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Gardaí fired up for Halloween tricks

GARDAÍ in Clare are warning that they are cracking down on the circulation of illegal fireworks in the runup to Halloween.

Every year, various quantities of fireworks are seized and while the numbers seized in Clare this year are small, gardaí are warning of the dangers associated with them.

“There have been a couple of seizures. They are dangerous,” said the Clare Garda Division’s Crime Prevention Officer, Sergeant Joe Downey.

Operation Tombola, which targets the possession, use and sale or supply of illegal fireworks, kicked off last Thursday and will continue until next Tuesday.

As part of the nationwide initiative, gardaí can take measures to prevent the use of illegal fireworks.

“Misuse of fireworks can cause great injury and distress; annoyance to older persons; can cause stress to animals and can damage property by fire,” said Sgt Downey.

It is an offence to possess fireworks with intent to sell or supply to another; to throw an ignited firework at a person or property; to ignite a firework or cause it to be ignited.

On conviction, fines of up to € 2, 500 can be imposed in the district court, and/or six months in jail. Penalties are higher in higher courts.

Sgt Downey said that parents have a role to play to ensure that fireworks do not circulate.

“If you discover that your children have bangers or fireworks, please remove them and hand them into your local Garda station,” he said.

“Know where children are at all times and be even extra vigilant at this time of year. Ensure that your children are aware of the dangers associated with fireworks.

“Stay with your children and escort them on trick or treat visits, parties or events,” he added.

He is also urging parents to ensure that pets are kept indoors on Halloween night, which is next Monday.

Precautions should also be taken when lighting bonfires and people are urged to stay a safe distance from bonfires and fireworks. “Keep dangerous substances such as oil, petrol and diesel away from fires and fireworks,” he said. “Contact the local authority if you see a bonfire being built close to buildings, trees or overhead cables. If you see materials such as pallets or tyres being hoarded in advance, ring your local authority or garda station. Do not facilitate illegal bonfires or firework displays on or near your home or property,” added Sgt Downey.

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Gardaí ‘out this weekend’

AS NEW drink driving limits come into effect, gardaí in Clare are warning that they will be out in force this bank holiday weekend.

Drink driving, speeding and non wearing of seatbelts will be the main targets as members of the Clare Garda Division traffic corps set up random checkpoints all over the county.

From this Friday, October 28, the legal blood alcohol limit will be lowered from 80 mgms of alcohol per 100 mls of blood to 50 mgms of alcohol. Those found over the new limit will be given three penalty points and an on-the-spot fine of € 200.

Those found to be over the existing limit of 80 mgms will be automatically disqualified from driving for six months and fined € 400. The option of taking a fine and points rather than going to court can only be availed of once in a three-year period.

Those who drive for a living and learner drivers will be subject to a ‘virtually zero’ limit of 20 mgms per 100mls of blood. Those caught over the limit will be disqualified for three months and fined € 200.

Experts say the only way people can guarantee not being over the new limits is not to drink and drive.

The head of the Clare Garda Division, Inspector John Galvin said the limits are “being reduced dramatically”. He said that Garda presence will be visible during the bank holiday weekend.

“Expect to see us. We will be out in force. We will have random checkpoints throughout the county. Expect to be stopped,” he said.

Inspector Galvin is advising car owners to ensure their vehicles are in good working order during the winter, when road conditions deteriorate.

“Coming into the winter is the time to get the car checked. Make sure it is mechanically sound. Check the tyres, lights and wipers. There are slippery road conditions, high winds and rain. Adjust speed accordingly. The advice for pedestrians and cyclists is to light up and keep in,” he said.

He is also advising joggers to run on footpaths and not on the roads.

So far this year, two people have been killed on the county’s roads – a driver and a pedestrian. While gardaí welcome the reduction in fatalities, they say that “it is two too many”.

“While the figures are down, we don’t want to become complacent,” said Inspector Galvin.

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Heritage group to fight Part 8

THE Save Ennistymon’s Heritage group say they will use similar tactics to those used by the West Coast Surf Club should a Part 8 planning permission be granted to demolish the historic listed buildings at Blakes Corner in Ennistymon.

Members of the West Coast Surf Club last month halted the development by Clare County Council of a new pier in Doolin by using a Bord Pleanála regulation to force the local authority to commission an Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for the project.

It was only the fourth time in the history of the state that this method was used to overturn a Part 8 planning permission and has resulted in major delays in the construction of the pier and ensured that entire project will have to go before the planning board again before it can be officially ratified.

“We are looking at a variety of options open to us at the moment. Part 8 planning means that the council can proceed with the demolition of the iconic and listed Blakes Corner without any reference to any external body. Further to this no appeal can be made to an mBord Pleanála,” said Denis Vaughan of Save Ennistymon’s Heritage.

