The Clare People Archive

OH to be in the Corofin dressing room at half-time!

Let’s just say that Seamus Clancy would have had plenty of ammuni- tion to fire a few volleys or more to- wards his players.

They’d just had the advantage of a strong breeze in the first half but 11 lamentable wides had contributed to them kicking away what should have been a very healthy half-time lead.

Instead, Corofin had to contend themselves with a slender I-1 to O-3 advantage after a very forgettable 30 minutes of football.

And, even accounting for all this profligacy Corofin were grateful to be ahead – a Colm Clancy goal which opened their account in the IIth minute and a point from distance by Brendan Keane was all they had to show for 30 minutes.

It scarcely seemed enough against a Kildysart team that motored well enough into the wind. Gerry Kelly followed up where he left off against Clondegad when opening the scoring after eight minutes with a point from play – indeed Kelly was Kildysart’s only scorer in the half.

He chipped over a free in the 14th minute in response to Clancy’s goal, while a good point from play in the 23rd was Kildysart’s positive re- sponse to Brendan Keane’s 16th minute point for Corofin.

However, that’s were all the posi- tivity ended from Kildysart’s point of view, and presumably it’s where Seamus Clancy came into his own in the dressing room when lashing out a few home truths about his side’s first half performance.

They were obviously listening in- tently because they pummelled a dreadful Kildysart side into the sub- mission from the opening seconds of the second-half.

It’s true that the wind seemed to ease up considerably, but still the va-

garies of the weather couldn’t alone count for Corofin’s rejuvenation and Kildysart’s capitulation.

Corofin stormed forward from the throw-in. Twice they could have go- aled in the opening five minutes, but instead had to content themselves with points from a Damian Ryan free and an effort from play by John Keane, whose influence on proceed-

ings grew as the game progressed. The pattern of the early stages con- tinued almost uninterrupted for the rest of the game – Corofin were dom- inating all over the field, from the brilliant Eamonn Malone at full-back through to John Keane and Colm Clancy in the full-forward line. Clancy set up Damian Ryan for an- other point in the 43rd minute to put

Corofin 1-4 to 0-3 clear as Kildysart struggled to get the ball out of their own half.

Further Corofin points from John Keane and Ryan’s third of the hour put them 1-6 to 0-3 ahead entering the last ten minutes and killed off any hope of a Kildysart comeback.

The will wasn’t there among the Kildysart players everywhere – they

were already through to the semi- final stages thanks to earlier wins over Michael Cusack’s and Clonde- gad. This game clearly didn’t mean eel Uhes om Kem satsseeF

It meant everything to Corofin though as they at last found some of the winning form that swept them to this title three years ago.

Kildysart, for all their second half failures, did at least manage to reg- ister a couple of points near the end from Cian Cleary and Christy Clancy, but the fact remains that they’re now going into the semi-final stages on the back of a terrible display.

Corofin, meanwhile, are on the up after a 30 minutes in which they answered all the questions posed by their awful first 30 minutes.

It all meant that Clondegad’s 2-15 to 1-8 win over Michael Cusack’s was academic – they were out of con- tention for 2009.

AN ENNIS woman is calling on Clare County Council to get to the bottom of the true lineage of Mu- hammad Ali before the great man arrives in Clare next week.

Mary O’Grady, whose father Christopher O’Grady met the boxer in Shannon Airport in 1960, claims

that she is the true local relation of Ali and deserves to meet him when he is given the freedom of Ennis next Shiloh

“Christopher O’Grady was born in 1912 and all of his family came from the Turnpike area of town. His father and his grandfather, all of his rela- tions came from that area, they were the first O’Grady’s in the town of En-

nis,’ she said.

“I think that it is a total mockery that we can proceed with this when a cloud hangs over the thing. I am liv- ing in the town of Ennis for the last 64 years and my father and my uncle were the only two O’Grady’s as far as I have ever seen.”

