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TONY Mulcahy was overjoyed at becoming the mayor of Clare, but the icing wasn’t put on the cake until his daughter Coleen scooped gold in the Munster finals of the Special Olym- pics two days later.

It was a particularly joyous week- end for the first citizen and his fami- ly. On Friday afternoon Mr Mulcahy (50) was elected mayor of the county, while his proud family sat in the gal- lery of the council chamber. A per- fect weekend was sealed on Sunday when Coleen (17) won gold in the 25 metres run in the Mardyke in Cork.

Coleen, who is Tony and Carmel’s youngest daughter, has global devel- opmental delay. She has won several medals in Special Olympics over the past few years. She was overjoyed to win the gold last week, with her club Shannon Flyers Special Olympics.

“We had a wedding on Sunday so we weren’t there. I met her coming off the bus and she threw the two arms around me. There was fierce excitement to see her win the gold. It was a fantastic achievement,’ said sXe

His own achievement was remark- able, but he was modest in his reflec- tion of it. “The greater success would be hers. A lot of work goes into it and they have a great club and are very professional at what they do,” he said.

The support between them is mu- tual as Coleen has a huge interest

in her father’s political career. She regularly attends functions with him and she stole the show by making a speech after Tony topped the poll in the Shannon Town Council election count – at St Tola’s National School – earlier this month.

‘She loves the occasion, the excite- ment and all that goes with it,” said Nour lanoe

“She is very special to us. There is huge commitment from those in- volved in the Special Olympics. The way it has worked out has been tre- mendous. They are out there every Saturday morning training and this is a great return for them. They work very hard,” he added.

The club won six gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the games

and the success means that Coleen and some of her team mates will compete in the national games next year. No doubt her proud daddy will support her every step of the way!

€15 MILLION is to be invested by the European Commission and Irish Government in retraining the 1,900 Dell workers who will lose their jobs this year – in what could become the biggest retraining venture ever un- (Saki coon beMs elom Kota (DEE

YOUNG Irish entrepreneur, Gavin Dunne (no relation to Ben!) returned home this week to launch Ireland’s second tendering website for ideal for businesses and consumers in Clare, www.zumpty.ie.

The site filters and matches con- sumer briefs with supplier quotes ac- cording to location, price or timeline. Zumpty.ie is also unique in that it allows customers to leave feedback. and also serves as a listing service for businesses.

Zumpty.ie is free to anyone search- ing for a listing or quote while com- panies or service providers pay a once off annual fee.

As a promotion to launch the web- site, Zumpty.ie is offering the first three months for free to companies in Clare registering for one year. Visit Wwww.zumpty.ie/subscription/ supplier.php for more details.

28 year old Gavin, founder of zump- ty.ie says: “Unlike similar websites, Zumpty.ie offers a comprehensive set of marketing tools to small busi- nesses in Clare including a webpage option, quotes via text alert, a listing service and a reference facility all for a one off annual fee. What’s more it’s simple and easy to use for both con- sumers and businesses!”

CLARE County Council has been brought to court, accused of al- lowing water untreated for the bug cryptosporidium into the Ennis wa- ter system.

The case is being brought by the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) against the council in relation to a five-month period last year.

The council is accused of breach- ing an EPA directive to cease the practice of allowing water to bypass a new temporary treatment plant for cryptosporidium, between May | to October 21 last year.

Solicitor for Clare County Council

Marina Keane told Ennis District Court on Thursday that there was consent to adjourn the case until September.

“The parties require an adjourn- ment for the purpose of setting up a meeting to narrow the issues,” she said. Judge Joseph Mangan agreed to the adjournment.

WITH six houses remaining in the very attractive Pairc Na hEaghleasa development in Corofin village, sell- ing agents DNG O’Sullivan Hurley have announced a fantastic incentive, whereby the first five purchasers will automatically be entered into a draw to win the sixth and final house.

Douglas Hurley explained, “The odds are excellent and despite market conditions we expect a very positive response, especially as these superb houses are very competitively priced at just €200,000, and they are fur- nished”’.

Located behind the Heritage Cen- tre, in the heart of Corofin and built by Danny Devine Construction, the semi-detached houses are being sold with a full internal finish. The price alone represents outstanding value for money, the chance to win a sec- ond house is better still, but it’s the design and the high standard of fin- ish that truly sets these houses apart from others on the market.

