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THIS Thursday, over 30 cyclists from Clare will take on the Malin to Mizen challenge for the Clare Cru- saders charity. The group will depart Ennis on Wednesday evening to be- gin the cycle at 10am in Donegal on Thursday morning.

On Friday, they cycle from Sligo to Kinvara and Saturday sees the group wheel into Clare. From there, they continue to Tralee on Saturday evening before taking off on Sunday morning for the final leg of the trip to Mizen Head in Cork.

In total, the group will cover in ex- cess of 400 miles over the course of the four days.

“We’re hoping that everybody will come out and support the cyclists as they pass through Clare on Satur-

day,” said Ann Norton of the Clare Crusaders.

The Clare route and times for The Malin to Mizen Cycle have also been confirmed this week. The group Wheel out of Kinvara at 9.30am on Saturday morning before arriving into Ballyvaughan at 10.15am. They continue to Doolin and are expected to arrive there at 11.30 before stop- ping in Liscannor for 45 minutes at 12.15. From there, they reach Lahi- nch at 1.15pm before arriving at Mil- town (2.15pm), Quilty (2.45pm) and Kilrush (3.45pm).

They then continue the trip by the Killimer Ferry before cycling to Tralee that evening.

“The Clare Crusaders was formed in 2005 by Howard Flannery to help parents and families of children with special needs achieve a better qual-

ity of life,’ explains Ann Norton. “In 2007 we opened our first clinic where we provide a variety of serv- ices to over 120 children with special needs in the areas of Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Down Syndrome and a vari- ety of other conditions. All children are welcome and the services pro- vided include speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physi- otherapy and special education. Due to the increasing demand for our services, this year we opened a larger clinic in Barefield.”

Next week, you can follow the progress of the Crusaders cyclists when four of those taking part will document their experience for The Clare People.

To keep up to date with the cycle, log onto the Clare Crusaders website and to sponsor the charity.

SHANNON Airport has suffered a 19 per cent drop in transatlantic traf- fic for the first six months of the year as the recession impacts on the air- port’s long-haul routes.

Figures from the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) confirm that overall passenger numbers dropped by 7 per cent to 1.4m with the airport unlikely to hit 3 million passengers a year for the first time since 2004.

A spokeswoman for the SAA said that while airport management was disappointed with the decline, the results are better than those being experienced by many international airports worldwide.

The 19 per cent drop in transat- lantic traffic for the first six months follows a 19 per cent drop during the first six months of last year with the introduction of the ‘open skies’ re- gime on the US routes.

The number of US passengers trav- elling through Shannon dropped from 262,858 to 212,915 compared with the 325,438 who travelled on the routes in the first six months of 2007 before the recession and the in- troduction of open skies.

The numbers are expected to drop further in the second half of 2009 as carriers such as Aer Lingus and Delta reduce their services to the US

over the winter months.

Airport Director, Martin Moroney said that while the figures were dis- appointing, a reduction was expected because of open skies.

“Transatlantic services have been affected by the economic downturn, but we have worked extremely hard to retain them through the provision OLN e-VENCOMOloa/esOjeeeloNlmnNes TEA Loe

“Tt is vital that transatlantic servic- es continue to be successful as it is a very important segment of our traffic and a major contributor to both in- dustrial and tourism development.

‘European traffic showed a decline of 3 per cent mainly due to are- duction in services offered by tour operators to the traditional sun des- tinations, because of the economic Abn sers ites

“Traffic on the London routes re- mains the same as last year, though this may increase when Aer Lingus increases its service to Heathrow. Traffic on UK regional routes 1s down by 8 per cent and is expected to decrease further in the remainder of the year.

“We will be introducing efficien- cies and cost savings in our operation while capitalising on the introduction of full US pre-clearance on July 29 which will assist in attracting more business including British Airways and corporate jets’, he said.

THE Clare Under 18s booked their place in the All-Ireland semi finals with a great win over Galway in Ard- rahan on Wednesday evening.

This was a very tough and physical game but Clare looked sharper from the start and their first touch was ex- Aes

Clare opened the scoring with a fine point from Ogonnelloe’s Roisin O’Brien in the second minute and Aishling Hannon added to this with another point a minute later.

The sixth minute saw Galway’s Laura Mitchell send a dropping ball into the Clare square which was saved by goalkeeper Ailish Consid- Tne

Roisin O’Brien was causing a lot of problems at the edge of the Galway square and was fouled in the Galway square for the games first penalty in the 10th minute.