“We are receiving legal advice on this but we are encouraged by recent events at Doolin Pier where a Part 8 was successfully overturned.

“We consider this move excessive and undemocratic and stinks of dic- tatorship. Why don’t the council proceed with the normal planning process? What are they trying to hide in not publishing the Southgate Report on Blakes Corner?”

A consultant’s report was completed on the development earlier this year but it is still unclear whether Clare County Council intend to circulate the findings of that report to its elected members before a Part 8 planning application comes before the council.

It is likely that the elected mem- bers of Clare County Council will be asked to vote on the Part 8 planning permission at the December or January meeting of Clare County Council.

Local councillor Bill Slattery (FG) yesterday called for a speedy resolution to the impasse at Blakes Corner.

“Whatever decision is reached by Clare County Council, I would like to see a resolution brought to the very serious health and safety risk and the traffic gridlock that these two buildings are causing for pedestrians, mo- torists and school children who are crossing the road at this dangerous junction,” said Cllr Slattery.

A spokesperson from Clare County Council said that it was up to “Save Ennistymon Heritage and the public in general to decide how they wish to react to proposals or decisions made and put into the public arena in relation to Blakes Corner”.

The spokesperson also confirmed that Clare County Council has not yet made any application in relation to Blakes Corner.

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Gaelcholáiste in line for new facilities

A NEW secondary school through the medium of Irish has moved much closer to reality, following last Thursday’s announcement of a major capital investement in Ennis Community College. The Clare People has learned that the building programme at Ennis Community College, details of which were reavealed at October monthly meeting of Clare VEC, is set to pave the way to incorporate a new premises for Gaelcholáiste an Chláir.

Since Gaelcholáiste an Chláir was established in 1993 it has been part of the community college but now the green light for new building programme, in tandem with overwhelming support from the public for the development of second level education throught Irish, is being held up as major step forward.

“This major announcement of a 2800 sq m development is great news for Ennis Community College,” said college chairman Dónal Ó hAiniféin, “but it is also brilliant news for Gaelcholáiste an Chláir as the development of new facilities will enable the school to access the sort of facilities it needs to develop.

“This will be a purpose-built facility and Gaelcholáiste an Chláir will have access to the state of the art facilities that it needs,” added the chairman of Ennis Community College.

These words have been echoed by Ennis Community College principal, Matt Power, who said that the new developement announcement is “a vote of confidence in the vocational education system, while the new facility will be able “to provide all the resources that Ghaelcholáiste an Chláir needs”.

The annnouncement, which will see the new school facilities developed by the September 2014 school year comes on the back on the publication of findings of a major survey which investigated the demand for second level education through Irish in Ennis.

Key figures contained in the report secured by The Clare People showed that 88 per cent of the 854 respondents to the survey “agreed or agreed strongly that Irish medium education should be available at second level”, while 69 per cent of survey participants said that Gaelcholáiste an Chláir would move to its own campus.

These report was commissioned by Clare VEC in January when it “appointed an independent external consultant to conduct a survey to assess the demand for second-level education entirely through the medium of Irish in Clare and to inform future planning and options for Gaelcholáiste an Chláir”.

As part of the process participants were asked their views on whether the Gaelcholáiste “should establish independent status and move to its own campus”, or whether the school “should remain as it is, operating within Ennis Community College”.

“There was clear evidence from respondents’ comments that more parents will be encouraged to enroll their children in Gaelcholáiste an Chláir if it can provide full immersion education and establish its own ethos and identity,” the report says.

“In 2006, Limerick VEC established a very successful standalone independent Gaelcholáiste. Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh began with 30 pupils and now attracts over 100 applications annually and has an intake of 80.”

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Hunger the best sauce

IF ever we wondered how defeat can bring out the greatness in a team, just look at Kilmurry Ibrickane.

You know the scéal. Kilmurry a goal up on Doonbeg in last year’s semi-final on the cusp of the last ten minutes. Then bang. David Tubridy shaking the rigging with a goal. Then Enda Doyle shooting for the stars with a point.

The response from Kilmurry, as midfielder Paul O’Connor reveals seconds after the final whistle is to dwell on defeat for a few months, then return to training in January and go through the year unbeaten.

That’s greatness. That’s hunger. That’s Kilmurry.

“After the high of March and reaching an All-Ireland club final to be beaten in a county semi-final we should probably have won,” he recalls. “I think it refocused us. We got an extra few months off – it focused everyone as a group.”

“Any time you get beaten you’re going to come back the following year and prove a point,” says Enda Coughlan. “We had a tough enough run when getting to the All-Ireland It was tough enough on the legs and maybe in fairness to Doonbeg, they beat us fair and square last year and maybe we didn’t just have it in the legs in the last ten minutes, but we were very hungry this year,” he adds.

