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WHILE election fever swept through the county on Saturday, this crunch tie had a fever of it’s own, namely the fight to avoid the drop from the top division.

The polls weren’t favourable for e1- ther candidate entering this game. St Joseph’s had only one win from their four outings while Inagh/Kilnamona were turned away from every door, not having tasted a competitive vic- tory in nine months but with only half the Clare Cup campaign com- pleted, there was still ample time to canvas for points.

Like a bloody battle for the final Seat, it was aclose run affair and even ended in controversy as St Joseph’s had a last minute goal ruled out for a square ball, a score that would have handed them both crucial points.

Both sides were without key mem- bers of their squad, with the home side shy of seven of the team that started against Clonlara in the cham- pionship the previous weekend along with county senior Tony Carmody who didn’t play that game while St

Joseph’s were missing eight from their win over Sixmilebridge. As a result, the quality suffered in what was a scrappy seesaw affair before Inagh/Kilnamona eventually edged the contest with a superior finale to top the poll.

At 0-2 to 0-2 after eleven minutes, contrasting finishing finally sparked the game into life, with St Joseph’s goalkeeper Paul Madden produc- ing a excellent diving save to deny Shane Griffin while down the other end only three minutes later, full-for- ward Seanie McMahon was more ef- ficient, latching on to a Colm Mullen pass to pull past the onrushing Ea- mon Scanlon to give his side an early advantage.

Inagh/Kilnamona_ didn’t panic however, and even though a plethora of wides followed for the remain- ing 18 minutes of the half, the home side still managed to come within a point of St Joseph’s by the break with points from David Hegarty and Shane Griffin.

Inagh/Kilnamona built on that re- newed confidence on the resumption, grabbing a crucial goal after only two

minutes when Joe Griffin shrugged off two challenges before slamming the ball to the net from close range.

However, within ten minutes, that advantage had been overturned, this time with Mullen the finisher, gather- ing a Paul Morrissey ball inside to hit to the net from close range, putting his side 2-4 to 1-5 ahead.

It should have inspired St Joseph’s but similar to the first half, they were not to score for the final 18 minutes of the half and while they tallied up the wides, Inagh/Kilnamona slowly chipped away at their two point lead. They cancelled it out by the turn of the final quarter through substitute Sean Arthur and Joe Griffin be- fore taking up the ascendency with a Gannon Free in the 50th minute and an Eugene Cullinan point only a minute short of the hour.

It looked to have secured Inagh/Ki- namona the seat but like any good election battle, there was almost a twist in the tale when St Joseph’s produced one final attack up the right, going from Mullen, through Mike Cullian to Damien Kennedy in the corner and when he flashed

his shot across the square, substitute Shane O’Grady dived in at the back post to flick it over the line. However, the celebrations were short lived as the presiding officer Tom Stackpool deemed it to be a square ball. St Joseph’s appealed for a recount, how- ever, the returning officer’s decision was final as Inagh/Kilnamona were deemed elected on the final count.

FIANNA FAIL must pay closer at- tention to the concerns and views of grassroots members if they are avoid future election disasters.

That was the view of PJ Ryan on Sunday after his election in the Shan- non Electoral Area. An independent candidate, Mr Ryan was elected on the final count of the afternoon with a total of 1524 votes after transfers – his first preference vote increased from 700 last time out to 1013.

A long serving member of Fianna Fail, Cllr Ryan stood as a party can- didate in the 2004 local elections.

However after he was passed over by headquarters as a candidate this time around, Cllr Ryan opted to run as an independent.

Echoing the sentiments expressed by many unhappy Fianna Fail coun- cillors at the count centre in the West County Hotel, Cllr Ryan said,

“That’s the major problem, that headquarters haven’t listened to the grassroots. They’ve made a lot of mistakes in this election” said Cllr RAEN

He continued, “They had no can- didate in Shannon and they’ve ended up on Shannon Town Council with- out any Fianna Fail candidate. That’s the major problem there. Headquar- ters need to listen to members on the eround. They know whats happening locally. They should have listened to the people on the ground. They might get the message now”.