Amazingly, Christopher O’Grady, who is now deceased but used to

work in Shannon Airport, actually met Muhammad Ali when he was on the way back from the Olympics in 1960. This is long before the connec- tions between Muhammad Ali and the O’Grady’s of Ennis were discov- elen

‘He always loved Muhammad Ali. When he saw him, he said that he reminded him of his brother John. Except that he was black he said that he looked just like one of the family,” she continued.

‘He has a great big dimple on his chin as well, which 1s just like every- one else has in our family. Wouldn’t it be an awful hypocrisy if we all get excited over this and a mistake 1s ine T-\e lone

Although Christopher O’Grady passed away in 1999, he had learned of his possible connection to Ali be- fore his death.

‘He used to laugh about it and won- der at how strange it was that he had met him all those years before,” con- tinued Mary.

“I don’t want to blow anything out of proportion here but all I am saying is what I know. Only one person will be allowed to shake his hand and say ‘welcome to Ennis, I’m your relation and we are very proud of you’ – I just want to make sure that it is the right person.

‘He [Christopher O’Grady] always loved Muhammad Ali. I remember all the stories he used to tell and even the picture of him which we hung up around the place.”

Confusion over O’Grady family ties

THIS weekend twin festivals will showcase all the best things about the town of Gort. From Thursday to Sunday the Ri-Ra Festival and Ri-Vibe Youth Festival will run side by side – offering a host of events for young and old.

The festivals have been organised by an off-shoot of the local Cham- ber of Commerce who were looking for a way of showing off all the good things about the town.

“T first came into the Chamber of Commerce 18 years ago and the is- sues then were water and sewage

and the same issues are being kicked around today,’ said Austin McIner- ney of the Gort Chamber of Com- merce and Five Star Events.

‘We had a meeting to find out what we could do ourselves to rectify this situation and promote what is best about Gort and the word that kept coming up again and again was fes- ME

‘Two or three days later the local curate, Fr Frankie Lee mentioned to me that he had an idea for a Youth Festival. And that is where the Ri- Vibe came from.”

The festival, which will be pre- sided over by the newly elected King

of Gort, King Guaire Piggott, will bring together events hosted by lo- cal group including the Wild Swan Theatre Company, Coole Park and a number of sports organisations.

The Ri-Vibe festival will also see the best of local musical talent taking to the stage and the Cannon Quinn Park, all leading up to a performance by The Blizzards on Sunday evening. The highlight of the festival will be The Peasants’ Ball, which will take place in the Gort Community Centre on Sunday night.

“The Peasants’ Ball should be a great occasion. There will be enter- tainment and some good food and

we are encouraging everyone to dress down – or even to dress as peas- ants. King Guaire will also be there to treat his people on the evening.

“The Ri-Vibe Festival will take on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday and except for Sunday night, when the Blizzards are playing, will all be eusonee

The festival will also include a performance from Andy Irvine, the Irish Ballroom Dancing Champion- ship, a tag rugby blitz and a festival discount scheme in the local shops. To book tickets go to Coole Proper- ties or from Minihans SuperValu in Gort or email riratix@gmail.com.

FROM the early hours of the morn- ing to late at night you will happen upon cyclists on the road in the west Clare parish of Coorclare/Cree dur- ing the month of August.

The reason for the upsurge in cy- cling at this time of year is by now accepted as preparation for the An- nual Michael Garry Memorial Cy- ATR

The fundraising event in memory of the late postman is now an impor- tant part of the local calendar in Co-

oraclare, with all of the parish get- ting behind the event. It also receives support from cyclists from all over the country.

In its sixth year the 35 kilometre cycle has raised €111,100 for local charities. More than 100 people take to their bike every year as part of the fundraiser.

Last year was especially poignant as a group of friends of the late Leav- ing Certificate student Mark Donnel- lan took part in the event in his mem- ory. The west Clare teenager was a keen participant up until his sudden

and untimely death last year.

The cycle donated €5,000 of the €27,200 raised last year to the char- ity – Cardiac Risk in the Young in his memory, and stopped at his grave in Knocknahilla during the cycle.

Other charities to have benefited from the cycle over the last five years include the Clare 250 Cancer Centre in Ruan to the tune of €32,000 and the Munster Branch of Spina Bifida to the same amount.