“Ger (Lawlor) came in and John (Kennedy) then came and this group of 30 have trained really hard since January 1, the first day we trained. We really wanted it this year, we wanted it badly,” continues O’Connor.

“Our game plan was to hit them early and get a couple of scores on the board. It was their first final, so we wanted those early scores. Luckily for us they went over. Ian McInerney had a couple of super kicks early in the second half and they settled us down. We had a strategy and it seemed to work for us. We created a lot of space and we got scores from it.

“I wouldn’t say we were more up for this game than we were for the Cratloe or Cooraclare games, it’s just that we decided that we wouldn’t be kicking from the positions we kicked from against Cratloe and Cooraclare. We worked the ball in a bit closer to lads who found their range a bit better today.”

It all means that 31-year-old O’Connor now has four county medals – he missed out on the win in ’04 when he was playing his ball in Van Cortland Park in New York and not Páirc Naomh Mhuire in downtown Quilty.

“They’re all sweet,” he says. “Every medal you add, especially when you’re pushing up the years like me, is sweet, but this one really is especially after what happened to us last year.”

Hunger is the best sauce.

Kilmurry Ibrickane bare testimony to that.

St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield will hope to in time after this huge learning curve.

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‘Hard to keep the lads out of the pub’

“IT’S going to be hard to keep a few of the lads out of the pub after this!” Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Declan Callinan was readying himself for the inevitable party zones at The Hand, McCarthy’s of Coore, The Quilty Tavern and wherever else porter is being served in the parish of the 2011 senior football county champions.

“Yeah it’s brilliant stuff alright. It’s such a fantastic feeling. We said all week that we would work hard for each other and keep our focus.

“We weren’t playing well all year but we knew there was a big performance in us and all we had to do today was to bring it out and thank God we did just that.”

The half time position of utter dominance was unexpected so how was this victory going to be seen out without any lack of concentration?

“We wanted to start the second half again as if it was nil all and to keep our focus and to keep working hard for each other.

“Thankfully it paid off for us in the end. It was such a great result in the end.”

So what next for this terrific generation of footballers who have been the standardbearers of the Clare club scene for the last decade. Their historic 12th Jack Daly will be celebrated but then what?

“Yeah as I said it’s going to be very difficult to keep the lads out of the pub alright but seriously we will enjoy this week but then our thoughts will quickly turn back to Munster.

“We’ll start doing our homework the week after and then really get stuck into it again like.”

The ‘Bricks will without doubt give a Munster campaign a serious rattle and even now there is a sense that this won’t be the last occasion when the bonfires will be burning back west.

Anyone up for a St Paddy’s Day in Dublin did I hear them say? That’s part of the grand plan. They’re now in a position to go in that direction.

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Pride in The Parish means they will be back

WHAT COULD he really say?

St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield selector James Hanrahan had just witnessed his beloved club suffer a heartbreaking county final day defeat and the losing margin of twelve points certainly did not make it any easier.

The players who had served him so well this year were distraught and at the point of breaking as they painfully watched the Kilmurry Ibrickane celebrations explode around them. A disappointed but proud Hanrahan still had a trickle of optimism in his post-match analysis.

“Look we didn’t perform at all on the day. Fair play to Kilmurry they really played a great brand of football. They really showed us how to do it out there. We just couldn’t get our hand on the ball so what could we do?

“Of course there experience was huge for them and after all this was our first final but we’re hugely disappointed now. This is not the end though and for sure we’ll come back. We’ll be back again next year. We’ll be there or there abouts again. This year has been a huge learning curve for us and the experience we got out there today can only stand to us again in the future.”

Amid the many offers of condolence from members of both clubs players and fans alike his never quelling pride and honour returned again when talking about the younger members of the club and the bright footballing future they can possess.

“We have some very young players involved and they can only get better from games like this. They are young so they will obviously be very disappointed and it will take time to get over this loss but they will get over it eventually. We will rally again and this won’t be the case of a one and only appearance in a county final. I really believe that!”

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Peter the Great emulates Odran

WHEN the history of Kilmurry Ibrickane is written – presumably in time for their centenary in 2014 – there’ll be couple of chapters or more on the never-ending story that is the contribution of the O’Dwyer Clan from Bonivella in Mullagh to green and red army.

Patriarch Patrick as the only man in the barony of Ibrickane to win county finals on the field of play and as a manager – not once but twice over; first son Odran who now has six medals on the field of play; Peter and Michael now have five; Odran, Peter, Robert and Michael winning Munster clubs; Odran being captain in the county and Munster club winning year of 2004……….

On this day it was Peter’s turn to lift Jack Daly, like Odran had done after those two memorable jousts with Éire Óg seven years ago. Peter’s turn may have been in a canter, but just as memorable because all county finals wins are.

