The Clare People Archive

GARDAI in Ennis are continuing to search for a man who attempted to rob a post office in Quin at gunpoint on Saturday afternoon.

The daring would-be raider en- tered the premises in Quin village at around 12.30pm as guests were arriving for a wedding in the local church just 100 yards away.

The man is understood to have pro-

duced what is believed to have been a firearm. However, he left the post office empty-handed.

The man fled from the scene in a car. It is believed that a second per- son drove that vehicle. Nobody was injured in the incident and no cash was taken.

It is thought that the safe in the premises was time-locked.

The post office in Quin opens for a half-day on Saturdays and was due to

close at Ipm.

Dozens of wedding guests had been enjoying drinks outside a local pub as the attempted robbery was taking place.

Most were unaware of the drama. However, one guest did notice some- thing suspicious.

‘I was after parking up close to the Church and was putting on my jacket when a silver car drove past me.

“I didn’t pay much attention but

recognised it as an unmarked Garda car – my buddy 1s in the guards,’ he said.

“T saw it pull up outside the post office and remember walking away none the wiser. At the time I hadn’t a clue what was going on, but later | heard in the pub that someone tried to rob the place.”

Meanwhile, gardai in Ennisty- mon are investigating an incident where four men rammed a car in an

attempt to escape after they were found on a business premises near Fanore in the early hours of Friday morning.

A number of men confronted the trespassers and attempted to block their escape by pulling a car across a gateway.

The gang attacked the car with a crowbar before ramming the vehicle and pushing it out of their way.

MORE than construction jobs have been lost to Clare so far this year as a direct result of decisions made by An Bord Pleanala.

According to an investigation car- ried out by

CLARE’S Kieren Fallon has issued a challenge to Frankie Dettori ahead of his comeback from suspension in September — calling on the Italian to go head-to-head with himself and reigning champion Ryan Moore for the British jockeys title in 2010.

The six-times champion jockey and multiple Classic winner makes his eagerly-awaited return to the sad- dle next month following his well- publicised suspension for failing a drug test in France, and is intent on regaining his crown from Moore, but also wants his long-time rival Det- tori to be up for battle.

“Frankie and I have a good rela- tionship and a healthy rivalry in the saddle and | think it is sad that he doesn’t ride more than he does,” Fal- lon revealed.

“T will be going all out to win the jockeys’ championship off Ryan Moore in 2010, and it should be some battle. But the icing on the cake would be if Frankie set his stall out and took us on as well.

“IT remember that amazing battle between Steve Cauthen and Pat Ed- dery in 1987 when “The Kid’ (Cau- then) won on the final day of the season, and of course more recently when Jamie Spencer and Seb Sand- ers shared the title.

‘The public love to see these battles that go on over a whole season. What it needs is for someone to put up a really big pot and really promote the concept.

“T would love to take on Frankie and Ryan. It would be great for the three of us, and without sounding sentimental, it would be fantastic for Flat racing in Britain.

‘So come on you gents in authority, how about setting it up,” he added.

Fallon has kept active during his suspension by riding out horses for Sir Michael Stoute.

THEY certainly made hard work of it but Cratloe’s second win of the championship on Sunday puts them within touching distance of a place in the semi-finals. Leading for the majority, a nervy last quarter saw them ship four unanswered points to only lead by the minimum approach- ing the finish before a 54th minute Cathal McInerney goal sealed the win for the south east Clare side.

Cratloe, who had a sizeable repre- sentation from both their minor win- ning side of last year along with their current Under 21 side who are due to meet Ennistymon in the A decider in their side, were full of energy and running but found it difficult to keep the experience of Kilmurry Ibrick- ane at bay.

That was mainly due to their waste- ful shooting that saw them kick 13 wides over the hour in contrast to Kilmurry Ibrickane’s one miss but at the same time, the fact that they had so many opprortunities demon- strates the amount of possession they enjoyed.

