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after the 2-24 to 2-18 win

over Wexford in O’Moore Park.

“Tt

that’s what Clare and the County Board wants [ll be around. I’ve al- ways been around for Clare. I want to be around,” he added in putting the onus back on the county board that has called a special meeting in Au- gust to discuss both the senior hurl- ing and senior football management positions.

“It would definitely be my last year involved with the team — I’ve been 20 long years involved with Clare teams since the minor team of 1989, so maybe we will make it a 21st an- niversary, he continued.

Two years ago the county board top table led a successful heave against Tony Considine and his senior hurl- ing management team, even though they had recorded three champion-

ship victories that year and reached the All-Ireland quarter-final.

However, Considine’s fate as manager was sealed because of the controversy over the departure and subsequent year-long exile from the senior squad of two-time All-Ireland winner and three-time All Star win- ner, Davy Fitzgerald.

Now, two years on from that Civil War, the only thing standing in the way of McNamara could be Fit- zgerald’s prodigal son-like return to Clare to take up the management reins – a job he stated as recently as three weeks ago that he wants.

However, McNamara remains con- vinced that his management team is ideally positioned to build on what has been achieved since they as-

sumed control of the team in 2007. “I would be surprised if we couldn’t build on what we’ve done,” he said.

“We didn’t have a good year, but results and performance often didn’t marry very well. I think a point or two either way in a couple of league matches could have changed our whole year.

“The flurry at the end of the Mun- ster championship match against Tipperary, one bit of luck on that day and maybe we could be in an All-Ire- land semi-final now.

‘“That’s how it goes — it’s that little and it’s that close. After Kilkenny there’s so little between the next six or seven teams behind them. All those teams could beat each other on any given day,” he added.

COMMUNITY pride and friendship has prompted a group of local people to take it upon themselves to clean up one of Clare’s oldest eyesores.

The site, which is located on the Liscannor harbour, has been a virtual dump for more than 30 years.

It was purchased last year by Clare County Council but the local author- ity has had insufficient funds to de- velop the site after the purchase. This prompted a group of locals to take ac- tion into their own hands earlier this year.

“The people here have done fan- tastic work. Everyone in the whole parish is so proud of all the people who have worked so hard,” said Pad-

raig Blake of the Liscannor Harbour Amenity Organisation.

‘The people who have been coming here to help clean up each Wednesday have gotten so much out of it. There has been a great sense of friendship throughout the whole thing. We have done so much work that from now on, we only have to meet every second Wednesday.”

The project began in May when the Liscannor Harbour Amenity Or- ganisation approached Clare County Council with a proposal for the area.

“The place had essentially been a dump site for the last 30 years and it was very unsightly, especially for the tourists who come through Liscannor on their way to the Cliffs of Moher,” he continued.

“The site came into public own- ership in the last year or so and we approached Clare County Council about the possibility of bulldozing it and cleaning the whole place up.

“When Clare County Council agreed, we spoke to three local build- ers – the Atlantic Group, Guerin and Considine and the McNulty family and they all agree to donate Hi-Macs, lorries, dumper trucks and all sorts of machinery to help us out.”

After removing 42 full lorry-loads of rubbish and other material from the site, another meeting was held to allow the local people to decide what should be done with the new commu- nity area.

“We held a public meeting back in June and more than 40 people came

along. There was still a lot to be done at that stage. The next day we went down to the harbour and started work and we have worked there every Wednesday since then,” he contin- ued.

“Over the first three Wednesdays, more than 100 bags of rubbish were collected each day. We had some great support from Clare County Council and were allowed to dispose of all the rubbish at Ballyduffbeg with no charge.”

The group are now restoring stone- work at the site and plan to develop further in the coming week and months.

Anyone interested in getting in- volved should contact Patrick Blake at 086 1932872.

HE’S managed clubs in some of the biggest football leagues in the world and guided England to the quarter- finals of the World Cup but could Ennis be Sven Goran Eriksson’s next port of call’?

The Swede made a shock return to English football last week by sign- ing on as a Director of Football with Notts County.

The League Two outfit were re- cently taken over by a middle-eastern consortium in a multi-million pound deal and the sudden rise in County’s profile is also good news for one En- nis soccer club.

In March, Lifford linked up with Notts County in a venture that will see Lifford players have direct ac- cess to the English club’s centre of CoA Nes Neer

Though unsure what impact if any Eriksson’s arrival will have on the relationship between the clubs, Lif- ford’s John O’Neill said the former England manager would be very welcome in Ennis.

“Obviously we are delighted with the profile. It’s unexpected but we were delighted with linking up with Notts County before all this’, said O’Neill.

He said that the club were in con- Stant contact with Mick Leonard, Head of Notts County’s Centre of Excellence.

“IT was just speaking with Mick last week and they are very keen to keep an active link with Lifford” ex- plained O’Neill.

