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It could have been last chance saloon

for these two but when the dust set- tled — and it took a while following a stormy enough few minutes after the final whistle in an incident that included a red card for Tulla’s Eanna Torpey — both had somehow man- aged to keep their season alive.

It was a free from distance, executed by the accurate Alan Duggan, close to three minutes into injury time that sealed the draw and it was the free that was at the heart of the debate afterwards. Torpey himself was pre- viously adjudged to have fouled the ball, which led to Duggan’s free and subsequent point.

Into the last quarter of the game, the specatacle improved and it looked at times like Tulla might just sneak away with the points. Padraic McKeogh had goaled for the Mills in the 42nd minute, following a pass from Fergus Donovan that left Dug- gan one on one with Philip Brennan. When his shot rattled the net, it gave the Mills and four-point lead but it was Tulla who managed to react the stronger.

They replied with six unanswered points in the space of five minutes — two frees from Andy Quinn and points from Brian Lynch, Aidan Lynch and Kieran Brennan.

Now, Tulla were hurling with pur-

pose and intensity, qualities they had lacked up to that point of the game. When Andy Quinn blasted over an- other free eight minutes from time, Tulla led by two and the Mills had only scored twice in the sceond half. Then Conor Cooney — who had been substituted with an injury only to re- turn with a few minutes left and in a

more advanced position — fired over a point for the Mills.

Time wasn’t on their side but they stuck to their task. They pushed for- ward with every opportunity and eventually they did get the break- through with that late, late free from Duggan.

And to be fair, they deserved to get

something out of the game. When they slipped ahead before the break, thanks to two fine points from Fer- gus Donovan, they had set them- selves up to battle hard in the second half. That McKeogh goal arrived at just the right time but they failed to follow through and steer themselves to victory.

Tulla didn’t win a championship title two years back without picking up some knowledge on the way and they eked out their own lead impres- sively but with two games left to play for both sides, they’Il know equally well that a full 60 minutes will be re- quired from here on in.

Candidates under the radar

THE BOOKIE and the pollster both predict very little change when it comes to the Members of the Euro- pean Parliament representing Ireland North West.

Both predict that Pat ‘the Cope” Gallagher will replace his party col- league Sean O Neachtain in Brus- sels, while Fine Gael’s Jim Higgins and Independent Marian Harkin are likely to be returned.

The latest TNSmrbi poll has shown a grow in support of one per cent for Deputy Gallagher, indicting a 20 per cent of first preference votes and likely to top the poll.

Bookie Paddy Power is putting is money on Fine Gael’s MEP Higgins to come in first, while the polls have him in third place behind MEP Har- ene

While Harkins’s odds have re- mained the same at 4/9 on, Gallagh- er’s odds have shortened to bring him from 8/11 to 1/9 on.

Higgins odds of winning at seat has also shortened from 1/12 on to 1/16 on.

Saturday’s poll however has seen a three per cent drop in support for the sitting Fine Gael MEP, who now has 17 per cent of the vote.

MEP Harkin’s vote has increased by one per cent to 19 per cent.

While Libertas leader Declan Ganley has moved up the board in the bookies, he remains in fourth place in Saturday’s

AN ESTIMATED 50 per cent of people living in Clare have access to broadband Internet services, accord- ing to figures put forward by Clare County Council.

The council’s Head of Information Systems, Urban McMahon has stated that people are receiving broadband through a “fixed or wireless service with the availability constantly in- creasing due to the continued suc- cess and extension of the previous group broadband scheme an also the continued rollout schedules to pri- vate service providers”.

Mr McMahon was responding to a motion submitted by Cllr Sonny Scanlan at the May meeting of Clare County Council.

Cllr Scanlan had sought informa- tion on what areas of Clare are cur- rently covered by broadband. Cllr Scanlan also queried how long it would take all before all areas, par- ticularly Quin, will have access to broadband.

He said that it had been 15 years since Ennis had been designated as an information town and claimed that people living three miles outside of the town did not have Internet cov- eben

Responding, Mr McMahon said that the Minster for Communica- tions, Energy and Natural Resourc- es has entered into a contract with the broadband service provider, Hutchison 3G Ireland, (trading as 3) for the implementation of the nation-

al broadband scheme.

