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Land ho! Clare gets Bounty-ful

‘A BIZARRE form of recycling’ was how a solicitor described his client’s actions, after he was caught urinat- ing against an off-licence door.

Jason Tucker (23), of The Orchard, Huntsfield, Dooradoyle, Limerick, pleaded guilty to engaging in threat- ening, abusive or insulting behaviour in Kilkee. Ennis District Court heard that he urinated against the front door of an off-licence. When directed by gardai to leave the area, he did so.

Defence solicitor Eugene O’Kelly said, “It was no more than urinat- ing’ and the garda in the case agreed that the accused co-operated with gardai.

Mr O’Kelly said his client’s previ- ous convictions suggest that he has a difficulty with alcohol. “It was a bizarre form of recycling to be uri- nating up against an off-licence,” he said.

He said his client wished to apolo- gise. “He had a lot to drink and there were no public facilities available to him,” said the solicitor.

Judge Timothy Lucey said, “It wasn’t the worse offence under Sec- tion 6 (Public Order Act)” and fined Tucker €250.

THE golden era of Kilmaley domi- nance continued on Saturday as they eventually edged out a spir- ited Sixmilebridge challenge to win back-to-back senior titles. On a spe- cial day for Clare camogie who were celebrating their 75th anniversary, it was probably too much to expect that the showpiece event of the day would live up to expectations, but that won’t bother Kilmaley who cemented their place in history with a second suc- cessive championship.

In truth, it was a turgid stop-start affair, littered with frees, lineballs and scrappy play that ensured it never bettered mediocrity. After two thrilling semi-finals, this his- toric decider was expected to be an Open encounter, pitting the defending champions against the coming force of Sixmulebridge but in a low-scoring affair that only saw one point from play over the hour, it turned out to be a slog that needed all of Kilmaley’s experience to prevail.

That Kilmaley eventually came out on the right side of the result was predominantly down to experience. Having been in this situation before and boasting a vastly experienced spine of Denise Lynch at full-back, the multi-talented Eimear Considine outside her and Helen McMahon, captain Emma O’Driscoll and Claire McMahon further forward, they knew that patience was the key to success and overall they just had the more attacking options and threat.

Sixmilebridge on the other hand, despite being fully determined, never really threatened the Kilmaley goal throughout the hour and only for the unerring accuracy of Chloe Morey from placed balls, it 1s difficult to see how they would have won this tie. The loss of captain and their most experienced forward, Noeleen Ney- lon to injury after only 16 minutes was considerable and while they bat-

tled hard, only Chloe Morey, Bridget O’Halloran, Niamh Corry and oc- casionally Sinead Tuohy offered any purposeful resistence.

For the majority, it was a straight shoot-out between freetakers Claire McMahon and Chloe Morey who traded scores all afternoon. Sixmi- lebridge were quicker off the blocks to open up a two point advantage by the 11th minute but McMahon and Kilmaley soon settled to draw level at 0-3 to O-3 at half-time. There were half chances of goals in the opening period but only half chances as twice

Kilmaley put searching passes over the top in the early stages but were unable to capitalise. Late in the half, Sinead Costelloe had Sixmilebri- dge’s best chance of the match when she got on the end of a dropping free from Chloe Morey but hit her shot straight at Edel Griffey.

Kilmaley were better after the break though, but were almost dealt a huge blow when Claire McMahon sustained an injury to an ankle in the opening minutes. The former county senior recovered though to tack on two further frees by the turn of the

final quarter and give the holders the lead for the first time.

With the game slipping from their grasp, Sixmilebridge switched Sine- ad Tuohy to midfield and they did cut the deficit to only the minimum with only eight minutes remaining when Morey converted another free.

Kilmaley had to dig deep and in the move of the match, finally grabbed a point from play when Siobhan Ma- her soloed down the left wing and out in a teasing delivery that broke off lively substitute Aisling Darcy to Emma O’Driscoll to point over her

shoulder. However, with 16 year old Chloe Morey driving Sixmilebridge on at every opportunity, they didn’t wilt and set up a grandstand finish when Morey herself was fouled out- side the “45 and got up to convert the resulting free in the 57th minute.