These houses are very stylishly designed both externally and inter- nally. Features include a slate roof, traditional style sash windows with double-glazing and fully finished in- terior.

The accommodation comprises an entrance hall, spacious lounge, a din-

ing area that opens onto the smartly fitted kitchen and a guest WC, all at ground floor level. Upstairs there are three bedrooms, with the master bedroom en-suite, plus the family bathroom.

This development occupies a visu- ally appealing site, with mature trees to the rear and open spaces to the fore.

Corofin has always been a popular

village, but with the opening of the Ennis by-pass and specifically the in- terchange at Claureen, it has become much more accessible to the com- muter bases in Ennis, Shannon and Limerick.

Corofin village also offers a host of excellent amenities.

For further information or to ar- range a viewing contact DNG O’Sullivan Hurley at 065 6820400

A MAJOR step has been taken by Ennis National School in securing the go-ahead for a new school after a 10 year struggle.

This follows the Ennis primary school securing planning permission to construct a new 32-class school building at Ashline on the Kilrush Rd — one kilometre from the current site.

School Board of Management member, Larry Brennan said that he hopes that the students will be enter- ing the new school building for the

2011-12 school year in September 2011. The granting of the permis- sion coincides with the retirement of school principal, Gary Stack who has fought for the new school over the past 10 years. A special mass and dinner was held over the weekend in Ennis to mark Mr Stack’s retirement after 28 years in the post.

Paying tribute yesterday to Mr Stack, chairman of the school board of management, David Casey said: “Under Gary, the school has had a unique ethos where pupils, staff, principal and parents have been one big happy family and for the person

who takes over, it will be a major challenge to keep that friendly open atmosphere.”

Mr Casey said that despite all the difficulties in seeking a new school, Gary never lost that the focus of his responsibilities was to the children of the school.

Mr Casey said that he was very happy that planning permission has been secured for the new school.

Larry Brennan said that the ten- ders on the design team for the new school are expected shortly.

Mr Brennan said that the design team will be in the unique position

of having a planning permission for a school.

He said that the Department of Education timetable provides for the construction of a school within four years of the appointment of a design team.

However, Mr Brennan said that he expects the timescale to be much shorter due to the work done already with the co-operation of Ennis par- ish and the Killaloe Diocesan Trust in securing planning permission.

Mr Brennan said that he expects the new school to be open by 2011.

The school has 17 prefabs strewn

throughout the grounds and the plan- ning application was lodged to fast- track plans.

In rezoning the site, the town coun- cil delivered a windfall to the Dio- cese of Killaloe two years ago by rezoning 85 acres of land where the diocese 1s proposing to construct 590 houses over time.

In June of last year, parents with- drew their students for one day last June to protest at the continuing fail- ure of the Department of Education to fund a new school building and 1,000 people took to the streets of Ennis in a march.

JUST 12 people turned up at a dem- onstration by Amnesty International in Shannon on Saturday to highlight Ireland’s role in rendition, but the or- ganisers say they are not downheart- ed by the low numbers.

Anti-war campaigners say they will continue to highlight the use of Shannon Airport by CIA planes and say there is a “virtual open door” to the planes there.

The demonstration took place a day after Amnesty published its re- port which claimed that Shannon Airport has been made available for OI FAS oe) Eilexmoe: hols oe man item UNO None Ie legally around the world.

Organiser John Lannon, of Amnes- ty in Limerick, said the low numbers will not work against them organis- ing future demonstrations.

“We weren’t expecting a huge crowd, given that there were so many events around the area. While it is disappointing that we don’t have more people, we still made the point,” he said.

He expressed concern that the group was stopped at the gantry and was not permitted to walk to the air- port. “The reason for the protest in Shannon was that planes carrying prisoners pass through Shannon but we were not allowed to go there,” said Mr Lannon.

Organisers say that they will con- tinue to hold vigils at the airport every month, to highlight their con-

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“We are going to continue with our vigils on the second Sunday of every month until the recommendations contained in the Amnesty report have been addressed,” he said.

The protests have been ongoing in Shannon since 2003. Mr Lan- non said he feels that much is being achieved. “I think we are. All of the organisations that are involved are putting pressure on the Government. Several people came up to us to offer support on Saturday. To us it 1s very important to ensure people are made

aware about what is going through Shannon,” said Mr Lannon.

‘Despite the welcome statements by Taoiseach Brian Cowen on Ireland’s willingness to accept a small number of detainees from Guantanamo here in Ireland, the Irish Government has made no move towards accountabil- ity for our complicity in disappear- ances and torture,’ he added.