Despite his strong Fianna Fail links, Cllr Ryan said he would remain an independent voice in the Council

chamber. “I’m elected independent and [ll be independent when I’m elected, simple as that”.

A relieved Cllr Ryan admitted it had been a difficult decision to run as an independent candidate.

He said, “Oh I’m delighted. I’m ab- solutely delighted. The thing was I had to keep battling away. It’s been

a very long haul but the result was good”

Cllr Ryan added, “I was an awful long time with the Fianna Fail or- ganisation. It was a long time to be involved with the party. It was a big step to break, a big decision to break. But I suppose at the end of the day it paid off. I still would say that at the

end of the day that it’s about people. It’s not about parties.”

Clir Ryan said he was looking for- ward to working for the people of the Shannon electoral area.

He said, “Ah yeah, the hard work Starts now. Ah, I’m well used to working in the community and [ll battle away. We’ve got a playground

to build in Cratloe. We’ve got a day- care centre for the elderly to build in Sixmulebridge and a playground to build in Kilkishen”’.

FOR Donie Buckley Sunday after- noon on Ennis’ Causeway wasn’t about the past – the way that Clare football had let go a man who had given so much voluntary work for club and county for nearly two dec- AYalohe

It wasn’t about Donie Buckley v Clare – that’s in the past, this was the present and it was all about trying to do his bit to guide Limerick into a provincial decider.

What’s done was done, but Buckley was quick to admit that manning the line on this day was different than another day during his year and a bit with the Shannonsiders.

“It was very difficult for me today,’ he revealed. “I know a lot of these Clare players and they are great play- ers – the service the likes of Conor Whelan, David Russell and Mike O’Shea have given Clare, they’ve been great servants.

‘When I was involved with Michael

Brennan in Clare, we introduced a number of those players. They’re fantastic footballers and Clare will bounce back. I know that.

“We got the rub of the green today. We got a great start but Clare came back very well at us. I think at the end of the day I think our experi- ence from Division 3 where we lost a number of games by a point gave us the determination to get through,” he added.

The former Clare manager was the most energetic of all the mentors manning the sideline – kicking every ball with his players, roaring instruc- tions from start to finish, making regular excursions over the white line with new instructions for battle.

He was most active after Clare had reeled in Limerick in the first half, while he admitted that the half-time break gave his side the chance to gather their thoughts and take up the battle anew.

‘We put our shoulder to the wheel in the second half. It’s all about at-

titude,’ he revealed.

“Clare came out with all guns blaz- ing – they were a very well prepared team under Frank Doherty, James Hanrahan and Kieran Kelleher. We were just lucky that we got it right in tom ntee

“The turning point of the game was where Dermot O’Brien made a great catch but coming out we turned it over and got a crucial point.

“We came up here today as favour- ites but Clare gave us a great game. We’re looking at a Munster final now and it’s going to be Cork or Kerry. That was our target at the start of the year.”

Beating Clare was also a target and it was mission accomplished for Do- nie Buckley.

Clare’s loss has definitely been Limerick’s gain.

MICHAEL Hillery cut an emotional figure in the West County Hotel on Saturday night.

It was for himself after five years out of elected office in a place called the political wilderness; it was for his family that’s steeped in this game of chance called politics like no other clan in Clare; it was for his late uncle Paddy who was his guiding light, in life, in death and always.

No wonder there was more than a hint of a tear or two, or maybe more as he passed the winning post just before 10pm when returning officer Michael McNamara uttered the words he had waited five years to hear: “As Michael Hillery has exceeded the quota, I deem him elected”.

Hillery knew many hours before that he was on the way back to elected politics, and to say he was glad was an understatement, but it wasn’t the Hillery way to be demonstrative and jump around, even if he was jumping around inside as he took a few sec- onds out from the maelstrom around him to explain the meaning of it all.

“It means an awful to me. For myself and being part of a political family. Trying to make sure that the Hillery name continued to have a role in politics meant a huge amount to me. I was desperate to keep the Hillery name up there and to the forefront of the political system,’ he said.