Chloe Morey stood up to the park and sent the ball in low and hard which the Galway goalie Helen Campbell saved and put out for a “45. Shonagh Enright’s “45 just went left of the post and wide.

The 17th minute saw Galway get their first score of the game when Ni- amh McGrath pointed.

This was cancelled out when Roisin O’Brien was on target again with a pointed free a minute later. Galway’s Christina Brennan sent a dropping ball into the Clare square which was

caught by Chloe Morey who sent the ball up the field to Katie Cahill whose shot just went left of the post in the 19th minute.

The last seven minutes saw Galway coming into the game and the Clare backline under a lot of pressure.

A clearance from Niamh Martin which came to Niamh McGrath saw Galway get their second point of the game in the 23rd minute.

Rebecca Hennelly added to this with another point with 5 minutes to go. Roisin O’Brien was on target again from a pointed free after she was fouled.

Clare went in at the break a point ahead and the second half saw Gal-

way edge ahead with Niamh Mc- Grath pointing from a free and Fi- nola Keely pointing from play in the first three minutes.

Clare got a free after a foul on Lou- ise Woods, which Roisin McMahon took. She sent the ball into the Gal- way square and after a scramble, the ball came to Roisin O’Brien who sent it across the Galway square to Aish- ling Hannon who goaled in the 34th eOBUSLUL en

Roisin McMahon added to this when she pointed from a free after she was fouled in the seventh minute of the second half.

A Roisin O’Brien shot on goal was saved by Helen Cambell who put

it out for a “45 in the 42nd minute which Clare’s captain Roisin McMa- hon converted to a point.

Rebecca Hennelly had her second score of the game when she pointed in the 44th minute to leave a goal be- tween the teams. Roisin McMahon added to her scoring tally when she pointed from a free after Katie Ca- hill was fouled in the 46th minute.

Galway got their final score of the game when Amanda Lynch pointed after a pass from Rebecca Hennelly in the 49th minute.

Clare’s Katie Cahill put the game out of Galway’s reach when she go- aled in the 50th minute after a great run up the centre.

Louise Woods had the final score of the game when she pointed in the 59th minute after a great run up the centre.

Galway weren’t finished yet and Finola Keely sent a great shot in on Clare’s goal which was caught by Ailish Considine and cleared.

Injury time saw Galway get the second penalty of the game but Ail- ish Considine was up to the task and brought off a great save for the final action of the match.

INDEPENDENT councillor Patricia McCarthy has taken issue with the wording of a motion proposed by Sinn Fein’s Cathy McCafferty, in re- lation to community grants, at Shan- non Town Council.

In a motion before the council last week, Ms McCafferty — a newly- elected councillor – called for the community initiative fund to be fully transparent and that public consulta- tion be part of the process.

However, Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said she had dif-

ficulty with the way the motion was worded. “It implies the system we had wasn’t transparent. It has stood the test of time. It is based on the principle of providing community services for all of the community. It is disingenuous of people to 1m- ply something unethical was _ tak- ing place. Remember, this is a town council initiative,’ she said.

Cllr McCafferty replied that she had not intended to imply this. “At no stage in my proposal did I attempt to make a slight on the councillors that are here or have been here for a long time. We represent the public. I feel

it’s very important to have members of the public present at any forum,” she said.

The Mayor of Shannon, Cllr Sean McLoughlin (FG) said meetings in relation to community grants are generally held in committee.

Earlier in the meeting, Cllr Mc- Cafferty asked did the chairpersons of the MPCs (municipal policy com- mittees) reflect the full representa- tion of the council, according to the guidelines. Her query came after Mike Fleming (FG) and Mary Bren- nan (FG) were appointed chairper- sons of the two MPCs, at the AGM

of the council last month.

She pointed out that under the guidelines, the political represen- tation of the council should be re- flected. “It would appear to me that the appointment of two from the same political party or same political grouping is contrary to guidelines,” She said. However, the town man- ager Bernadette Kinsella said it was a matter for the council “to make the necessary appointments so long as they do that by majority decision’.

“To the best of my recollection there wasn’t any counter proposals on the night,” said Ms Kinsella.

LIKE the drawn game a week pre- vious, this was another game where the conditions had a big bearing on the outcome. A strong gale blew for most of the hour of football and play- ing with the wind, St Joseph’s took the initiative in the opening half.

From early on, Colm Mullen buzzed about and he struck over the first score of the game after four minutes. He followed this up with his sec- ond score of the game and wedged between these two scores was a fine point by Paul Dullaghan.

