last week.

The 47-year-old mother-of-two began her county council career as a clerical officer in Ennis and was, most recently, county manager in Louth for the last three and half years.

She is also a former director of services with Galway City Council and has some 20 years of experience working for local Government.

Although the appointment was announced last week, Ms Moloney is unlikely to begin work in Galway until later this summer.

She must also be ratified by the elected members of Galway County Council at their meeting later this month and will not be of- ficially appointed in her position until May.

Ms Moloney’s late husband, Jimmy Hick- ey, 1S also originally from the Ennis area. The pair met while they both worked for the county council in Ennis. Jimmy passed away in 1991.

“IT am excited about the challenge of being back in Galway and one of my main aims will be to do my best to help improve the county’s capacity to attract and accommodate new in- dustry,” she said.

“There is new main route through east Gal- way to Dublin, the many issues regarding the N17 and N18 and of course I am familiar with the Claregalway situation.”

While her career working with local authori- ties started out in Ennis, she has since got a lot of experience around the country.

She worked with councils in Limerick City, Donegal and North Tipperary before moving to Galway City and then to Louth.

SHANNON Airport could see an additional 100 extra military flights every month with an expansion of services by Omni Air International, one of several airlines contracted to carry US military personnel for the Pentagon.

While the new services were not ex- pected to start until next month, two Omni Air flights arrived at Shannon on Saturday afternoon prompting calls from anti-war group the Peace

and Neutrality Alliance to call for campaigners to step up their protests at Shannon.

Former Irish Army Commandant and well known anti-war campaigner Ed Horgan said the passage of US troops through Shannon is becom- ing accepted custom and practice because not enough Irish people care about the killing of ‘foreigners’ in places such as Iraq.

News of the expansion in services by Omni Air will, however, be a sig- nificant boost to the airport after the

biggest carrier of US military per- sonnel for the Pentagon pulled out last year.

World Airways shifted its military technical stops to Leipzig, Germany citing economic reasons.

With the loss of World Airways, there has been a dramatic drop in US military traffic at Shannon.

Almost 15,000 more troops passed through the airport in January 2006 than in the first three months of this year combined.

26,817 troops stopped off at Shan-

non on 268 flights in the first quarter of this year, representing a drop of almost 77 per cent on the figures for 2006.

The Dublin Airport Authority, which still governs Shannon, has al- ready warned that Shannon Airport should not rely on the military transit nee nelen

DAA Chief Executive Declan Col- lier said that Shannon’s losses are “only slightly camouflaged by the military transit traffic which is not a sustainable business.”

Shannon has earned an estimated €8m a year for the past six years from US military traffic and its loss- es would be far greater if it did not have the military business.

A spokesperson for the Shannon Airport Authority confirmed that Omni Air are putting a programme of flights through the airport from next month.

This new business is expected to see up to 100 flights a month carry- ing as many as 10,000 troops.

MICHAEL Considine was an ani- mated figure on the Gaelic Grounds sideline on Saturday afternoon.

It was a combination of trying to get his team going, exhorting them to ereater heights and venting his anger at some of the decisions that didn’t go his team’s way.

The latter is something that Con- sidine was thinking about after the game – the injustice done to Clare twice in the first half when they were playing catch-up after Limerick scin- SD UE-lenerea eva

“T’m not making excuses but I thought the refereeing was a dis- grace, said Considine about Mau- rice Condon’s handling of the game.

‘The decisions that went against us were unbelieveable. Gary Leahy was pulled up by the referee after he took a free, while Enda Lyons should have been awarded a penalty. He was defi- nitely pulled back. When those things gO against you it makes it harder. We needed scores badly at that stage but didn’t get them,” he added.

However, the refereeding aside, Considine admitted that it was a very disappointing display by his charges after they play some fantastic foot- ball in the drawn game three days previously.

“We were flat, very flat,” he admit- ted. “The start killed us, to concede 2-3 of a start to Limerick meant we were chasing the game and it was al- ways going to be very hard to come oye) que ueyeemset.le

“But we battled hard and I can’t fault the lads for the effort they put in the game. They got it back to four

points with four minutes remaining which showed the character that’s in this side,” he added.

This character will be needed in spades on Wednesday when they re- turn to the Gaelic Grounds to take on a Tipperary side that went down by 3-7 to Q-10 in their opening round tie in Limerick.

“lve watched the DVD of Tip- perary’s game against Kerry last Wednesday. They are a typical Tip- perary team – they’re big and strong and will be very hard to beat. We know that they will be hard to beat, Tipperary teams always are at under- age level,’ said Considine.

‘“We’re hopeful that the lads will lift it now but it’s crazy that they’re being asked to play a third cham- pionship game in seven days. The GAA have established a committee to look into player burn-out yet they wouldn’t consider putting back this game by a few days.

“But were going to get on with it. We have injury worries that we carried into Saturday’s game, Dav- id Connole has a rib injury while Michael McDonagh has ankle trou- ble. Your midfield is crucial and we ll just have to wait and see how they are on Wednesday.”

Clare’s preparations for the tie started after their defeat on Saturday when they had a pool session in The Bunratty Shannon Shamrock Hotel. “We’ll have another pool session be- fore Wednesday and then take our chance,” said Considine. “If we can get over Tipperary, we have Water- ford to look forward to and we could yet reach a semi-final against Cork. That’s what we have to aim for.”