A further €12,000 has been donat- ed to the West Clare Cancer Support Group based in Kilrush, €15,000

to the Kilkee based Voices for Au- tism, €3,000 to Aware and €3,500 to the Kilkee Marine Rescue. The Clare branch of the ISPCA received €3,000 from the event last year, and €2,500 went to the Clare branch of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. The cycle will take place on Sat- urday, September 5, at 1.15pm from the church in Cooraclare and will take in 20 townlands in the parish. It will stop briefly at the graveyard in Kilmacduane to remember the late Michael Garry who died of a brain haemorrhage in March 17, 2004.

, by historian Ian

Kenneally, tells the story of Sergeant

James Flanagan and other Clare men who fought at the battle.

Born in Ennis in April 1839, Flana-

gan emigrated to the United States

and took part in the Californian gold rush while still 1n his teens.

Kenneally writes, “Evidently, he did not make his fortune there and he moved to Ohio sometime in the 1850s. He fought on the Union side during the American Civil War and joined the Seventh Cavalry in 1871. By the time of the battle, he was one of the Seventh’s most experienced soldiers.”

Of Flanagan’s role at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Kenneally writes, “Tt was around 5pm on the afternoon of June 25, 1876 that Captain Thomas

Weir of the Seventh Cavalry reached the top of a hill by the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Accompany- ing him was his Sergeant, Clareman James Flanagan, and the troops of ‘D’ Company.

“They were riding towards their commander, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, who was involved in a heavy fight a few kilo- NSCB REAR hae

He continues, “As they crested the hill, they realised they were too late. Flanagan was the first to see what had happened. Using his field-glass-

es, he could see the final seconds of Custer’s Last Stand and, more omi- nously, a large body of armed men approaching their way.

“He turned to Weir, ‘Captain, I think they are Indians’. Flanagan and his comrades were in danger of being overrun by a thousand armed warriors. ’

Flanagan survived a 24-hour siege and after the battle was recommend- ed for a medal for conspicuous gal- lantry by his superior officers.

However, Kenneally writes that he never received a medal. Kene-

ally writes, “Flanagan was wounded a year later at the Battle of Snake Creek as the Seventh Cavalry fought Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce. He remained in the army until 1881. Like other Irish veterans of the bat- tle, he later settled in North Dakota, working as a bailiff in the town of Mandan. Flanagan died in 1921 and is buried in the Union Cemetery of Mandan.”

Among others, the book also exam- ines the life of John Philip Holland, the Liscannor man who invented the submarine.

Clare hotel sector reaches crisis point

CRIPPLING local authority rates emerged as a key issue causing se- vere hardship for hoteliers at a recent crisis meeting held by the Irish Ho- tels Federation (IHF).

Clare members expressed outrage at the exorbitant rates imposed and de- manded that, due to their inability to pay in the current climate, an emer- gency provision should be brought in to immediately reduce rates by 30 per cent for hotels and guesthouses. This would be in line with the recent result of the revaluation of hotels and guesthouses in the South Dublin

County Council area completed by the Valuation Office.

Hoteliers condemned as outrageous and extortionate the levels of local authority rates paid by hotels. The IHF bases the call for a rates reduc- tion on the fact that the revaluation carried out by the Valuation Office of all commercial premises in the South Dublin County area resulted in a re- duction of approximately 30 per cent in the local authority rates liability of hotels and guesthouse.

Therefore, it maintains that this level of reduction should be applied across all local authority areas until the revaluation process is completed

in each local authority area through- out the country.

According to Michael Vaughan, Chairman, Shannon Branch of the IHF, hotels and guesthouses are dis- proportionately subsidising the rates liability of other business premises. He states that hotels and guesthouses are being penalised by an antiquated taxation system of commercial rates that sees local authorities extract taxes relative to the size of premises without any recourse to the level of turnover or overheads of the business.

“Our members have been paying rate increases year on year without recourse to independent assessments. We have been asking too long for this issue to be addressed, and it hasn’t been addressed. Excessive local au- thority rates are having a devastating effect on hotels which are already struggling to deal with decimated revenues and cost bases that have not yet adjusted to the changed economic reality on the ground.

