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THERE was a huge attendance present at the Galway track on Sat- urday night for the benefit meeting in aid of the Loughrea hurling club. There was some good prizes on of- fer in all evelen races with a big en- try of Clare dogs.

The tenth race on the card, which was the final A4 stake worth €850, went to Danielle’s Gift owned by Danielle Dillon of Cooraclare. The dog has shown good form of late at Galway and running from trap one the winners time was 29.05 sec- onds.

There was another very good run

by Pat Hogan’s Aulton Nikita in race four running from trap four. The Barefield man’s dog recorded a time of 28.89, which was the fastest time of the night.

It was smiles all round after race six when Sean Hehir’s Dunshallagh Woods scored in a time of 29.31 seconds.

Baby Leyton, owned by Bertie and Mary O’Doherty of Ennis, got Clare owners off to a great start with their charge winning race three in a time of 29.40. This was Baby Leyton’s second win of the weekend having won race seven on the Thursday night card in a time of 29.60.

Paddy Conlon of Cree made a

welcome return to the winners en- closure on Friday night with Craga- knock Veri in race one. Ler Soirka had set Clare owners off to a good start winning race one for owner John Fitzgerald of Kilrush. Cree Yank was a winner for Caroline Gould at Kilrush at Limerick on Thursday night.

LOCAL surfers were on good form in Lahinch at the weekend for the Bics Sports Beginners Classic and the Long- board Classic. Lahinch grommet Dam- ien Conway was is good form taking second place behind Gary Hall from the Kerry Surf Club in the Longboard competition.

Alan Coyle, who is also from Lahi-

nch, finished a good third with David Hanrahan from Clarecastle claiming fourth spot. In the Bics Sports Begin- ners Classic Liscannor surfer Emmet Godfrey claimed top spot ahead of Dublin surfers James Rodgers and Ken Noonan who came first and second re- spectively.

The team competition was won by Kerry Surf Club while Damien Conway also won the prize for best local surfer.

OPPORTUNITY of creating history knocked for the Irish ladies golfers in Dundalk last week as they at- tempted to win a hat trick of Home International titles. However, for the team that included Tricia Mangan and Heather Nolan it wasn’t to be as the Irish team went from double cham- pions to wooden spoonists within the space of three days.

Victories at Cruden Bay and Royal Portcawl may in hindsight have had a degree of luck attached on the final day each year, but with such an expe- rienced team, few would have envis- aged that their performance this time out would have been so much below par.

For Irish Champion Tricia Mangan, it was a mixed week – three comfort- able foursomes victories when playing with Martina Gillen was outstanding work, but her only return from singles play was a halved match with Scot- land’s Jenna Wilson on the opening day.

Indeed, Tricia 1/2 point was the only return from the singles on day one — Ireland lost the remaining five singles matches.

The rot had set in at this stage and Ireland went down to Wales on day two. The day started on a bright note when Tricia Mangan and Martina Gil- len scored decisive foursomes win.

It was downhill from there on as the team went down by 5 1/2 to 3 1/2.

Tricia was beaten by Sarah Jones in the singles — a girl she had decisively beaten in the British Championship ley: (e qn rome e lon

In the final game against England, Tricia maintained her 100 per cent record in foursomes play when her partnership with Martin Gillen scored a fine win over Felicity Johnson and Emma Duggleby. However, Johnson got some measure of revenge in the singles, beating the Ennis golfer by 5 and 3.

Munster Champion Heather Nolan teamed up with a totally out of sorts Claire Coughlan in two matches, los- ing on the 18th on the opening day to the Welsh pair of Sahra Hessan and Breanne Loucks. She had no re- turn from her three matches while Mangan, the European number nine, scored 3 1/2 points out of 6.

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy, who pleaded guilty to eight charges including burglary, larceny, criminal damage and unauthorised taking of a vehicle, was remanded in custody to St Patrick’s Institution in Dublin for one week and will appear in court in Lisdoonvarna again tomorrow (Wednesday).