“It is a very proud moment for me,” he says when alighting from Cusack Park’s Ard Comhairle with Jack Daly firmly in hand. “It’s a very proud moment whatever way you look at it. I was delighted when Odran lifted the cup and very proud to follow in his footsteps, but all that’s really important is winning. I wouldn’t mind if I was looking up at one of the other boys lifting the cup,” he adds.

Therein probably lies the secret, because as with all great teams it’s a case of ní neart go cur le chéile – the team over the individual all the time, especially on days like this when the Kilmurry train built up a head of steam they haven’t really produced in knockout competition in Clare since their destruction of St Senan’s Kilkee in the 2008 semi-final.

“Everything went for us on the day,” admits O’Dwyer. “I said in my speech that Doora-Barefield were a fine team, but everything went for us. That’s why we won so easily. We kicked three points in three minutes and that set up a platform for us.

“We haven’t been playing good football all year – we haven’t been playing consistent football, so it was good to get a good hour’s football in. We were focused from the throw in because we were conscious that we’ve had a lack of consistency.

“We weren’t happy with that and it’s something we’ve worked on in training to try and play at a high intensity level for 60 minutes. We achieved that today. You have to build momentum, you can’t peak all the time and I think we peaked for this game today.

“We have a good bunch of players and with that you believe that you can win it every year you go out – last year was part of the motivation. It wasn’t the main motivation, but it was part of it. Definitely it was.

“It was their first county final and after ten minutes they were chasing the game. They needed the start we got and if they had got it, it would have been a completely different game,” he adds.

As for the future, he knows Odran followed up Jack Daly with the Munster Cup – of course it would be nice to double up, but in the first flush of victory, all O’Dwyer was thinking about was the Hand Hill, the first bonfire and the first pint in McCarthy’s Bar.

“We will do our celebrating for the week,” he says, “and we will knuckle back down to work again and look forward to the Munster campaign and give that a lash.”

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Evan thanks almighty for more county final glory

SURROUNDED by a green and red wave of congratulating supporters Evan Talty could not contain his excitement and enthusiasm.

“It’s absolutely brilliant now. We did what we set out to do,” he says above the din and through the crowd. “We had a very good quick start. We knew it was Barefield’s first final and since we had a bit of experience, the only way we could put that to use was to get that quick start we wanted and thankfully we did that.

“I think in fairness the game in many ways was over at halftime. When we came out and got the first score of the second half we were confident enough that we would hold out then.

“I suppose in most games we start well like we did against Cooraclare and Cratloe but then in most of those games we seemed to die down after that. We get on top and then we seem to relax. We said one thing today that we wouldn’t relax and stop playing. We’d drive on and get the next score, the next score and the next score.

“In fairness to Barefield they had a great year but I suppose it happened to us in our first year in Croke Park as well. We got caught in the headlights and I think the same thing happened to them today but they will be back again,” he adds.

Obviously a week of celebrations is around the corner but winning a county title for this amazing group of players is just not enough. A campaign in Munster and maybe even further is surely at the back of their minds already.

“We will relax now for a while anyway. I think it’s five weeks until Munster for us. We’ll enjoy this week but then we will be back down to work again. We’ll have another big job to do then. We really want to get back to where we we’re two years ago and hopefully finish off what we started.”

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Marvellous ‘Pato’ McInerney steals final show

THIS must have been a dream come through for Kilmurry Ibrickane star player Ian McInerney. Of course he has seen it all before but the feeling of bringing Jack Daly home and putting another county medal in your back pocket never gets old. Add in scoring a variety of brilliant free kicks with a hundred percent accuracy and scoop- ing the man of the match award this day could not have gone better for the forward with a number seven jersey on his back.

“It’s absolutely great. It’s wonderful. Our experience was definitely a huge help to us today. We really wanted this so bad. We hadn’t really played well this year so we really wanted to put in a great performance today. We have a great bunch of lads there.”

Leading on a score of 0-8 to no score at the interval must have left the possibility of complacency setting in after the restart. How was such a scenario prevented from happening?

“We just said at half time that we’d have to keep going and really drive it on. We’ve had early leads in the past and let them go and ended up in a dogfight so we didn’t want that to happen all over again. So we did what we planned and kept driving on.

“It’s a great day for Kilmurry Ibrickane especially all of our supporters. We really had great support again today so it was nice to earn the win for them.”

One very important supporter was missing from the stands for McInerney but she was very much in his thoughts and acted as the inspiration for his incredible county final day performance.

“Unfortunately my girlfriend is in hospital at the moment. She is very sick so I tried my best to put in a bit of performance for her today.”

Well he certainly managed to that and as well as doing her proud he surely was and will be the toast of many supporters in the barony for the weeks of celebrations ahead.