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WHEN the dust had settled and the rain had dried up, Mike McNamara felt he knew where Clare fell down in their quest to get past the challenge of Galway.

Openly, McNamara cited a higher work-rate from the eventual winners as the main difference between the two sides.

“We thought the big difference was that their work-rate was probably higher than ours. But then as you have seen with this Galway team, they have moved towards a strong work ethic. It’s probably paying divi- dends and it remains to be seen will it pay the final dividend.”

According to McNamara, Clare had put in enough foundation over the past few weeks to merit a strong- er showing on Saturday.

“We had looked good for the last couple of weeks. Training was really, really superb and they were playing really, really well. Because of that I would have thought that a big per- formance was on the cards today. But we seemed to struggle in key areas and we seemed to get the match plan wrong. We tried to adjust as we did against Tipperary and the adjustment

went well against Tipp but today it didn’t go quite as well.

“When I looked at the scoreboard with five minutes to go, I think it said 1-15 for Galway and 1f somebody had told me that this morning I would have thought we would have been on the right side of a win.”

Given the conditions, McNamara felt the wind changed directions dur- ing the game which didn’t exactly help Clare.

“The breeze went the other way for the second half for some strange reason. I don’t know, the breeze actu- ally changed at half-time which can happen in this type of weather. We actually had a very happy dressing room at half-time. Maybe we were not playing as well as we would like but yet we were well in the game. They [Galway] were poorish in the first half as well – they had a lot of bad wides and so had we. So I don’t know really.”

Speaking in broader terms, McNa- mara pointed out that Clare must now look at the structures in place with a view to ensuring the county remains competitive in the future.

“We will have to look at the whole structures and why our level of con- sistency 1S so poor. We have loads

of fellas who drop their heads when they shouldn’t. We need players who should be able to contest with the best and aren’t contesting with the best so we will have to look at the whole area really.”

He was also critical of the fact that Clare must now face into a relegation battle this weekend.

“T don’t know what they [GAA hi- erarchy| are doing really. When you are out of the championship, you are out of the championship so what the hell are they doing? I know all those lads want to do 1s go away from their hurleys for a week or two. They are more disappointed than anybody else and most of them are disappointed in the way they played. And then someone comes in and makes the big announcement that we are up again 1 Cop.4 Mets), eae

Hopefully, for Clare, the Wexford game will produce the one competi- tive win that the county has been seeking for the entire season.

THE nineteenth annual South East Clare show is all set to go again in Bridgetown and preparations are now almost complete for what prom- ises to be a great family day out on July 26.

The first show was in 1990 and the event has only missed one year and that was because of foot and mouth.

At the launch of this year’s show on Friday, the main sponsor, Tom Marsh of Marsh quarries in Broadford was on hand to do the official duty.

“Now highly regarded among the show fraternity, the South East Clare show has a place in the top ten shows in the country,’ said Show Secretary, Pat Duggan.

Catriona Bourke of Yarfield in Clonlara is in charge of the 22 classes in the horse show, including five All Ireland qualifiers and the Limerick Lady Champion 200 qualifier. There will be three driving classes under the supervision of Pat Hayes.

Helen O’Neill will be looking af- ter the working hunter/performance working hunter/show hunter ponies, show riding and side saddle classes, as well as the local pony and lead rein classes.

There are 24 classes in all and this section has attracted huge interest every year.

Show jumping is in the capable hands of Davnet Kiernan O’Brien and there are big entries also expect- ed in this section, which has sixteen ES

Conor Hayes is in charge of the cat- tle section, which has 27 classes.

The dog show portfolio will be looked after by Jim Lonergan and this year there are 13 qualifiers, in- cluding the Gain Dog Food All Ire- land Championship qualifier.

At the launch on Friday was one of the beautifully preserved vintage cars, which will form a new section in the show this year, looked after by enthusiast, Joe English.

Secretary of the ladies section, Bernie English is looking after the home baking section of the show as well as flower section, while Mary Speight will deal with the horticul- tural section.

There is plenty of fun for the youngsters as well, with dodgems

and swings, as well as nine classes including Little Miss, Bonny Baby and children’s fancy dress.