The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, faced four new charges when he appeared at Miltown District Court last Wednesday. The accused opted to be tried in the District Court, waiving his right to have his case heard in the Circuit Court before a judge and jury.

The teenager faces charges relating to a se- ries of incidents in the Miltown Malbay and Spanish Point areas between October 2004 and February this year. The youth is alleged to have broken into houses and a school and to have stolen property, including a video player, a camcorder and a van. He 1s also accused of stealing €380 worth of wine and beer.

A professional report provided to the court claimed that there is a history of alcohol abuse in the teenager’s family, that he was poorly supervised and that his father smelled of alcohol at the interview. Judge Mangan ordered a probation report in respect of the teenager to be prepared ahead of tomorrow’s hearing.

FINANCIAL guru, Eddie Hobbs has turned his at- tention from rip-off Ireland to letting smokers know how much they are being ripped off by their bad habit.

The average Irish smoker spends nearly €2,300 a year on cigarettes and for a top rate taxpayer this takes €4,000 off their gross income.

The newly launched Nicorette Freshmint Gum Minting It Guide – which Hobbs compiled – reveals that while the health benefits of giving up smoking are significant, the financial benefits cannot be ig- nored.

Aside from the direct cost of smoking, life cover insurance, life assurance and serious illness cover can often be more than double the price for a smoker versus a non-smoker.

The Guide gives advice and tips for smokers and non-smokers on how to manage their finances, save money and provide for the future.

Hobbs suggests keeping a diary of your spending and taking the necessary steps if you are overspend- ing.

He also advised consumers to “reduce your outgo- ings by shopping around. If you don’t pay your credit card balance off in full each month, move to a credit

card offering zero per cent interest for the first six months, and keep moving until you pay it off!”

Other cash-saving hints include: ¢ transferring your mortgage to an institution offer- ing a lower rate, which could save thousands of euros over the lifespan of the loan.

e Take advantage of competition in the mobile, land- line and internet market by changing providers to avail of better offers.

¢ Claim tax relief, which is available for things like renting a room, being a carer, certain medical ex- penses and contributing to a pension. Make sure you are getting all you are entitled to by checking out Www.revenue.ie.

The guide has been developed to support the launch of the new nicotine replacement therapy Nicorette Freshmint Gum.

According to Hobbs, “It’s hard enough to make ends meet in Ireland’s hugely over-priced economy besides blowing a huge sum of money through your lungs on cigarettes. Consider a pack of twenty a day, pretty close to the daily average of Irish smokers, is now costing nearly €2,300 a year. You put two smok- ers in one household and the combination would fund a small mortgage or a fantastic annual vacation”.

Copies of the guide can be obtained in pharmacies and GP’s surgeries nationwide.

A man who attacked and kicked a 52-year-old woman outside his Miltown Malbay home was fined, ordered to pay medical costs and was bound over to keep the peace for one year after he appeared in the lo- cal court last Wednesday.

Father and son Matt Keating Snr and Matt Keating Jnr, both faced one charge each of as- saulting Patricia Clancy outside their home at 16 Ballard Road, Miltown Malbay on September 26, 2004. Patricia Clancy, who lives at 35 Ballard Road, also faced one charge of assaulting Matt Keating Snr on the same CF Ken

Miltown Malbay District Court was told that the assault occurred after Mrs Clancy, a first cousin of Mr Keating Snr, drove him to his home after an evening’s socialising. Mrs Clancy said Mr Keating Snr “ran at me and kicked me and kicked me.”

She said that Matt Keating Jnr came to the door in his boxer shorts and pulled the two of

them apart, but assaulted her.

Matt Keating Snr claimed he had been offered a lift by Mrs Clancy but that he made his own way home that night. He claimed that when he arrived at his home, Mrs Clancy was al- USrKO MANN Slo) KOR

He said, as he accompanied Mrs Clancy to the gate of the house, “she struck me with her fist.”