He said that the objective of the scheme is to provide access to af- fordable, scaleable broadband serv- ices to rural areas, many of which do not have any broadband services.

Mr McMahon continued, “The scheme will be rolled out on an elec- toral division basis and currently 49 electoral are divisions in County Clare have been identified under the scheme. It is expected that al residences and business premises lo- cated within the national broadband scheme coverage area and will be able to avail of broadband services by the end of the September.

Cllr Scanlan has welcomed Mr Mc- Mahon’s response but he added that more needs to be done to ensure the delivery of high-speed broadband services to rural communities in Clare. Cllr Scanlan described it as a priority issue.

THE family of Kay Cregan, who died after undergoing a facelift in the US, has been given the right to sue the anesthesiologist who was responsible for overseeing her operation.

Ms Cregan (42), from Croom and who had family connections in Kil- laloe, died after she underwent fa- cial surgery at a Manhattan clinic in March 2005.

The family is taking a case against the plastic surgeon who carried out the procedure, Michael Sachs, and that case is due to commence in the US on September 15 next.

The New York Supreme Court has now ruled that Ms Cregan’s husband Liam can also sue Dr Madhavrao Subbarao, a certified anesthesiolo- gist.

Last year, the case against him was thrown out. However, this decision was appealed and the ruling emerged last week. The judges at the Supreme Court decided that a jury should rule Whether Subbarao abandoned Ms Cregan after the operation.

Ms Cregan, a mother-of-two, had read about Mr Sachs in a newspa- per and travelled to New York for the procedure. She collapsed in Dr Sachs’ recovery room after she had received the facelift, which was to be a surprise for her husband.

She complained of feeling dizzy the morning after undergoing five procedures, including a facelift, eye- lid surgery, nasal reconstruction and chin augmentation.

She was taken to St Luke’s Roo- sevelt Hospital and her husband im- mediately travelled to the US. He was present by her bedside when the life support machine was turned off, three days after the facelift.

Ms Cregan was a senior executive with Limerick City Council.

Dr Sachs, who was dubbed “Dr Botch” in the New York media, had

been involved in more than 30 mal- practice cases since 1995.

The Cregan family is being repre- sented by medical malpractice spe- cialist, Waterford-born Thomas A Moore. Mr Moore is suing on behalf of Mr Cregan and his two sons.

THE Shannon-based insurance arm of UK bank, HBOS plc last year re- corded a sustained £21 million (€24 million) pre-tax loss after record- ing pre-tax profits of £75 million in 2007.

According to returns lodged with the companies office by Halifax In- surance Ireland Ltd, the company se- cured a profit after tax of £8m after a tax credit in the accounts of £29m from the Irish tax authorities.

The accounts show that the compa- ny recorded a turnover of £205.2m — down three per cent on the £211 mil- lion in revenues generated through premiums in 2007.

The main business of the company — which employs 319 people in the Shannon Free Zone — is to underwrite general insurance elements of repay- ment insurance cover for HBOS plc customers and the repayment insur- ance 1s provided on mortgage, credit card and personal loan products.

The company’s ultimate parent is now Lloyds TSB after it completed its takeover of HBOS plc earlier this year in a move that created a banking giant of 145,000 staff.

The accounts for Halifax Insurance Ireland Ltd show that during 2008 the company paid dividends of £97m and this followed dividend payouts of £32.6m during 2007 and £130m in 2006. The accounts show that £49m was paid out last year in claims and benefits — down £5 million on the 2006 total of £54.8m.

The returns also confirm that the company’s retained earnings at the end of 2007 was £93 million, while the company has cash and cash equivalents of £149 million.

The accounts show that the compa- ny increased its workforce last year by 18 and its wages and salaries bill increased by 88 per cent from £5m to £6.7m. Total staff costs were £7.5m.

Directors’ remuneration increased from £395,000 to £462,000.

www.clarepeople.com

Limerick Chamber unravels employment law

MICKEY ‘Ned’ O’Sullivan knows more about Clare and its football than most. In the °80s, Clare Football Board chairman, Gabriel Keating, invited the Kenmare man across the Shannon Estuary to conduct coaching courses in the county.

It was in the early ‘90s that the fruits of those coaching initiatives were harvested in the Gaelic Grounds when Clare beat Kerry in the Munster rete

Mickey Ned knows all about that 1992 day too. It was his last day as Kerry manager.