Ballyvaughan did manage to rally and a point from James Hynes looked like it would keep them in touch. Still, though, St Joseph’s continued to take the game to their opponents. Once more, they had a solid display at midfield from Mark Hallinan and Mark Rafferty and slowly, as the half edged on, they took control of the game.

By now, Enda Lyons had also set- tled into the rhythm of the game and was putting in a solid performance while John Heavey — playing his sec-

ond game of the day — was also con- tributing well and picking up plenty of possession.

When Paul Dullaghan added St Joseph’s fourth point of the game — to be followed quickly by a free from Enda Lyons — a decent gap had be- gun to emerge and St Joseph’s went in well ahead at the break on a score- line of 0-6 to O-1.

With the wind, though, it wasn’t as if Ballyvaughan were out of things and they looked like rallying as the second half got underway but never really looked like clawing back the deficit.

When Keith Whelan picked up his second yellow card of the afternoon Ballyvaughan had the wind and nu- merical advantage but they began to waste an amount of possession and shots began to drift past the post.

Substitute Jason Walsh knocked over his side’s fourth point of the game on 48 minutes and if Bal- lyvaughan were going to make the final, they needed to press ahead in the last ten minutes. They failed to do so and finished those 12 minutes without a score.

The game was put beyond doubt a minute from time when St Joseph’s substitute and Clare minor Cathal Nolan came on and crashed home the only goal of the game.

THE youth service in Shannon co- ordinates a wide-ranging programme for young people in the town. One of its initiatives, the Shannon Music Project, 1s currently looking for local adult volunteers who have a keen in- terest in music.

The scheme organises music events, workshops and performances for young people aged between 15 and 25 in Shannon.

The project is particularly inter- ested in recruiting volunteers who have specific talents in drums, song writing, sound engineering or guitar.

A practice space can be booked and equipment is available for practice sessions. Times are agreed with the youth workers in advance.

Every school term the music project committee plans and organises mu- sic events in the Respond Building in Rineanna View. The main events organised are bands nights where lo- cal Shannon bands and guest bands from other music projects showcase

their musical talents in front of an audience of adoring fans.

There are also acoustic nights at the Kick Back Café. For those looking for a quieter night out, the Shannon Music Project Acoustic nights are also an attractive option.

Anyone interested in playing at an acoustic event can just simply put their name forward on the night. Ad- mission is only €3 and there is free tea/coffee and biscuits served at all acoustic nights.

The youth service actively organ- ises events for young people in the town. It opened its exam café again this year at The Respond Commu- nity Building, Rineanna View dur- ing the examinations. This was the fourth year of the café and students were very enthusiastic about it.

Last month, the youth club hosted a group of young people from Omagh, who were visiting as part of an ex- change. The group was enjoying a break in Clare and were also treat- ed to a reception by Shannon Town Council.

FRANK Doherty stepped down as Clare manager in the immediate af- termath of his side’s defeat to Done- gal in Ballybofey on Saturday night.

The Galway man, who led Caltra to an All Ireland club title in 2004, an- nounced his decision to the players in the dressing room, thus ending his two-year tenure as manager of The Banner.

“I had a good chat with the lads, thanked them all for the effort and the 100 per cent they’ve given me for the last two years,” he said, as play- ers silently filed by, heads bowed reflecting on another championship consigned to the history books.

“We did our best and introduced a lot of young lads to the squad and I think it will be onwards and up- wards for Clare. I will never have a bad word to say about Clare. I will be watching results from here and be hoping they get out of Division Four. It’s not going to get easier, if anything it will get tougher.

“The fact of the matter is that eve- ryone in Clare should be putting their shoulder to the wheel and making themselves available to be involved with the county. That new manage- ment team will have a great opportu- nity going forward if that happens.”

Clare were the raging underdog on Saturday night against a Donegal side that was expected to win handsome- ly, despite just stuttering through the last couple of weeks.

However, Clare can feel aggrieved not to have forced extra-time. David Tubridy found the back of the Don- egal net for a second-time (having netted a penalty in the first-half) late on, but he was somewhat harshly pulled back for picking the ball di- rect from the floor.

“I thought David Tubridy was un- lucky,” said a despondent Doherty after the game. “I asked him (referee, Martin Higgins) beforehand what he was going to be strict on and he said

that he really wanted the foot beside the ball.