Solicitor for Mrs Clancy, Gearoid Williams, showed pho- tographs of injuries sustained by his client to the accused. “I don’t know how it happened, I didn’t do it,’ he said.

The court also heard a tran- script of a heated telephone call to Mr Keating’s home after the incident.

Matt Keating Snr was convict- ed of assaulting Mrs Clancy and was fined €1,500 and ordered to pay €300 medical costs. The case against Matt Keating Jnr was dismissed.

Judge Mangan further or- dered that professional reports relating to alcohol be prepared in the cases of Mr Keating Snr and Mrs Clancy.

VANDALS have caused serious damage on the grounds of Ennis Rugby Club. The vandalism was carried out late on Saturday night, when a support railing that runs along the edge of the pitch was up- rooted and dragged across a section of the pitch. Concrete slabs that had held the six uprights and the crossbar in position were pulled two feet out of the ground, before being pulled over the pitch. Three large scar marks have been left on the pitch as a result. “It’s not so much the expense, it’s the mindless attitude of the people that did it” said Tony Guillfoyle, President of Ennis Rugby Club. He went

on to add that the club has suffered from anti-so- cial behaviour on a continuing basis over the past few weeks. “There must have been a large number of people in it and they would needed a tractor to do the damage they did,’ he said. There are problems with trying to build on the current boundary wall that borders the Cahercalla estate, as it may be a pro- tected structure. The club are hopeful of coming to some solution but, until then, there are concerns that anti-social problems will persist. The incident is the second act of vandalism to occur at a rugby ground inside a week. On Wednesday, damage caused to the pitch in Thomond Park in Limerick forced the grounds to close for a month.

THE success of the book, ‘Name your place’— the brainchild of Club na Sionna — which was printed last year has prompted an updated second edition to be published.

6,000 copies of the book, which is based on placenames (logain- mneacha) were printed last year and an additional 15,000 copies of the second edition will be printed shortly.

Club na Sionna, which incorpo- rates Conradh na Gaeilge and Glor na nGael in Shannon, 1s responsible for the publication.

A large group of people from the Shannon area were involved in the publication of the book, with La- bhras O Donghaile and his wife Sorcha to the fore.

The book is bilingual — the in- troduction in written mainly in English, while the logainmneacha (placenames) are explained in Eng-

lish, throughout the book.

“We have been involved in pla- cenames since 1973,’ said Sean O Nuanain, chairman of Club na Sionna. “People are very interested in placenames, household names and names of businesses and office blocks,” he added.

“There was a great demand, among builders, councillors and es- tate agents. The second edition will include a wider number of business names,” added Mr O Nuanain.

It will be available shortly at branches of Glor na nGael, County Councils, estate agents, tidy towns committees, gaelscoileanna and all Irish organisations throughout Ire- land.

Meanwhile, the Ciorcal Com- hra meets every week at the Wolfe Tones’ clubhouse between 8.45 and 9.45pm. Everyone is being encour- aged to get involved and use the cu- pla focail. The theme is ‘Don’t lose it — use it.’

A CLARE County Council demand that a 5,000 year old bog oak tree that forms part of a sculpture be cut by one metre, was described as “impractical and crazy’, this week.

The criticism came from the Kilballyowen Development Association, which has defiantly refused to reduce the height of the tree to three neo b Rene

The sculptor of the piece, rural-rights cam- paigner, Jim Connolly said this week: “The tree can’t be reduced. I have never heard the likes of it in my life. I hope the Council accept the sense of what I had to say.”

The tree is to be complimented by two three- quarter size bronze figures of Diarmuid and

Grainne. It forms part of a twin-memorial ded- icated to the memory of five west Clare men, who lost their lives just off Loop Head in 1862, and ties with west Clare. The men were all pi- lots who helped navigate ships up the Shannon estuary in the 19th century.