The game was finally settled in injury-time when Claire McMahon added her sixth free of the day and al- though they held a dangerous lead for the remainder, Sixmilebridge hadn’t the firepower to take advantage.

Sixmuebridge’s young side will be back though and the experience of reaching a county final should stand to them in the coming years.

However this was Kilmaley’s day and whether they win in style or just win ugly, the main thing is that they are still winning and more signifi- cantly are still the standard bearers in the county for everyone else to aspire to.

WHILE the eyes of Europe may have been on Dublin Castle and the Lisbon count this weekend, the out- come failed to excite even the small- est number of people in the Banner Sree

Just four months but thousands of onlookers away from the local and European elections, the Lisbon Count – mark two – was even more of a damp squib than Lisbon mark one.

Even the local politicians, who had such a vested interest in the ballot boxes last June, failed to even raise a

passing interest on Saturday last.

A handful of county councillors and approximately two town coun- cillors arrived early in the morning, but left early with the no campaign- ers once the outcome was obvious.

Just one county councillor saw the result out to the bitter end with Clare’s TDs, who all showed up for the occasion.

From the time the boxes were opened, it was clear that the referen- dum would be carried in Clare with a three-to-one ratio in favour of the treaty in rural areas, and a 60:40 split in favour in urban areas.

By lunchtime, all the votes had been counted, with just a dozen peo- ple left in the centre with the media and those counting.

While all waited for Returning Of- ficer Patrick Wallace to get the green light from Dublin to announce the result, the speculation on the margin of success for the Yes side began.

Deputy Carey had left proceedings to attend his daughter’s christening, but the remaining three TDs were happy to guess the outcome.

Junior Minister Tony Killeen (FF) thought that the treaty would be ac- cepted in Clare by 69 per cent of the

voters, Deputy Pat Breen (FG) went with 70 per cent, while Deputy Tim- my Dooley (FF) finally settled for 72 per cent, having wavered between it and 71 per cent.

Shortly after 2pm, Mr Wallace an- nounced the verdict from the Clare voters. It was carried 72.3 per cent to 27.7.

HARDLY a display that will send shivers down the spines of Newmar- ket folk ahead of their semi-final clash but in what was a strange quar- ter-final tie, Clonlara didn’t need to be at top gear to fend off Clooney/ Quin’s challenge. Defending cham- pions Clonlara were perhaps a little ring-rusty, not having played a com- petitve game in five weeks and as a result found it very difficult to shake off Clooney/Quin over the entire telune

In saying that, Clonlara were always going to win this one as Clooney/

Quin tended to shoot themselves in the foot too often to push the cham- pions all the way. It was the goals and more significantly the target of Fergal Lynch that kept Clooney/Quin in this game but when they did hurt Clon- lara, the holders always appeared to be able to lift their game sufficiently to drive on once more.

In truth, the difference between the sides was that added bit of class from the likes of John Conlon, Nicky O’Connell and Donal Madden and with Fergal Lynch the only Clooney/ Quin player seemingly of a similar ilk, once they curtailed that threat by switching Tomas O’Donovan to

full-back, Clooney/Quin simply ran out of ideas.

Clooney/Quin only scored twice in the opening quarter as Madden, Conlon and Darach Honan got into their stride with a brace each but crucially for the challengers, both were goals that provided a huge lift for the side. Inevitably Fergal Lynch was heavily involved in both, earn- ing a fifth minute penalty for Derek Ryan to convert before getting on the scoresheet himself in the 17th minute by using his strength to fend off three defenders before billowing the net from close range.

A minute later, they were level

when Martin Duggan finished off a flowing move and it seemed as if it might just be their day when Donal Madden’s penalty was excellently stopped by Cathal Egan soon af- terwards. They brought out Paudie Ward as a third midfielder to forage for possession but then never used him from their own puck-outs and as a result, that tactic had little effect as Clonlara finished the half strongly with John Conlon leading the way with two points along with a Nicky O’Connell free to lead by 0-13 to 2- 04 at the break.