“David Tubridy picked the ball off the ground with his foot, stuck the ball in the back of the net and he pulled him back. Little things like that didn’t happen today.

“That was a bit of a shock to the system. From where I was I thought it was a legitimate goal and where everyone else was, but there you go.

“We needed the rub of the green. We needed a ball to bounce at the right time at the right stage during the game and that was critical. We needed to be a bit cuter when we got possession on the ball, not to be turned over as much. Donegal, in their own backyard, are a serious team for anyone.”

Clare were down five players from their Munster semi-final defeat to Limerick, but despite this and the long journey they put on a commend- able showing.

“We lost by three points after a long journey with a weakened side. Treo mA (oa as cOlU(C MO) mnelemE-leKm- nw told them,’ Doherty continued.

‘At the end of the day, it’s not about being proud and losing, it’s about be- ing proud and winning. It was there and it was in the melting pot.

“T wouldn’t say that we could have taken the game, but we put up a good show against Donegal, a Division One team. We had a couple of good chances in the game. Frank (O’Dea) had a good chance in the first-half when the ‘keeper kicked it out and it lashed over his hand, otherwise it was an open goal.

“I’m not being disrespectful to any- one here, because we were five points down, threw a couple of points over the bar to get it back to three. We had a couple of opportunities at the end, but in the end it was probably wee bit of quality that we lacked.”

MEASURES to curb anti-social be- haviour in the vicinity of St Aidan’s primary school in Shannon have been suggested by gardai. Crime Preven- tion Officer in the Clare Garda Di- vision, Sergeant Joe Downey visited the area recently, in the wake of con- cern being expressed about young people converging on the area and drinking alcohol.

Sgt Downey, in a letter to the mayor of Shannon, Cllr Sean McLoughlin and the principal of St Aidan’s, Ger Loughnane, made a number of rec- ommendations on assisting in curb- ing anti-social behaviour.

“The area is surrounded by ma- ture trees, which are of such height and width that they are obstructing good natural surveillance on the area and are providing cover for people engaged in criminal behaviour,” he wrote.

He suggested that all trees sur- rounding school property should be pruned upwards to a minimum of two metres, to assist natural surveil- lance from pedestrians, nearby hous- es and passing motorists. He said that a number of trees at the eastern edge of the school, back to where the first public light is situated, should be removed to allow for a clear line of sight through the right of way.

Public lighting in the area should be

upgraded, to high pressure sodium lighting. “This will add vitality to the area, enhancing its attractiveness and reassure and reduce the feeling of vulnerability to those using the place for recreational purposes,” he said.

He recommended that all local au- thority property should be subjected to good housekeeping and all bushes should be pruned to allow for good natural surveillance, while gaps should be closed off.

‘The pedestrian routes should have a good open aspect, be well lit and give a good level of surveillance. The pedestrian should be able to view the full length of the path on entry, rather than negotiate blind corners or recesses,’ added Sgt Downey.

Some of the boundary fences should be repaired and the top railing should be constructed of such material and design that it would discourage peo- ple from sitting on them.

He also said that barriers should be put in place to prevent children from exiting alone and in an unsafe man- ner, given that the school borders public roads. He said that regular pa- trolling from gardai by car, bicycle and on foot is important as it would ensure a high visibility presence in the area, and prompt attention to re- quests for Garda assistance by mem- bers on duty is also essential.

AN award winning film by the Coen Brothers a couple of years back was titled “No Country For Old Men’.

It purported to demonstrate a ruth- less, consuming determination to achieve a goal. I was reminded of it at Cusack Park on Saturday evening. We had too many old and tired Jae NaLeisy

Old ideas, old hurling, and old fail- ings. Both on the field and off it. No ruthless determination to change them. Once again the management stood idly by whilst the game slipped away. After a quarter of an hour it was in Gort and well on the way to Galway. Almost a replica of the Gaelic Grounds against Tipp.

After the events of this year all faith has evaporated. Of course there was never much justification for having any faith in the first instance. No evi- dence that when the going got tough and real knowledge and understand- ing of how games should be won was required.

No inspiration was forthcoming and it is now past the time for genu- ine Clare GAA people to realise that at senior inter-county level Clare hurling is a bit of a joke.

The approach to the NHL was full of arrogance, ignorance, and nonsense. Every league game must be taken seriously. Teams are built and honed there. When did you last hear Brian Cody say that the league, or any game, was unimportant and that Kilkenny’s focus was just on the championship?