A bright start saw Cratloe surge two points clear by the sixth minute through Cathal McInerney and Pad- raigh Chaplin as Kilmurry Ibrickane took time to adjust to Cratloe’s tactic of using Paudge Collins as an extra midfielder.

Aidan Moloney opened Kilmurry Ibrickane’s account a minute later before the game had to be stopped for five minutes after a nasty clash of heads between Wesley Deloughery and Martin O’Connor that saw both players replaced.

That stoppage seemed to disrupt Cratloe’s flow and Kilmurry Ibrick- ane took full advantage when they produced a goal at the turn of the Opening quarter. It came after Sea- mus Lynch played an inch perfect crossfield pass into the path of Paul O’ Dwyer who found the net and they

could have grabbed a second only seconds later when Barry Lynch weaved his way along the left endline but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Jamie Joyce.

A relieved Cratloe did recover though and after Joseph O’Connor’s free had reduced the deficit to the minimum in the 21st minute, Cratloe manufactured a goal of their own ina

superb counter-attack move. Break- ing down a Kilmurry I[brickane at- tack, the ball was moved upfield where Padriagh Chaplin did well to keep the ball in play by the right touchline and it was his pass to the overlapping Martin ‘Oige’ Murphy that attracted the defence before the wing-back passed across the square for the waiting Cathal McInerney to

finish. By the break, Cratloe enjoyed a two point advantage at 1-4 to 1-2 and they built on that on the restart to push five clear with further points from minors Paudge Collins (2) and Conor Ryan by the 38th minute.

It should have cemented the win but perhaps it was their lack of experi- ence that saw them take their foot off the gas and Kilmurry Ibrickane, led

by Aidan Moloney almost grabbed something out of the game. With Cratloe misfiring, Kilmurry Ibrick- ane kicked four unanswered points, three from Moloney to slash the ad- vatage to only a point by the 52nd minute.

Cratloe’s nerves were finally eased when Conor Ryan found Cathal McInerney for his second goal in the 54th minute, a score that finally killed off Kilmurry Ibrickane’s chal- lenge.

While Cratloe have one foot in the semi-finals, Kilmurry Ibrickane’s campaign isn’t over yet either. How- ever, if they are to force a play-off, they will need to beat O’Callaghan’s Mills and hope that Cratloe maintain their perfect start against St Breck- an’s.

THERE are two ways of looking at this minor final that saw Kilkenny complete a unique four-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles.

Either you can take the positive approach and promote the fact that Clare underage camogie are bridg- ing the gap at national level in reach- ing their second successive minor fi- nal and closing the margin from last year’s decider or alternatively you can despair at the fact that realistical- ly Clare never looked like capturing a historic first title after Kilkenny’s superior movement and ruthlessness up front produced five first half goals to lead by 13 points at the break.

Either way it’s difficult to grumble with the result that re-enforces Kil- kenny’s hold at underage level. They thoroughly deserved their victory and ultimately revelled in the wide open space of Semple Stadium.

Clare, for their part, never dropped their heads at any stage and should be commended for taking the game to their opponents in the second pe- riod, outscoring Kilkenny by 2-4 to O-5. However, the nightmare of the first half left them with far too much to do after Kilkenny had hit them for five goals.

Clare will point to a luckless first period when Shonagh Enright twice hit the woodwork with goal efforts and they also had two half chances in the second half, both of which were denied by the Kilkenny full-back line. In addition, the refereeing was erratic at times but in truth, Clare got the rub of those decisions as much as Kilkenny over the hour.

Clare started with seven of last year’s side while the defending champions had six survivors but in order to break their Kilkenny hoo- doo, Clare craved a good start.

Instead, however, it was Kilkenny who took the initiative from the out- set with full-forward Denise Gaule converting a 50 metre free after only 40 seconds before adding a goal in the third minute. The decision for the goal was harsh in the extreme as Anne Marie McMahon was pulled up for over-carrying when the ma- jority of the crowd assumed she had earned the free herself.

It came after Karen Duggan passed to Gaule close to goal and when her shot was batted clear by goalkeeper Ailish Considine, McMahon caught the ball but was adjudged to have over-carried and Gaule crashed the resultant 20 metre free to the net.