Clooney/Quin were more purpose- ful on the restart though and with

Lynch proving a constant irritant, they got to within one after only three minutes. It forced Clonlara to bring back Tomas O’ Donovan to curb Lynch in what was to prove a match winning alteration. With the leak plugged at the back, Clonlara sim- ply pulled away again, hitting three unanswered points through Nicky O’Connell (2) and Donal Madden.

Derek Ryan had a goal chance blocked by O’Donovan and Lynch was lucky to stay on the field after a wild pull on the same player before Clonlara finally put the result beyond doubt when Cormac O’ Donovan and Darach Honan combined to set up Cillian Fennessy for their only goal of the game in the 59th to push them nine clear at 1-22 to 2-10.

Clooney/Quin kept up the fight until the end though, with Mike Mc- Namara grabbing a late goal while Lynch had a 20 metre free stopped but it was all too little too late as Clonlara held on to set up a mouth- watering heavyweight clash against Newmarket. Only their best will do if they are to reach their second suc- Ao TUIEDE

A CREDIT card that doesn’t allow you to spend beyond your means has just arrived on the scene in Clare.

Pay as you go credit cards are now available to buy in Clare, hav- ing been launched by the company Smart Transfer in April. Comparable to a mobile phone top-up, these cards are operable only when you have suf- ficient funds to spend.

The card allows the user all the ad- vantages of a normal credit card, but without the hassle of bills, interest or credit checks.

How it operates is that you lodge money in your account prior to using it and you cannot use more than you have available.

The card is now available to pur- chase in 18 stores in Clare. These are mainly convenience stores and supermarkets.

According to the operations man- ager of Smart Transfer, Sean Phe- lan, the timing for the launch of this scheme in Clare is appropriate, given iW ALomeL Nw Kes tI merece) sLO ON NCOMe DUDOT-IKoR

‘You cannot spend what you do not have with the pay as you go Master- card. The idea is that rather than get- ting an indeterminate bill in the post at the end of the month you can load up in advance in outlets and spend what’s on the card,” said Mr Phelan, whose company is based in Naas.

“With the economic situation, a lot of people are using it as a way of controlling standard credit card debt,” he added.

“You can literally walk into a shop and walk out with a credit card, ready to use. As long as you have loaded the card with credit, the pay as you go credit card can be used as many times as you like, to make purchases or withdraw cash from ATMs,” he added. Outlets across Clare are tak- ing part in this initiative, including Shannon, Scariff, Lahinch, Kilrush, Killaloe and Clarecastle.

“We have spent the past few months rolling it out. We launched it initially in the UK almost two years ago,” he said.

Full details on the availability of the card in Clare can be obtained by logging on to wWww.payzonemoney. io

CLARE soccer’s goal or reeling in the years to their historic national success in the coveted Oscar Traynor Cup reaches base camp on Sunday afternoon as the county’s flagship side open their challenge for hon- our in the 2009/2010 competition with an away tie against the Des- mond League. Dea sretvew eter Kelly (right) was manager of the Clare team that scored a famous Oscar ‘Traynor Cup victory in 2004, when they beat the Dublin Senior League by 2-1 in Ballycasey, and in resum- ing the manage- rial reins has said “anything is pos- sible” in season ahead. “Tm glad to be back and I came back on my own terms,” Kelly told The Clare Peo- ple. “I said I wanted full control of the team and that I’d have control of picking the panel. I got that control and have brought some very good men in with me — John O’Malley, Donie Garrihy and Don McMillan. “We have a very strong panel and

they have shown great commitment over the last number of weeks for training and challenge games we’ve neon “Tt’s a 19-man panel, with seven from Newmarket-on-Fergus, six from Avenue United, three from Bunratty, two each from Bridge United and Rock Rovers and one from Rine- anna Rovers. It’s a strong squad, with the likes of Stephen Hickey who has come back to Clare PNAC ME- IOUT AMY ALOE Galway United, while David Russell is cap- tain,’ he added. The squad has three survivors from the 2004 winning team — Daryl Eade, Mike O’Malley and Michael De- alae “Sunday’s Opener away to the © Desmond League iS a tough game, but I think we can get a result. After that anything is possi- ble and we could go all the way. Last year Clare missed a good chance of getting to the quarter-final when hav- ing a hiccup against the Roscommon League — we don’t want any hiccups this year,” concluded Kelly.