Of course, the judges will be watch- ing out for the best dressed lady.

When show-goers get worn out from the various classes and need refreshment, there are full catering facilities on site.

“The show committee is most ap- preciative of the land owners, the Moynihan and Keenahan families. Without their help it just couldn’t go

on. The committee would also like to thank our sponsors and particular- ly the main sponsor, Tom Marsh, for all they have done,” said Pat.

CLARE County Council has re- neged on a near quarter century old promise to provide a home for Clare Camogie at Doora. The local author- ity gave a commitment in 1985 that the Clare Camogie Board would be given stewardship of a pitch in Doora once all remedial work on the former landfill had been completed.

However, at Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council it was revealed that any pitches developed at the site would be open to a number of sports and managed in a similar way to the development at Lees Road.

A motion on the issue was put forward by Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) and Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) at Monday night’s meeting.

‘The Camogie Board does not have call on any pitch in the county. They have fundraised for different clubs at different times but once it comes to organising a fixture it’s a different Situation,” said Cllr Arkins.

“My understanding was that they would have their own pitch and it was our hope that the Clare Camogie Board would have a home to call their own. They can’t keep playing second fiddle to clubs like this for- ever.”

Speaking on the motion Cllr Hayes called on the local authority to hon- our “the commitment that was given to the Camogie Board”’.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (IND) who was present for the 1985 decision called on the local authority to re- consider their options.

“What is outlined here in not what was agreed by the council on the day. Lees road was never mentioned at the time — it didn’t even exist at the time. The agreement was made was for a ground for their exclusive use in Doora,” she said.

The council proposal involves the development of two pitches on Zone 1 of the old dump in Doora. A pro- posal to include ladies football as part of any compromise deal was also shelved on Monday.

MICHELLE Bradley is putting art and soul into a new venture for Kil- Tatts ep

The qualified psychotherapist has opened a space “Art & Soul’ in Place de Plouzane to encourage people to become involved in art therapy.

In her final year in her Masters in Art Therapy at the Crawford College in Cork, the Dublin-native has plans to introduce as many people as pos- sible to the process, and encourage other qualified practitioners to bring the therapy to smaller towns and vil- lages around west Clare and beyond.

For now however, Ms Bradley, who moved to west Clare 11 years ago, is keen that as many people as possible experience art therapy, which she de- scribes as “a healing tool’.

Michelle, herself discovered the therapy when she did a work shop a number of years ago. With an interest in art and as a qualified psychothera- pist, she decided to study the therapy and joined the MA course.

She did her first college placement with the Kilrush Youth Centre where she saw the benefits of the therapy first hand.

“It is instantaneous. If I was doing talk therapy with you it could take me a long time to get to that point, because you are all the time going to talk about what you think the issue might be, or what you think I might want to hear.

“With the art it 1s direct. I don’t interpret your artwork; you do that

yourself, because everyone has their own symbols. It is for you to interpret it, we can talk about it, and we can do a one-on-one and talk about it. Or you don’t have to talk about it. You are getting it out,’ she explained.

“It is like the most intelligent part is going to lead the way. It is a very gentle process.”

The process can be used with any age group from toddlers to the eld- erly, and people with all abilities in- cluding anyone with a mental, physi-

cal or educational disability.

Everyone is invited to take part in the creative process to work through issues, merely find out more about themselves.

If it all feels a bit too much the Slate, or in this case the white board, can be wiped clean and you can start eNeee HOE

Parent and children, teenagers and adults all use the space. Michelle also works with groups, and one on oiler

The charge for the therapy is €10, and Michelle is already working to- wards getting sponsorship to retain that reduced rate next year.

She argues that therapy such as this is beneficial to the community and should be available to all. Therefore she is hoping to gain sponsorship or a grant to help keep is accessible to “Ne

THE Rachel O’Dwyer Memorial Award keeps not only the memory of the late schoolgirl alive, but also the strong tradition of Irish music among Quilty school children.

This year the award went to sixth class student Eoin Shannahan, a tal- ented accordian player who won the school’s Board of Management mu- sic award two years ago.

The Board of Management Award

coincides with the Rachel O’ Dwyer Award each year, and the winner of both prizes receives a certificate and have their fees paid at the Willie Clancy Summer School.