Instead we had talk about present- ing ourselves well and restoring pride in the jersey. Clare hurling does not

deserve this kind of nonsense that has nothing to do with winning games.

All year we had failure in man- management and selection and a failure to compromise and sacrifice the managerial ego for the common good. The Quinn and O’Connell epi- sodes demonstrated this. At the 12th hour Nicky O’Connell was brought into the panel. On Saturday evening he was listed at No 30 and neither played or introduced.

Back to 2007 for a moment. Then the manager, who had led the team to a win over the Tribesmen at Cusack Park, and on to the All-Ireland quar- ter-final against the eventual finalists Limerick, was shamefully shafted.

It’s a long road that hasn’t a turning. We await with interest what will be done now after the most disastrous year ever in Clare senior hurling. It was a year in which the team was rel- egated to Division 2 and taking part in the Relegation Championship.

We can now prepare to wear the jersey with pride and present our- selves well in this hell-hole. Should Clare hurling followers continue to live with a system that has brought this situation about? Isn’t it time that this Clare managerial setup took a look at itself and do the decent and honourable thing?

A brief look at the game.

Clare had so many positional switches that instead of confusing Galway they seemed to be confused themselves. Midfield was so crowded that neither Griffin or Vaughan could function to real effect.

If the intention is to make space for players who can hurl then it is surely counter productive to crowd that space yourself. Though he was

no great shakes in the first half it was astonishing to see Griffin planted at centre forward after half time and dispatched to the line after a couple of minutes. It smacked of complete panic.

At the end of the League I warned here that most of the Clare defend- ers that I had seen were off the pace for championship hurling. James McInerney and Pat Donnellan apart, the Clare defence was outran all evening.

Cyril Donnellan ran Brendan Bu- gler ragged and put away a hatful of scores. Bugler must learn that deny- ing his opponent scores is the key to defensive play. Philip Brennan, who saved the Banner from an even big- ger thrashing, can hit long ball and it was pathetic to see a plethora of short puck-outs in the first half. Where were all those supposed giants in the Clare attack who should be able to field the ball in the clouds? Another myth of Clare hurling.

Ollie Canning mopped up the Ban- ner attack at his ease. In the time that they were on the field Barry Nugent and John Conlon scored three points. Surely they should have been in from Wetomce-v ames

Several clear facts emerged from Saturday evening’s debacle. The first is that Clare hurling, apart from the obvious sideline failings, 1s very un- derskilled.

Until we remedy this we won’t compete at the highest level.

NORTH Clare is reeling this morn- ing following a series of unrelated accidents which claimed the lives of two men in the space of just three hours on Sunday evening.

An 81-year-old man, named locally as Mickey Conroy, died on his farm in Tubber on Sunday evening when his tractor jolted forward unexpect- edly, fatally injuring him.

According to locals Mr Conroy was an expert mechanic and a lover of all

things mechanical and was showing his tractor to a farm visitor when the accident took place.

Gardai are investigating the incident and a seprate inquiry is expected to be launched by the Health and Safety Authority in the coming days.

Mr Conroy is survived by his wife and four daughters who all live in the area.

Just three hours earlier a French national lost his life in nearby Bal- lyreen in Doolin when he lost his footing and fell into the ocean.

The man was fishing off the rocks in Ballyreen at the time. The alarm was raised by his family shortly after Spm and the Doolin Coastguard and the Shannon-based Coastguard Heli- copter were on the scene in minutes. He was taken from the water by the Irish Coastguard helicopter and air- lifted to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where he died a short time later.

The man is a French national but has been living in Birr in County Of- faly for a number of years. Gardai are

delaying naming the man until his family in France can be contacted.

Eight members of the Doolin Coastguard were preparing to be transported by the Coastguard Hell1- copter to help search for a 4/-year- old man on Inis Oirr when the alarm was raised in Ballyreen.

The man, from Derry, was on a family holiday and was last seen around 10pm on Saturday evening. Members of the Doolin Coastguard were on Inis Oirr yesterday to assist with the ongoing search effort.

Meanwhile, another man died on board a transatlantic jet which was forced to divert and land at Shannon Airport on Friday morning.

Silom Coase N (ctl a WN Usb Ne aUPUOLEIAY SKS travelling from London to Atlanta, Georgia when the crew contacted air traffic controllers at Shannon re- questing permission to land there.

A passenger who suffered a sus- pected heart attack was pronounced dead at the airport before his body was removed to the Mid Western Re- gional Hospital in Limerick.