Kilballyowen association chairman, John Bonfil explained this week: “The pilots went out in a currach to a ship that was about to come up the estuary. It was a case of whoever got to the ship first, would get the bounty in steering the ship Unfortunately, they all lost their lives.”

A song, “The Five Pilots” had been written in their memory.

In response to the association’s planning

proposal for the monument, the council raised concerns over the height of the proposed struc- tures on the boat house site and the Diarmuid and Grainne site. The Council stated: “Please reduce height of both structures to three as well.”

In the initial documents lodged with the Council, no mention was made by the appli- cants of the age of the tree. It formed part of the Diarmuid and Grainne display, which was initially on show at Shannon Airport. It was removed due to major renovations at Shannon, according to Mr Connolly.

In May, the applicants lodged a photomon- tage of the memorial, stating that the Diarmuid and Grainne display was 5 metres. In August,

they stated that the memorial was now 4 metres high and refused to go lower.

Mr Bonfil said this week: ““We are confident that the proposed memorial will get planning permission. It is a community-based project. It is a positive for the community.

“We have received €20,000 for the two me- morials through Leader and also a contribution from the Foynes Harbour Authority. We hope to unveil the memorials at the 3rd annual Loop Head Gathering Festival next July.

“Both the Shannon Airport Authority, who commissioned the sculpture, and Jim Con- nolly the sculpture who created the piece, have agreed to donate the work to the community in Kilbaha to form part of the proposed develop- ment of the area,” he said

RESIDENTS in the Ballybeg area of Ennis have claimed that conten- tious plans for a 120-residential unit proposed by McCarthy Bros will lead to a devaluation of property in iW elom-N Kore

In the next number of days, Clare County Council is expected to rule on the plan by the Ennis construc- tion firm to develop 120 homes at Ballybeg on the western side of Ennis near the main Ennis-Kilrush IWXey- (ee

The development comprises of 40 three-bedroom homes, 47 two- bedroom homes, 5 four-bedroomed homes and 28 apartments.

However, in an objection, backed by a petition from Ballybeg resi- dents, they claim that they are con- cerned that “with an estate of this size, it may have a negative effect on

the value of our property.”

The residents state: “The exist- ing residential housing on the Bal- lybeg Road, consists of low-density Owner-occupied detached family dwellings. The proposed high-den- sity development consisting of apartments and two and three bed- room semi-detached houses would alter the character of the area very significantly.

“The type of development pro- posed would suggest that many of the units will be rental properties and that in general the occupiers will most likely be transitory and car-reliant. It is obvious that such a development would not be in-keep- ing with, or appropriate to, the exist- ing adjoining and surrounding resi- dential houses in the area.

“The availability of an adequate water supply to the proposed devel-

Opment is seriously open to ques- tion. The houses on the Ballybeg Road are already subjected to an in- adequate flow of water.

“Should flow 120 houses be grant- ed, this will do nothing for the water pressure in the existing houses. We request that a hydrological report be completed for this proposed devel- Opment and we are furnished with the information as to how this will affect our already inconsistent water supply.

“The environmental impact of this proposed development would be to destroy an area of natural karst and wildlife — amongst others, a wild goat herd of 38, foxes, hedgehogs and a number of protected floral species.

The residents claim “that the pro- posed development will add noth- ing to the overall atmosphere and

well being of this area. The density of this proposed site is not in keep- ing with the ‘established planning and development practices’ of this area.

“We further raise the question, what potential impacts would a phase two of this type of housing have on the area. We feel that such a development, if allowed, would be used as a precedent and other such developments would quickly follow.

“We, the residents of Ballybeg, are of the opinion that this development should be refused in its entirety.”

On traffic safety, the residents state that “the sightlines for an exit from the proposed development on to the Ballybeg Road is in a danger- ous hollow and will remain totally inadequate and a danger to traffic already on the road and to the traffic emerging onto the road.”