Fifth class student and accordion player Darragh Moloney won the Board of Management Award this year.

Rachel’s mother Rita sponsors the prize in memory of her daughter.

Rachel, who was a pupil at Quilty National School died from encepha-

litis in November 1999, aged just 10 years old.

While the brave young girl is re- membered often by the school, she is remembered in a special way each year when the most promising music student is chosen.

Quilty National School encourages all of its pupils to learn music and follow in the footsteps of local mu- sical heroes such as Paddy Galvin, John Fennell, Joe Cunneen, Michael Falsey and JP Downes.

All 43 pupils learn a musical in- strument during music classes in the school, and it is through music their late colleague and fellow pupil is teyatelennere

TWO north Clare natives are this week beginning a month-long pro- gramme to teach computer skills to poor children in Africa. Anne Marie Gray from Lisdoonvarna and Mick Quinn from Doolin departed for Dublin last week to give a four week intensive course in Ethiopia.

The pair are part of an 83 strong party of Irish volunteers who will be teaching in seven African countries throughout the month of July. They will be joined on the trip by fel- low Clare native Mary Woods from Newmarket-on-Fergus who is travel-

ling to Tanzania.

The trip is being organised by the Camera Group, which is an Irish charity promoting sustainable devel- opment in Africa. Camera refurbish thousands of old computers each year and ship them for re-use in a number of African countries.

The volunteers, who come from a range of backgrounds, including IT, teachers and students, will be teach- ing basic to advanced computer skills to teachers in schools in Kenya, Ethi- opa, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Le- sotho and Zambia.

“This 1s so important to provide training in computer skills for the

teachers of the schools who have Ca- mara’s refurbished computers,” said Cormac Lynch, CEO of Camara. “Our teachers will spend a month giving courses from basic computer skills to advanced networking. Each computer can be of major benefit to 200 students, but only if there is good transfer of teaching knowledge to the teachers in the first place.” Camara is an Irish-based registered charity, based in the Digital Hub, which equips schools in Africa with refurbished computers, educational software and IT training. Camara recently celebrated sending out its 10,000 computer to a school in Tan-

zania.

Camara takes in computers from businesses that would be sent for recycling otherwise, securely wipes the hard drive and tracks, cleans and upgrades the computers so that they will run an operating system reliably and have a long second lease of life in Africa. Camara’s computers come from large and medium-sized com- panies including PWC, KBC Bank, ESB and the Department of Finance.

For detail about the the project and how to become a volunteers or do- nate unused computers contact con- tact Leonora Lowe on 085 7057764 and leonora@camara.ie.

Quin anger over Abbey car park

THE continued closure of the car- park at Quin Abbey is causing an- noyance to locals, who say that the business community in the area is suffering as a result.

The lock remains on the gate of the carpark and residents who live in the village cannot understand why their calls to re-open it have fallen on deaf ears. They are further incensed by

the fact that their calls for signage — outlining opening hours, the abbey’s history and other relevant informa- tion — have not achieved a positive response.

Junior Finance Minister Martin Manseragh visited the abbey in May and locals said they felt that their concerns were listened to on that oc- or ISTO) F

However, Helen Lowe, who is a member of the local development

committee, said there 1s much frus- tration in the village because of the lack of progress. While a caretaker is employed there, opening hours and information are not available for tourists who may wish to visit the ab- erentA

The group is pleased to learn that the Abbey will open during Novem- ber — the month of the Holy Souls – but say more good news should fol- low.

“It is the last remaining intact, me- dieval village in Clare and the OPW will not put the proper signage at the public access to utilise the abbey to its true potential,’ said Ms Lowe.

“Having a list of opening hours is critical because a lot of tourist buses come to Quin. Also there is confu- sion in the village. People don’t know where the public entrance 1s,” she added.

‘Thousands of euro has been spent on the public entrance and a new bridge has been installed. However the gate remains locked and the car- park is not occupied. It has space for 40 cars and coaches and minibuses,” she said.

The local development committee contacted the OPW and was told that signage would be put in place and ne- gotiations would take place in rela- tion to opening the carpark. However they are not happy with this as they want action immediately.