“Thad 19 years done before I lost my seat in 2004. After thinking about it for a while I decided I’d have another go and I started working towards that by doing a lot of community work. I

worked my way back — that work has paid off for me in this election.

“There was always Hillery in poli- tics, whether in the Dail, the Sen- ate, the presidency or in local coun- cils. I wanted to make sure that that still was the case after this election. Keeping on the Hillery political dy- nasty was huge for me.

“There was great goodwill on the doorstep — that feeling from people

that they owed it to the Hillery name to have a Hillery elected. I am grate- ful for that and very proud of that and the place that the Hillery name has in politics.

“Paddy Hillery was my idol — I looked up to him and what he had achieved. I felt that if I could get back in a year after he passed away it would be further recognition of what he had done in the county and

the country. I’d say that he gave me a helping hand from above,” he added.

Of that Cllr Michael Hillery was convinced.

THEY say you’ve got to buy a ticket if you want to have a chance. Well, Clare bought a ticket on Sunday but didn’t take their chance. No surpris- es then to find the subject of missed frees occupying the mind of Frank Doherty in the aftermath of Clare’s defeat to Limerick in the Munster semi-final.

Level at half time after a massively encouraging finish to the first half, Clare dropped off after the break and let Limerick creep three points clear. Clare compounded their poor start by missing kickable frees.

Needless to say, the Clare manager looked a frustrated man, standing outside the dressing rooms in Cusack Park.

‘Frees cost you games. It cost us today. We missed three or four frees and we lost by four points in the end,” stated Doherty afterwards.

He continued, “You’ve got to put frees from 45 yards in over the bar. That was a factor obviously. They got the start we didn’t want them to get

in the second half. They got two or three points. They did basically the same to us in the first half. We had to make sure that wasn’t going to hap- pen in the second half and it didn’t. It was more a case of us making slop- py balls ourselves rather than them working great scores, or anything like that. That was disappointing as well. But look it we tried as hard as we could. That’s really it”.

Doherty was full of praise for his team’s attitude, particularly that of Timmy Ryan, but added that the ex- ertions of the first half had maybe left his side a little short on energy after the break.

He said, “He tried his dannest. He was outstanding. I dunno, maybe ye guys know Timmy a lot longer than I do. People are saying, why would you go with Timmy Ryan. But other people haven’t seen him over the last five or six weeks. People criticize players and selections and so on and so forth in relation to who should be out there. But people don’t see what goes on behind closed doors. Gor- don Kelly and Graham Kelly drove

us on. Maybe they got a little tired. Dean was caught early on. He’s an- other lad who was absolutely flying DOM ORDO ODEN Toaee

Over the past 12 months Doherty’s public comments have often been fla- voured with references to the limited amount of players available to him and his selectors.

Injuries and the issue of players declining to link up with the county team were subjects again touched on by Doherty on Sunday.

“You have to remember today that were missing a couple of serious players in my opinion like John Hay- es and David Connolle. They’re lads who will drive you on from there. And if the whole county was availa- ble to the management team it might have been a different ball game to- day altogether. What you have, you work with and you do your best with. And I believe we’ve got as much as we possibly can out of them.”

ELECTION results for Ennis Town Council have revealed a massive loss in support for Fianna Fail.

The percentage breakdown of first preference votes cast in Clare’s larg- est urban area shows that support for the party has shrunk from 32.72 per cent in 2004 to 13.74 per cent in 2009. Support for Fine Gael in Ennis has jumped from 20.41 per cent in 2004 to 35.61 per cent in 2009.

The election of Brian Meaney kept the Green Party vote relatively intact

at 7.43 per cent in 2009 compared to 7.78 per cent in 2004.

Independent candidates again fared well with the percentage jumping from 28.35 per cent in 2004 to 35.05 per cent in 2009.

The striking decline in votes for Fi- anna Fail ensured that the party went from a position of having three seats in the last Ennis Town Council to just one.