And on the possibility of Eriksson coming to Lifford’s homeground at Cassidy Park, O’Neill said, “2011 is our 50th anniversary. I’ve big plans for that so you never know”.

Bishop Walsh to resign in January

INTEREST in holidays in Lahinch is up more than 100 per cent on last year, a leading international booking website has revealed.

Figures just released by leading hotel booking site, Hotels.com, show that searches for hotels in Lahinch by Irish holidaymakers is up 115 per cent on the number of searches car- ried out in May and June last year.

The statistics show interest in do- mestic travel in Ireland in May and June is up significantly when com- pared year on year with the same period in 2008.

Increased searches on Hotels.com for Ireland, which compared searches for domestic travel in May and June of this year with the same period in 2008, indicate that some of the most popular holiday spots across the country are attracting more interest from Irish holidaymakers.

“Possible reasons for the trend could be attributed to the fact that the weather in Ireland has been bet- ter this year than the previous two summers and that hotel prices are falling, offering better affordability for all travellers in the current reces- sion,” a according to Hotels.com.

They speculate that prominent domestic travel promotion by Irish agencies such as Discover Ireland

may also be a contributing factor in search behaviour on Hotels.com this year.

Of the most popular destinations for domestic travel searches, Rosslare in Wexford showed the biggest increase year on year, up by 220 per cent for May and June 2009, when compared to the same period in 2008.

In the south and west, Killarney was up 160 per cent, Westport and Lahi- nch were up 155 per cent and 115 per cent respectively. Searches for hotels in the capital rose by 20 per cent in June 09 compared to June ’08 while Galway, the most expensive city to stay in a hotel in Ireland according

to the Hotels.com HPI, saw searches rise by a third (30 per cent).

Alison Couper, director of Com- munications for Hotels.com com- ments; “It certainly seems Irish people are keen to explore holiday options at home this year which is great news for the domestic tourism industry. With the current Hotels. com summer sale on with discounts of up to 50 per cent off, now is prov- ing a great time to grab hotel deals at home and abroad.”

A MAJOR survey issued today by ISME, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, confirms that one third of business in Ireland has been the target of criminal activ- ity over the last 12 months. The sur- vey of over 1,800 businesses outlines that while the level of crime is down on the previous year (when 35 per cent of companies were affected), there has been an increase in the ac- tual cost of criminal activity, which is costing the business community €1.5bn in direct costs.

The highest incidence of crime is in Connaught/Ulster at 37 per cent, while the incidence of crime in Dub- lin County has shown a dramatic reduction down to 24 per cent from 43 per cent in 2008. Dublin City and Munster both showed an increase.

aber tee vem KeU One mortaelele lar problem, showing a large increase from 44 per cent in 2008 to a high 63 per cent this year. This compares to 26 per cent for manufacturing com- panies, 25 per cent construction and 28 per cent for service and 32 per cent distribution companies. “Theft by outsiders’ reported by 36 per cent

of respondents was the most com- mon form of crime.

78 per cent of all respondents iden- tified crime as being a problem in their area, while companies affected by crime experienced more than one instance of crime in the last 12 months.

The direct cost of criminal activity for SMEs is estimated at €472m per annum or €5,890 per company. This figure increases dramatically when added to the €957m or €3,937 spent per company on crime prevention methods including alarms, C.C.TV, security guards etc.

The indirect costs of crime cannot be underestimated, 25 per cent of SMEs who suffered from criminal activity identified disruption to trad- ing as being a particular problem with 15 per cent indicating that crime led to “poor staff morale’.Only 7 per cent of business owners are confident that criminals would be apprehended.

The use of alarms remains the pri- mary weapon for crime prevention, with 73 per cent of companies hav- ing an alarm on their premises. This was followed by 48 per cent who use alarm response and 47 per cent CCTV.

CAPPA has been the long forgotten beach when it comes to visiting west Clare on hot summer days, but this is changing as its clean waters have got yet another seal of approval from the environmental watch dogs.

In June, An Taisce awarded the prestigious International Blue Flag to eight of County Clare’s beaches, including Cappa in Kilrush.

The award represents the high standards in water quality, environ- mental information and education, environmental management and safety, services and facilities avail- able.

Retaining this flag is no small achievement, and the local people are proud, not least Kilrush Town Clerk John Corry.

“IT am delighted that Cappa has re- tained its Blue Flag which it has now held since 2004. This award recog- nises the importance of Cappa as a place of recreation and enjoyment for locals and visitors alike,” he said.

“Tam confident that the local com- munities will continue to work along with Kilrush Town Council to ensure that the high environmental stand- ards that have been achieved are maintained. When visiting Cappa, I would ask everybody to please take responsibility for their litter to en-

sure the high standard achieved in the past can continue 1n the future.”

At present, the playground in Cap- pa is also being upgraded to further enhance this area, encouraging more families to take advantage of these healthy and free facilities.