Clare’s response was swift and just as effective as Shonagh Enright dis- possessed full-back Alison Walsh and offloaded to the unmarked Rot- sin O’Brien who found the net but crucially Kilkenny cancelled it out in the next passage of play through Michelle Farrell to lead by 2-1 to 1-0 by the seventh minute.

Three Shonagh Enright frees were equally matched by Gaule (2) and Michelle Farrell by the 22nd minute before Kilkenny upped the ante again with well-worked goals from Gaule and Claire Phelan.

By now, Kilkenny’s full-forward line had totted up the entire 4-5 total between them and it forced Clare to

alter their last line by moving Chloe Morey to her more natural position of centre-back in a switch with sub- stitute Carol Kaiser.

With Morey now influencing great- ly, Clare began to open up and play and it was one of those clearances that sent Shonagh Enright through on goal, only to see her shot some- how kept out by a combination of goalkeeper Emma Staunton and the post in the 28th minute.

That miss was magnified only sec- onds later when Gaule handpassed to Aisling Phelan for her second goal of the game but it didn’t derail a resur-

gent Clare who created another goal chance soon afterwards but this time, Enright was denied by the crossbar as a luckless Clare went in trailing by 5-5 to 1-4 at the interval.

Three further points had Kilkenny 16 points clear by the 36th minute but credit Clare for their response as they stopped the supply to the Kilkenny full-forward line and proceeded to outscore Kilkenny by 2-4 to O-2 for the remainder.

Shonagh Enright finally got her just reward in the 38th minute when she received a pass from Katie Cahill to flick past goalkeeper Staunton and

after two more points, Roisin McMa- hon cut the deficit to nine when she gathered a break to rifle a ball to the net via the stick of the goalkeeper by the 54th minute.

Despite the brave fightback how- ever, time was ultimately against them as Kilkenny emptied the bench to hang on for the remaining minutes to claim their fourth All-Ireland title in a row and condemn Clare to their second successive final defeat.

Whether you took the positive or negative viewpoint of this final, mor- al victories are of scant consolation to this group of players.

CLARECASTLE and _ Kilmaley joined Sixmilebridge and Newmar- ket in the Minor A semi-finals at the weekend when they accounted for Eire Og and Inagh/Kilnamona respectively in their quarter-final clashes. Clarecastle had five points to spare in their local derby with the Ennis side, with Clare minor Aaron Considine grabbing 1-10 in the 1-17 to 2-09 victory.

Leading from the outset, Clarecas- tle got an early boost when Consid- ine soloed through for a goal in the Sth minute to lead by I-2 to 0-1. He followed up with a free but Eire Og grabbed a lifeline in the 12th minute when goalkeeper Philly Walsh’s long free ended up in the Clarecastle net.

The Magpies reocvered well from that setback to pull four points clear once more but Eire Og refused to lie down and in the 27th minute, claimed a second major when a goamouth scramble was finished to the net.

Again Clarecastle responded im- mediately though with late points from Niall Quinn and Considine to lead by 1-10 to 2-04 at the break.

The second period was a seesaw af- fair with both sides going point for point for the majority as Clarecastle held a five point lead approaching the finish.

They still had to endure a nervy final few minutes before finally se- curing victory and had goalkeeper Jamie Coughlan to thank for an ex- cellent point blank save in the 56th minute.

Meanwhile, in Monday evening’s quarter-final, a Daire Keane goal in the 28th minute proved the dif- ference as Kilmaley knocked out defending champions Inagh/Kilna- mona on a scoreline of 1-15 to 0-14. That goal turned the game on it’s head as Kilmaley took a 1-5 to 0-6 lead into the interval and they held that slender advantage until the final minutes when a brace of points en- sured victory.

Kilmaley will now meet Newmar- ket-on-Fergus in the last four while last year’s finalists Sixmilebridge renew acquaintances with Clarecas- tle in the other semi-final in what is a repeat of last year’s minor league nue

A COMBINATION of factors is playing a role in extra pressure being exerted on Clare Haven.