One of those sitting councillors Joe Reidy did not stand as a candidate. Outgoing Mayor of Ennis, Peter Con- sidine, reclaimed his seat on the last

count. Cllr Considine’s total of 700 votes was 74 below the quota but was high enough for him to be elected.

Another sitting councillor, Tom Glynn, was not so fortunate. He lost his seat to Labour Party candidate Paul O’Shea on the Lith and final felt

Mr Glynn, who was first elected to Ennis Town Council in 1999, was eliminated from the election process on a total of 545 votes.

Speaking at the election count cen- tre in Waterpark House on Saturday, Mr Glynn said that voters had been

determined to send a message of change to the government.

“T felt from the word go it was go- ing to be difficult,” he said.

“Out on the track for the last month, I sort of knew it. Every third or fourth door I was told “Look, it’s nothing personal but you’ve got the wrong colours, you’re wearing the wrong jersey.’

He added, “People wanted to take this opportunity to show the govern- ment the level of their frustration. I do believe that we weren’t the real targets. But that’s democracy and

they had the right to do that.

“I suppose I was told 10 months ago that if I wanted the be re-elected, I would have to think about going in- dependent. But I’m part of the team. I’m a team player, the ups and the downs,’ revealed Mr Glynn.

ClUlr Glynn admitted that Fianna Fail had struggled to attract candi- dates to run in Ennis.

“We’d have begged, stolen or bor- rowed to get another candidate or two. We couldn’t get them and that showed that people weren’t confident in what was going to happen.”

PLANS and a timeframe have been announced for a €2 million upgrade of the Ennis/Clarecastle main drain- age scheme.

The work, due to commence in early 2010, will be carried out at the Clonroadmore Wastewater ‘Treat- ment Plant.

Sean Ward, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council, told last Tuesday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council that the work should be completed by the end of 2010 or early 2011.

Mr Ward said the council was opt- ing to upgrade the drainage scheme on an incremental basis, as it was unlikely that the Department of En- vironment, Heritage and Local Gov- ernment would approve the €60 mil- lion required for a large-scale water treatment plant at Clareabbey.

Mr Ward said that when complete, the new interim treatment plant and the current water treamtnent stations would provide water treatment serv- ices for a total population of 37,500.

He said that this should be more than enough capacity to cater for En- nis as the population of the town was

now not expected to grow as fast as previously expected.

Mr Ward said the council was also concerned about untreated waste- water being pumped into the River Fergus. He stated that if the process continued, Clare was in danger of failing to meet mandatory European Union standards on water quality.

At the meeting, former Green Party councillor Donal O Bearra asked if the new network would mean an end to untreated sewage being released into a section of the River Fergus near the Francis Street pumping sta- tion.

In response, Mr Ward said, “The short term upgrade won’t guarantee that storm overflow from the Francis Street station will not be released. I’m fairly confident there will be less frequency, but it won’t stop com- pletely.”

Mr Ward added that there are plans to upgrade facilities at the Francis Street station.

County Manager, Tom Coughlan said that an upgrade of the Ennis Clarecastle Main Drainage Scheme was first proposed in 1995.

Despite criticism from some coun- cillors that the entire Clareabbey

project had not received approval, Mr Coughlan defended the council’s decision to carry out improvements on a phased basis.

“It’s been going on for almost 14 years now. We had to look at an al- ternative because in the current cli- mate, to go to the department look- ing for €60 million isn’t going to happen,” he said.

Mr Coughlan said there was cur- rently excess capacity in the sewage network for Ennis and its environs as many planning permissions that had previously been granted, had not been taken up by applicants.

REMEDIAL works on a bridge con- structed as part of the €200 million Ennis bypass and which has been found to be “unstable” are expected to take a further four months despite being originally scheduled to finish two months ago.

Last November, Gama _ Strabag Construction, who built the Ennis bypass, told Clare County Council that it needed to carry out essential urgent repairs to the western abut- ment of one of the bridges on the N85 Western Relief Road which is part of the N18 Ennis bypass. Gama re- ported that excess movement had oc- curred on the abutment to the bridge that spans the River Fergus.