PILLARS of the local community in the Kilmihil area have come out in support of Aonghus Coughlan’s contentious plans for a windfarm at RST tile

The local GAA club and the Kilmi- hil branch of the Irish Farmers’ Asso- ciation (IFA) are two of the organisa- tions that have outlined their support for the planning application.

In his submission, Dick Pilkington

of Kilmihil IFA told Clare County Council: “We believe the site at Kil- tumper is suitable for the proposed development and that the wind farm will make a valuable contribution to- wards providing clean green energy.

“We also support Mr Coughlan’s effort to develop alternative land use on his farmlands, in the current economic climate, it 1s essential that Opportunities such as these are made available to young farmers. We en- courage the generation of renewable

energy on this site and see this as a positive and progressive develop- neon

In a separate submission, Pat Quin- livan, chairman of Kilmihil GAA club confirmed that the club fully backed the project and encouraged such endeavours in the local com- munity.

“Any additional economic activity in the local economy community 1s welcomed along with the obvious benefits to the environment.”

Local soccer club, St Pat’s AFC has also lodged a submission expressing its support for the local initiative.

Hilary Gleeson, Rural Development Officer with the Clare Local Devel- opment Company also offered sup- port and recommended the project as a positive development in the area.

‘The wind turbine project is a posi- tive step in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and creating a cleaner environment using a renewable en- ergy source. Farming in west Clare

requires some type of extra income to keep farmers on the land and both with the economic decline and the falling farm incomes, this project is an ideal opportunity to stimulate work and inject income into the local economy.

“The project will create employ- ment and income for a young west Clare farmer and also jobs in both the construction and maintenance of the project,” the submission con- cluded.

ST JOSEPH’S Doora Barefield took an important step towards retain- ing their Division One status for next year with a narrow victory over Sixmulebridge on Saturday.

The result leaves the Bridge bat- tling for survival at the foot of the table while St Joseph’s must beat Clarecastle in their final league game to aid their safety.

The Bridge could easily have won but it wasn’t too much of a surprise

that St Joseph’s eventually did.

It was that kind of topsy-turvy en- counter where both teams enjoyed periods of superiority. Both teams also stumbled and surrendered in1- tiative and momentum. After an excellent start, the home side led by three points at half time but the introduction of Cyril Crowe revital- ized the Bridge. He bagged 1-1 inside the first seven minutes of the second half as Sixmilebridge established a three point lead. St Joseph’s sent on Paul Dullaghan and Michael McNa-

mara and both made an impact. Mc- Namara scored the goal that saw St Jospeh’s reclaim the lead. Dullaghan grabbed a point and played a role in his side’s crucial fourth goal.

All this after the start time in Gur- teen was delayed by 49 minutes as both clubs awaited the arrival of the referee. When there was no sign of the appointed match referee, John Healy, both clubs were informed after a series of phonecalls that the Smith O’Briens official was away on holidays. Ruan referee Ger Lyons

eventually came to the rescue. Un- derstandably, both teams were left frustrated by the long delay.

When the shotar was finally thrown in, it was St Joseph’s who made the better start.

Conor Hassett pointed in the sev- enth minute before Declan Malone found the net after a swift exchange of handpasses between Fergal O’Sullivan and Sean McMahon.

Sixmilebridge’s first point arrived from David O’Connor in the fourth minute. The visitors were back in

contention moments later courtesy of a St Joseph’s own goal. A point from Colm Mullen and two excel- lent strikes from David Hoey kept Joseph’s ahead. Sixmilebridge stayed in touch with points from John Fen- nessy and Jonathon Downes. McMa- hon scored his second point of the day to leave St Joseph’s leading 1-7 to 1-4 at half time.

Points from Eoin Quinn and Crowe pulled the Bridge to within a point, before Crowe turned Brian Collins and buried his shot to put his side 2- 6 to 1-7 ahead.

It was all square by the 44th minute before McNamara smashed home a rebound to push Joseph’s two points clear. St Joseph’s fourth goal arrived in the 57th minute. McMahon guided the sliotar around two Bridge de- fenders before teeing up Malone for an easy tap in.,

Back came the Bridge with points from Quinn (2) and Patrick Sheehan. It left Joseph’s leading 3-11 to 2-13 before Damien Kennedy’s late goal decisively settled the outcome.