The organisation provides support to female victims of physical and emotional abuse at its facility in En- nis and also at its outreach centres across the county.

As the organisation’s figures show that the numbers of women requir- ing help has increased significantly, Services Manager Denise Dunne says that an increased level of aware- ness has played a role.

Ms Dunne said that the statistics have increased, right across the board.

‘There is a combination of things. We have been doing a lot of aware- ness raising. We have been call- ing to doctors’ surgeries and health centres with our leaflets and posters. We have increased awareness of our service. The downturn in the econo- my has also played a role. We have a lot of women coming to us who are not well off,’ said Ms Dunne.

“I don’t think domestic violence has increased. I’m hoping people’s awareness has increased and people are less tolerant of it,’ she said.

Women visit the centre due to a number of reasons, such as emo- tional abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse or social abuse.

“It covers not just physical abuse. It would be mostly physical abuse for those who come into the refuge. Peo- ple only come to the refuge as a last resort,’ said Ms Dunne.

Clare Haven engages in a number of initiatives, one of which 1s a pilot pro- gramme in schools and youthreach centres. The sessions are educational and the feedback from teachers and students alike has been positive.

“The more we can educate people around violence in general, the bet- ter,’ said Ms Dunne.

Many women seeking help from Clare Haven turn up at the refuge with their children. “If it’s danger-

ous to be at home, they will take the children with them. Lately we see a lot of older women coming in. Finan- cially, they wouldn’t have the means to alternative accommodation. A lot of the time, women are coming to the refuge waiting for a barring or- der, protection order or safety order (taken out in court),” she said.

While the majority of women visit- ing Clare Haven have been abused by their partners, others are abused by

their grown-up children.

She said that alcohol and drugs may play a role in abuse, but is not the only factor. “Certainly if alcohol and drugs are involved, it might exacer- bate the violence. It doesn’t cause it. We have plenty of clients coming in where the partner doesn’t abuse alco- hol or drugs,’ she added.

CLARE farmers are facing financial ruin this winter as one of the wettest Summers on record has stunted grass growth and now looks likely to cause a severe feed shortage this winter.

Indeed, reports from around the county indicate that some animals are still being housed in sheds at night in particularly wet areas.

According to figures released last week by Met Eireann, Shannon Air- port experienced its wettest July for more than 50 years, with twice the average rainfall being recorded.

“The weather has made the situ- ation very difficult for farmers al- ready this year, with grass growth well behind all year long. The land is as wet now, in August, as it usually is in mid-winter,’ said Clare IFA chair- man, Michael Lynch.

“Grass growth has been disastrous this year. Besides a short spurt in June, it has been behind all year and is putting farmers under real pres- sure.”

According to Mr Lynch, farmers have begun to offload stock in the last number of weeks as the weather means that they won’t have enough fodder to feed them this winter.

“The heavy rainfall has affected all of Clare but there are some areas where cattle have had to be rehoused and put back inside – which is un- thinkable,” continued Mr Lynch.

“We have seen farmers selling stock much, much earlier than they

normally would because of the fear of a lack of grass. It is essential for Clare farmers that the weather im- proves. A lot of farmers are counting on a good August to allow them to make their second cut of silage. ‘The first cut 1s already very light in a lot of areas and if the second cut is not better, then there could be ser1- ous problems. This is costing farm- ers money all over the place and it’s going to get worse unless the weather

improves drastically.”

According to Met Eireann, the wet July was caused by a series of Atlan- tic depressions tracking over Ireland. Despite the rain, there was some con- solation for sun-seekers, with higher than average sunshine also being re- corded at Shannon Airport.

Despite the record rainfall, Clare was spared the worst of the weather. Newport in County Mayo recorded a record 42mm of rain in a one-hour

spell last month, with Dublin Air- port’s wettest ever day long rainfall on record.

The Valentia Observatory also re- corded its wettest July since records began in the area in 1866.