The Blue Flag award 1s a prestigious environmental eco-label awarded to more than 80 beaches and a small number of marinas in Ireland.

KILKEE Civic Trust has announced the return visit, on Friday, July 31, of singer and songwriter Brian Kennedy, one of the ultimate live performers to have emerged in the last two decades.

He is known as the artist who is blessed with a multitude of talents; singer, songwriter, guitarist, and born communicator, seen and heard on countless TV and radio shows from both sides of the mike. He’s been Ire- land’s ambassador on more than one global music stage; recognised au- thor of a couple of best-selling novels and numerous short stories.

Behind the facade however, there is a different story. It’s been a long, tough haul from the Falls Road, Belfast, his birthplace in 1966, with early years spent at the height of the troubles and the screech of sirens, rather than music, ringing in his ears. Nevertheless, with an uncanny inner strength, he turned horror to advan- tage by harmonising with the sirens, unaware he was nurturing a natural God-given vocal talent that would later earn him the title, ‘a voice to charm the angels’.

Kilkee Civic Trust was set up in November 2001 to nourish the built, spoken and environmental heritage of Kilkee. Among its many activi- ties, the civic trust has taken on the promotion of several musical events over the last number of years, hosting the likes of musician and composer Micheal O Suilleabhain, mezzo so- prano Edel O’Brien as well as the Irish Chamber Orchestra, as part of its summer concert schedule.

This will be Brian’s second visit

to Kilkee, his last visit was in 2005, where he received a rapturous wel- come from a packed St Senan’s GTR NACL NUM KOON MacnlleImeeyre cert on Friday.

Members of the Munster Rugby Supporters Choir will perform the

Opening part of the concert, and will join Brian for a couple of numbers at the end of the night.

THE hunt is on in west Clare on Fri- day afternoon next as visitors and lo- cals prepare to scavenge for all sorts of goodies.

The first Raidid Corca Baiscinn Scavenger Hunt will start at 2pm from the Diamond Rocks Café in Kilkee this Friday.

An outside broadcast by Raidio Corca Baiscinn will coincide with the event. Local businesses have ensured that there will be plenty of goodies to be found, including vouchers for restaurants and places of interest. Spot prizes, including the new Raidio Corca Baiscinn tee- shirts, will be awarded to teams dur- ing the scavenger hunt to keep people on their toes.

Raidio Corca Baiscinn 1s a commu- nity radio station, and a volunteer led organisation.

To celebrate the first new batch of radio volunteers trained earlier this Summer, these new broadcasters will be at the heart of the outside broad- cast during the scavenger hunt, inter- viewing locals and holidaymakers. People interested in learning about Raidio Corca Baiscinn are welcome to come and find out about radio broadcasting during the day.

Entry costs €10 per family or team of five, and all proceeds will go to support Raidi6 Corca Baiscinn, south west Clare’s local community radio.

For information contact Sallyann Marron, Fundraising Co-ordinator on info@raidiocorcabaiscinn.ie or by phoning 065 908 3022.

THE Civil and Public Service union has warned it will not allow public services be damaged by any attempt to force through staff cuts and other changes on foot of the Bord Snip Nua report

The union, one of the largest in the public service warned that it would not accept any attempt by Govern- ment to force through staff cuts and other changes proposed in the report of the so-called Bord Snip Nua. The union said protecting the highest standards and availability of public services was “paramount and a core principle that could not be compro- mised”.

Noting the publication of the re- port, CPSU Deputy General Sec- retary, Eoin Ronayne said it would require further detailed analysis but stressed ’’we have always questioned the purpose and intent of the Bord, as these so-called ‘experts’ repre-

sent the failed recent economic past – consequently anything they have to say about our public services will not be likely to impress”.

He added, the union’s initial ex- amination of the report did little to dispel its concern that this would be a ‘slash and burn’ exercise. “There is past history here, we didn’t share the assessment of the original Bord Snip and it won’t be a surprise that we have yet to find anything in this which suggests our view will be any CUPS CoRo sl mneN Iman salem

Mr. Ronayne said that ultimately it would be up to Government and unions to work through the difficult weeks and months ahead and the CPSU expects “nothing less than the processing of any proposals by the employer through the normal indus- trial relations procedures.”

Meanwhile, SIPTU will hold a press conference in Liberty Hall to- morrow to give it’s “considered re- sponse” to the proposals.

“The recommendations of An Bord Snip Nua represent an exercise in fantasy,’ SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said following the publication of the report. “In fairness to the group their terms of reference focused exclusively on reducing ex- penditure without regard to the eco- nomic and social implications, or the viability of alternative approaches.

This is graphically highlighted in that the Government’s own projec- tions envisage reductions of €1.5 bil- lion in current expenditure for 2010 and the same again in 2011, whereas this report recommends an incred- ible £5.3 billion. The Government’s targets are not achievable without the most severe measures. The recom- mendations of this report are entirely unworkable, unnecessary and down- right counter-productive.”