THE increased demand on the free legal advice centre in Ennis has re- sulted in its hours of availability be- ing lengthened substantially.

The facility had been in operation two hours a week, but the increase in queries from members of the public has prompted it to be made available six hours a week. The increase is be- ing attributed, in part, to the increase in numbers of people who are find- ing themselves unemployed in recent peeve detse

The free legal advice clinic (FLAC) is co-ordinated by the Citizens’ In- formation Centre in Clare. A team of qualified solicitors provides advice and information to members of the public, who are unsure what their op- tions are.

Paul Woulfe, of the Citizens’ In- formation Centre, said an average of between 15 and 20 appointments are being made with the service on a weekly basis.

‘There has been a huge increase in queries. A lot of it is related to the economic downturn,” he said.

‘The increase is in response to demand. We used to just run on Thursday evenings, but now we hold clinics on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons also,” he said.

Through the clinics, members of the public receive information on le- gal issues, including family law, em- ployment law and consumer law.

‘More and more, people are be- coming unemployed and they are looking for advice and support,” said Mr Woulfe.

As many cases related to the work- place go before the Employment Ap-

peals Tribunal (EAT), the citizens information service is playing a role. “We do a lot of advocacy work in the EAT,’ said Mr Woulfe.

‘The economic recession 1s putting tensions on families. Supports need to be put in place for people who are unemployed for the first time. People don’t have the extra income that they had before,” he said.

“In relation to employment law, we are getting queries about lay-offs and short-term work. People are trying to get redundancies out of employers,” he said.

THE Munster Football Association has rejected an appeal by Ennis soc- cer club Turnpike Rovers over the 12-month suspension of one of their ENO uCe

Club chairman Frank Gormley said yesterday that the appeal had been rejected, as the club had not submit- ted the correct form of payment with the appeal.

The club were appealing a 12- month suspension given to Danny Russell following a game with Av- enue United B last September.

The player was suspended by the Clare District Soccer League for ver- bally abusing match referee David McCarthy.

However it has since emerged that the player and the referee were in- volved in an altercation after the match ended.

In his official report, McCarthy states that he “headbutted”’ the play- er outside the dressing rooms in the Fair Green after being subjected to verbal abuse.

“T asked him had he anything fur- ther to add,’ says McCarthy in in his referee’s report. “He approached me and said ‘you’re still only a fat wk? At that I just lost the plot and head butted him,’ he adds.

The report, seen by the

he believes that the current system is not working and this has come to light in particular in the face of the economic downturn. He made the comments by way of the Legal Aid Board reporting last week that there was an 18 per cent increase in the number of new ap- plications for legal services last year.

Individuals received legal assistance from the Legal Aid Board in over 21,000 cases during 2008.

While pointing out that solicitors who defend their clients in the crimi- nal courts are doing their job, he said that all too often free legal aid is granted when the circumstances are not adequately examined.

‘There is a considerable difference between civil and criminal free legal aid. There appears to be a more rig- orous means testing for someone ap- plying for free legal aid in civil cases than in criminal cases. I am calling for a complete overhaul of the free legal aid system,’ he said.

“The McCarthy report calls for a

limited means testing and that would save €8.4 million,” he added.

“When you see a gangster being brought away from court in a SUV with blacked out windows, after get- ting free legal aid, that truly sickens law abiding citizens,’ said Deputy Cras

He is suggesting a points system- could be considered. Through this, serial offenders would be dealt with more carefully than those before the court for the first time.

‘People can go in and get free legal aid every time. There is no deterrent to stop committing offences. Histor1- cally the system was brought about to give free legal aid to poor persons.

While it is reasonable to assume someone on social welfare should be entitled to free legal aid, the entire system needs to be overhauled.”

“It just highlights the revolving door syndrome – get free legal aid, go through the system and into pris- on. Suddenly offenders are back on the streets again, with little attempt at rehabilitation. Free legal aid is a component of that,” he said.

“In fairness Judge Mangan (the dis- trict judge in Clare) requests written applications for free legal aid. That is one of the toughest in the country. There should be a uniform system everywhere. The system is abused at the moment,” he said.