“Our members are willing to pay a fair and equitable level but simply can no longer bear the current rates that are imposed in this unprecedent- ed environment when a revaluation process should be completed,” says Mr Vaughan.

“We are calling for the introduction emergency provisions to allow for a 30 per cent reduction in local au- thority rates applicable to hotels and guesthouses until such time as these properties have been revalued as pro- vided for in the Valuation Act 2001 Act. Only one local authority area in the entire country has completed this process in seven years — we can no longer wait for the Valuation Office to complete this countrywide proc- ess given the dire circumstances our members are facing.”

Among the other issues discussed at yesterday’s meeting were a need to manage the substantial excess capac- ity that exist in the sector; distortion of the market with unfair competition as aresult of hotels under the control of the banks operating at below cost prices; severe difficulties faced by hotels and guesthouses in obtain ad- equate bank credit to survive through the recession.

They also discussed a need for the cost base of hotels to adjust to the worsened market conditions; exces- sive public sector charges to which hotels are subjected; potential for NAMA operations to introduce mar- ket distortions and unfair competi- none

SHANNON residents will present Clare County Council with a peti- tion against the closure of a number of walkways around Shannon town as aresult of a new housing develop- ment being undertaken by the local authority.

More than 300 local residents have already signed the petition, which will also be accompanied by dozens of individual protest letters against WeToMOCoaVod Coy oyee torn

The local group claims that the fencing could obstruct the emergen- cy services from reaching the area and was erected without any prior notice from the contractors or Clare County Council.

“We were under the impression that this development was not going to go ahead because of the recession but we woke up one day and work had already started. All the fencing went up overnight and the whole area is penned in. It is very restrictive steel fencing and is around the whole development,’ said local resident Nicole Murphy.

“The fact that this fencing was up for a week and a half before we got any official notification about it is very worrying. Are we going to come home some day and find that our water or electricity has also been cut off without any notice?”

The petition is the result of a mass meeting which was held in the area last Tuesday. Another meeting will take place this weekend to decide the next step in the local groups opposi- tion to the development.

According to the group, the devel- opment will remove one of Shan- non’s few remaining green areas. In addition, they claim that a fully serv- iced site located nearby by would be cheaper and less disruptive for the lo- oF NMe- Luin eLoywinanKomeloa(od le) 0p

The group has also expressed its disappointment with some of their local politicians, who they feel went back on their word by failing to op- pose the development at the planning SR eLon

“This 1s one of the last green areas in all of Shannon and they want to

build all of these houses on it – right on our doorstep,’ continued Ms Mur- phy.

“We were told by some of our local election candidates that they would stand by us on this issue and they haven’t done that. I won’t say who I am talking about but the people know themselves.”

CLARE’S local authorities are to get a much-needed cash injection, as second homeowners are asked to pay up.

The Government has estimated that the newly introduced Non Principal Private Residences (NPPR) fee will bring in as much as €40 million na- tionally.

It is not clear, however, how much of this second home tax will be col- lected in Clare, as there is no com- prehensive list available as yet.

NPPR fees collected in town coun- cil areas will revert to those towns, however, confirmed Ms Carmel Greene, Senior Executive Officer, Finance Department of Clare Coun- WA Grolennete

The NPPR charge is set at an an- nual rate of €200 for 2009 per resi- dence, and must be paid by October Ue

Late payment will incur a fee of €20 in respect of each month or part of a month during which the charge remains unpaid.

The charge applies mainly to own- ers of private rental property and holiday homes. It also applies to vacant residential property, unless newly built.

Ms Greene said the payment is es- sentially for a non-principal private residence, which is not the owner’s normal home.

She added that any unpaid charges and penalties might adversely af- fect any future sale or transfer of the property.

The council has the authority to view Revenue and ESB records, as well as records of rental accom- modations in a bid to identify such Te bisen

Any person in any doubt about the lability of their property should contact Clare County Council at 065 6821616 or nppr@clarecoco.ie.