“We are coming into August, the last remaining month of the tourist season. The businesses are losing money, she added.

“We are not asking the OPW to spend money. This is a carpark that is available. It doesn’t need any at- tention. We need organisation and feedback. It’s frustrating,’ she said.

“We would like the OPW to ad- dress the signage issue first of all,” added Ms Lowe.

EACH farmer in the environmental- ly sensitive Burren area is to receive an average of €6,000 over the next three years to insure the survival of the threatened Burren landscape.

A new €3 million fund was an- nounced by the Department of Agri- culture last week which will directly fund Burren farming to introduce farm techniques which will reverse the encroachment of scrub on the karst Burren landscape.

The funding will be used to intro- duce a Burren wide roll out of many of the ideas developed by the Burren- LIFE Project over the last five years. It does not, however, guarantee the continuation of the project past this August.

“This is the best day of my farming lite. This decision is way bigger that the initial EC funding of the pilot phase of BurrenLIFE,” said head of the Burren IFA, Michael Davoren.

“It represents a very serious buy by the Department of Agriculture for the work being undertaken by Bur- ren farmers. It is now critical that the Department of the Environment fund the operational side of project and ensure that the project offices and team are retained.”

Should the BurrenLIFE Project not receive a late funding reprieve from the Department of the Environment or other sources, it is not clear who will oversee the €3 million invest- ment.

“This is a stunning statement of support for the Burren, its farmers and the innovative BurrenLIFE ap- proach to farming for conservation,’ said Brendan Dunford, Project Man- ager of the BurrenLIFE Project.

‘“BurrenLIFE is a very focused and targeted scheme, all of its actions are carefully researched and closely monitored. The strict emphasis on delivering tangible, measurable re- sults and good value for money are so critical now that resources are so tight.”

Dunford also paid tribute to the

project team of Sharon Parr, Ruairi OQ Conchtir and James Moran as well as Sean Regan from Teagasc for the work done on the project and se- curing the funding.

Meanwhile, Clare TD, Tony Kil- leen has confirmed that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, will visit the Burren region over the coming weeks to be briefed on the BurrenLIFE Project.

AN estimated 2,000 Clare farmers are facing a bleak financial future following the Department of Agri- culture’s shock closure of the REPS 4 scheme last Thursday.

Some 35,000 Irish farmers will fin- ish their environmental plans over the next three years and will now not be allowed to join the REPS 4 scheme.

The effects of this will be felt by some 2,000 Clare farmers who will also now have to plan with a further reduced Disadvantaged Area Scheme payments from 2010. The IFA called an emergency Executive Council in Portlaoise last Friday to discuss the

situation.

Mr Walshe called on the Minis- ter for Agriculture, Brendan Smith to immediately come forward with a new meaningful scheme for the farmers effected by the latest round of cuts. “The previous budget cuts plus this proposed cut will hit the hard pressed livestock sector espe- cially hard,” he said.

‘Farmers are outraged at these de- cisions at a time when farm incomes are at their lowest level in almost a decade and tens of thousands of farm families are struggling to survive.”

The ICSA Rural Development Chairman, Gabriel Gilmartin has said the news of the closure of REPS 4 is another nail in the coffin of farm-

ers and will cause many to question their future in farming.

“This decision is wholly unaccept- able and is further evidence of a total lack of understanding on the Govern- ment’s part of what measures are in fact needed to encourage economic activity in rural Ireland,” he said.

“Under the new agri environment scheme farmers will have to apply without knowing whether they will be accepted or not and they will have no idea what the rate of payment will be. Modulated money was intended to create additional rural develop- ment funding, not to facilitate the elimination of existing schemes.”

Meanwhile, while announcing the cuts, the Minister for Agriculture

also announced proposals for spend- ing €207 million in EU funding for Irish farmers over the next four years.

These proposals relate to the use of unspent Single Payment Scheme and Modulation funds and the European Economic Recovery Programme from 2010. The minister said that his proposals reflected the outcome of consultations with the various stake- holders over recent months.

In addition to this Minister Smith confirmed details of a new €113 million targeted scheme for on-farm investment to support a number of specific categories of farmers and focused on supporting productive in- vestment.