The company stated that essential works “would be required to ensure the long-term durability of the bridge and to ease maintenance require- ments in the medium to long term for NTomCIOMELOLAU Dom

The works have resulted in traffic being cut to one lane in each direc- tion on the dual-carriageway while a reduced speed limit has also been implemented at the location. The work was due to be completed on March 29 but the council has now confirmed that it could take a further four months.

A statement issued by the coun- cil maintains that during the design phase of the project, it had been en- visaged that some movement of the abutment on the River Fergus Bridge

would take place after construction was completed and this was catered for in the design and construction of the structure. Since opening of the dual-carriageway link road, however, the movement has been greater than that envisaged by the contractor and their designer.

‘The weather has had a much more significant adverse influence on in- vestigative and resolution related works on the site than originally en- visaged. There are also some very complex design-related issues which have had to be overcome. Satisfac-

tory progress is being made and at this stage it is envisaged that resolu- tion works will be completed on site within the next three to four months,” the statement concluded.

The work is being undertaken after very large deposits of relatively poor quality material were encountered in the vicinity of the bridge, particu- larly on the west side of the river. The contractor and designer are now un- dertaking a foundation solution for the western support abutment which involves concrete piles up to 25 me- tres deep.

A council spokesperson confirmed that the local authority will not incur the costs associated with the reme- dial works while Gama will not be subjected to any financial penalty as a result of the additional works.

€2m wastewater treatment upgrade for 2010

IT was a case of third time lucky for Cathy McCafferty. The Sinn Féin member finally achieved her dream as she claimed the seventh seat on Shannon Town Council. The Derry native failed in her attempt to get elected in 1999 and 2004, but her luck changed this time around.

McCafferty — who has lived in Shannon for the past 24 years — lost by just eight votes in 2004, but felt that her more energetic campaign this year was the telling factor in winning her seat. McCafferty picked up 244 first preferences and was elected in the fourth count, having received transfers which brought her to 393 votes.

“Tam absolutely over the moon. I cant believe I’ve done it at last,” she SrnLO

Her success is no surprise as she was expected to pick up the lion’s share of the Sinn Féin vote in Shan- non, after Mike McKee — an In- dependent candidate but a former member of Sinn Féin — decided not to seek re-election.

However, she dismissed suggestions that she benefited from Mr McKee’s decision. “There’s a big Sinn Fein vote in Shannon. I don’t think that interfered with it at all. I only lost by eight votes last time around and I put in a bigger campaign this time. I started last August,” she said.

Another new face on the council will be Fine Gael’s Mary Brennan, who took the fifth seat, having se- cured 252 first preferences. She was elected on the third count, with 384 votes — four above the surplus of 380 — in her first election.

Brennan, a native of Mayo, has lived in Shannon for more than two decades and works in the health cen- tre in the town.

The mother-of-three was shocked to learn that 252 people had voted ome

“T couldn’t even think of 54 who would vote for me. I didn’t under- Stand all the transfers,” said the new- comer to politics.

‘“T have had a ball, from the start to finish. I really didn’t think I had that much of a hope,” she said.

Her decision to run in the election came after her friend Councillor

Tony Mulcahy suggested it to her.

“Tony asked me at a wedding. I thought he was having me on. I’ve al- ways been interested 1n community. I felt a bit of new blood wouldn’t go astray,’ she said.

Although Labour increased their vote from 10 to 15 per cent, it wasn’t enough to gain a seat as their third

candidate Polish native Anna Ku- likowska did poorly, with just 37 first RACES Gee

Sitting councillor Tony McMahon won the fourth seat, while Greg Duff was also returned to the council, tak- ing the sixth seat.

“Labour would have expected to increase this time with the backlash there against Fianna Fail. We got a very good increase so we are quite happy,’ said McMahon.

‘We ran a third person for two rea- sons. The Labour party wanted to run a female candidate and to give the new Irish population the oppor- tunity to vote for a candidate,’ he added.

McMahon had, in the past, threat- ened to quit the Labour party, ex- pressing frustration with the lead- ership. However, he told