In °91, Mickey Ned had led Kerry in from the cold to win a first Munster title in five years — a year on his bags were packed after Clare shook up the football world. Fourteen years on, Mickey Ned smiles about it all. It’s Mickey Ned’s way.

“I know from first had experience what Clare footballers are capable of in the Munster championship,” says the 1975 All-Ireland winning cap- tain. “That was then, now I’m back for more against Clare in the Munster championship and I’m looking for- ward to it.”

Much has changed in those 17 years. Clare aren’t shaking up the world any

more, while Mickey Ned is now a Limerick man and manager when it comes to football. And, a successful Limerick manager at that.

He’s been with them for the past four years, a term of office that can be explained away as something of a re- building process for the county.

The team that Liam Kearns built came tantalisingly close to winning the county’s first provincial decider since 1896 – the challenge for Mickey Ned was to build a new team to chal- lenge to uninterrupted duopoly that Kerry and Cork have enjoyed in Mun- ster for the past 16 years.

“The way it 1s, the only way we will

be judged is on the championship,’ he said after Limerick’s shock relegation to Division 4 in April.

That meant Tipperary on May 24 in Semple Stadium in Thurles, when the Shannonsiders edged past John Evans’ side that was cock-a-hoop af- ter winning Division 3.

“T told you not to count us out,’ he said after lowering the Tipperary col- ours. Now, he looking to Clare, but taking nothing for granted.

“Championship football is cham- pionship football – it doesn’t matter the opposition. Clare will have the advantage – they have had us in their sights for six months while we had Tipp. They have the benefit of seeing our strengths and our weaknesses. OIE Tccma a0 Ml olomn (oom a elt tcd seem vs (oA Ya OE AY @ had the benefit of dissecting us and looking at us.”

O’Sullivan believes that the pain of relegation in the National Football League was the catalyst for Limer- ick’s win in Thurles.

“The lads knew that they weren’t that bad and they were determined to show what they could do,” explained O’Sullivan in reference to the league relegation.

‘“That’s part and parcel of being in- volved in football,” said the manager of the criticism after the league. You are going to get stick and you have to turn it into a positive”’.

Limerick raced from the blocks and were 1-8 to 1-1 ahead at half time with Tipperary’s goal coming in in- jury time in the first half as Limerick dominated.

Then all went wrong as the lead was down to two points entering the final quarter.

“That was an outstanding first half – perhaps we were too far ahead at half time, the intensity begins to drop. Tipperary gathered momen-

tum and that is very hard to stop. At half time the big danger is to get lads head right because we went in with a similar lead in Kilmallock in the league and within 20 minutes Tip- perary had it down so we were very conscious of that.”

The Munster final will take place on July 5. If it’s Limerick v Kerry, the venue would be the Gaelic Grounds, while a Limerick v Cork final would be in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Of course, Clare are lying in the long grass, hoping to spoil the party.

MANAGING Director of The Pallet Network (TPN), Seamus McGowan, today welcomed Eoin Gavin Trans- port as the Clare member of Ireland’s most innovative transport network. As the newest member of TPN, Eoin Gavin Transport will provide Clare area businesses with access to a high quality, reliable, fast and flexible service with same and next day na- tionwide, UK and European delivery services. The Pallet Network (TPN) is a Wholly owned Irish company and the leading distributor of palletised goods in Ireland. TPN recently an- nounced revenues of €9.2 million for 2008, up from €7.8 million for the previous year.

Mr. McGowan said, “Our vision is to offer local hauliers like Eoin Gavin Transport an opportunity to have a service to rival multinational transport operators. Despite the cur- rent economic situation, TPN’s busi- ness model is relatively recession proof. Eoin Gavin’s addition to our

network will develop and improve freight forwarding options for busi- nesses throughout Clare.”

Eoin Gavin Transport is a family owned business and they have been involved in the haulage industry for over 30 years. Now in 2009, they have a modern fleet of trucks serv- icing sectors such as agriculture, en- vironment, waste, food and the con- struction sector. “I am very pleased to be the latest member of The Pal-

let Network,’ said Mr Gavin. “I am confident that the services I provide to local area businesses in Clare will continue to improve in quality. As a member of the Pallet Network, my customers can now be provided with this additional service, thanks to the infrastructure provided through sere