AS the summer sunshine has been making itself feel very much at home in recent weeks, businesses 1n north Clare have been dusting them- selves off in preparation for the tour- ist deluge that the next few months will surely bring.

One business’ which probably doesn’t need too much of a spring clean however is Kennedy’s Centra on Church Street in Lahinch.

The shop has just been awarded an Excellence Ireland National Hygiene Award for it’s ongoing commitment to hygiene and food safety.

The award, which was presented by Minister of State at the Depart- ment of Agriculture and Food, Mary Wallace, is the highest independent verification of hygiene standards and food safety in Ireland.

“It is very important that such achievements are acknowledged and applauded and so become an incen- tive for others to strive to reach the same high standards,’ said Minister AWE TEE Teron

“These awards acknowledge the ongoing year-round daily commit- ment throughout the Centra stores. The Musgrave SuperValu-Centra eroup has a well-deserved reputation

for high standards as well as being a huge supporter of the Irish food in- dustry with over 75 per cent of goods sourced from Irish suppliers.”

Throughout Ireland the Cen- tra group invests in the region of €350,000 annually in its hygiene programme.

“The Hygiene Mark indicates that a business has the highest standards of hygiene and safety in Irish industry and complies with all Irish and Euro- pean legislation,’ said Martin Roper, Technical Director, Excellence Ire- land Quality Association.

‘The retail market currently leads the field in compliance in the Irish

food sector, so consumers can be re- assured whenever they see the EIQA Hygiene and Food Safety Certificate displayed.”

Centra have a total of 400 stores in the Republic of Ireland, employing 12,000 people, with stores independ- ently run by local owners.

“Being awarded the highest ever number of National Hygiene Certifi- cate awards highlights the fact that the Centra retailer is consistently achieving the highest retail standards in the country. Hygiene is number one when it comes to customer care,” said Donal Horgan, Centra’s Manag- ing Director.

IARNROD Eireann has apologized after commuters were left stranded in Ennis yesterday.

The scheduled 6.45am service be- tween Ennis and Limerick did not operate as planned forcing passen- gers to make their own travel ar- rangements.

A mix up in driver rostering has

been identified as the reason for the no-show.

Passengers were offered a place on a min-bus hired from a local tax1 firm after larnrod Eireann were un- able to locate a bus to bring passen- gers to Limerick.

However, many had already paid for taxis in order to catch a connect- ing train leaving Limerick for Dub- lin. Subsequent train services ran

as normal throughout the rest of the Cr MA ;

A spokesperson for larnrod Eire- ann apologized to customers for any inconvenience caused.

“We do apologise to passengers for what happened with the mix up. It was an unusual situation that I can’t remember happening before.”

He explained a mix up in the roster- ing of drivers was the reason for the

nen p.qnel oy

“It appears there was mix up in ros- ters and that there was no driver there in the morning. Inspectors in both stations contacted both Bus Eireann and local coach operators but weren’t able to get a bus at such short notice.

“They managed to get a mini-bus from a local taxi firm, but by then some people had made their own ar- rangements. That taxi left Ennis at

oer: 100 a

He added there was no further dis- ruption to services during the day.

“It was just the one service in the morning that was affected. Normally we have a back up arrangement in place either with our sister company Bus Eireann or with local operators. But it was particularly difficult to get one at that hour of the morning at such short notice.”

THE massive increase in the local population has paved the way for the establishment of a new creche which is due to open in Corofin in the com- TP OTSMR ets) Oe

The Butterfly Kisses Childcare Centre, which will cater for up to 20 children as-well-as offering an after school care service, will host an open day next Saturday, April 21.

The purpose built facility, which is located in the Laghtagoona Es- tate, will then open for business on Monday, April 30. The créche is owned and operated by Ken and

Olga O’Malley, who are a long es- tablished provider of childcare in County Clare.

“Corofin’s landscape has changed in recent years with many couples opting for a less hectic way of life in this idyllic country setting,” said Olga.

“We believe that the childcare cen- tre will be a valuable asset to the community in supporting its contin- ued development. Great work is been done as we have seen with the recent opening of a public playground.

“We look forward to offering the very best in childcare into the future and supporting the development of

that all important foundation to the future of this community, its chil- elo

The créche itself is 250 square me- ters in size and includes two main rooms, Little Treasures which caters for children up to 18 months and fea- tures a remote viewing sleep room and the Adventure Room which ca- ters for children up to school age.

The project was made possible through the support of a number of agencies including the Clare County Childcare Committee, the Clare En- terprise Board and the Health Serv- ice Executive.

“We are very excited to be involved

with this venture in Corofin, having family in the area. The clear need for such a centre in the community makes it all the more exciting. We are very proud of the way the build- ing has evolved from a blank canvas to what we see now,” said Ken.

“We would especially like to thank local Minister Tony Killeen for his support of this project in his com- munity. We would also like to thank Cronin Nagle Construction for work- ing with us to build such a centre to this exceptionally high standard.”

For more info contact 6831834, 087 6780253 or omalleyken@hotmail. ore) on