THERE was a 1966 Clare registered Mustang parked up outside Shana- han McNamara Park on Saturday – however, it wasn’t the only display of a different vintage in Doonbeg on the day.

Cooraclare and Kilrush also dipped into their past – unhappy history from Cooraclare’s point of view as they crashed to a defeat that had all the hallmarks and failings of their un- happy years from 2005 to ‘08; happy history for the Shams as they showed that tradition still counts for a lot on championship afternoons.

In many ways we should have seen it coming – Cooraclare are better as underdogs as they proved against Eire Og, Doonbeg and Kilmurry Ibrickane recently.

Kilrush, meanwhile, haven’t been beaten by Cooraclare at champion- ship level since 1986 – they always expect to beat Cooraclare and so it proved here as a storming finish to the first half gave them a six-point half-time cushion that they defended doggedly in the second half to get home by the minimum margin.

It had looked promising for Co- oraclare early on as they raced into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after seven minutes thanks to points from Cathal Lillis (2) and Michael Kelly, but they failed to score for the rest of the half as the Shams eventually made hay thanks

to Jim Young’s dominance in the full-forward line.

Peadar McMahon had opened the scoring with a free in the second minute but they had to wait until the 12th for their second when Eoghan O’Kelly landed a fine effort from 50 yards out on the right wing.

However, the real spark came in the 25th minute when Chris Dixon’s long delivery was brilliantly fielded with one hand by Jim Young 12 yards from goal – from there he turned and blasted to the net to put the Shams

1-2 to O-3 ahead.

The game was then turned on its head when four more points fol- lowed in the next five minutes from Brendan Crowley, Peadar McMahon (2) and Jim Young to give the Shams were 1-6 to 0-3 lead at the break.

Kilrush were dominating all over the field, while Young and Donal O’Sullivan at midfield the standout performers. Cooraclare, meanwhile, were reeling and slipped seven adrift three minutes into the second half when Peadar McMahon fired over

his third pointed free.

This was a far cry from the per- formance that swept them to the Cu- sack Cup title two weeks ago – the in- tensity and energy just wasn’t there.

They did manage to claw their way back into contention with pointed frees from Mark Tubridy (3) and Ca- thal Lillis to pull it back to a 1-7 to Q-7 game by the 40th minute. How- ever, a Peadar McMahon free in the 46th proved to be the crucial score and the difference between the sides as Cooraclare piled on the pressure

in the closing ten minutes.

Further points from Lillis (2) and Tubridy brought the margin down to the minimum entering injury time, but the Shams were not to be denied the victory that now puts them in pole position in Group 3 with three points from two games.

The 1966 Mustang was probably a Kilrush car too.

REMEMBER Ballyvaughan? The side that made a dramatic introduc- tion to senior football last year with a shock win over county finalists Eire Og last year. Well, they were largely overlooked in terms of quali- fication for the knock-out stages in a group consisting of county champi- ons Kilmurry Ibrickane and two of last year’s quarter-finalists but on Sunday, they demonstrated that they were not there make up the numbers with a character-filled display against Ennistymon.

Full of hunger and self-belief, Bal- lyvaughan eventually romped to a double scores victory with the help of some astute substitutions. To win by seven points was an impressive feat in itself but Ballyvaughan did so by kicking 12 points from play while also holding Ennistymon to only two points from play over the hour.

Much like their triumph of the Townies last season, Ballyvaughan refused to adhere to the script. This was meant to be Ennistymon’s crowning achievement. A_ battling victory over Wolfe Tones in round one at the same venue set themselves up for another tilt at the business end of the championship but aside from a battling second quarter, they were

very disappointing. Backed by a bur- geoning underage system, the Under 21A finalists had a decent blend of youth and experience but for the ma- jority, they were stuck to the ground.

Ballyvaughan, meanwhile, had nothing to lose. After falling to Kil- murry Ibrickane in their opening tie, another defeat here would have put them out of the running but they

would have targetted this derby from the draw and threw everything into this game in a bid to overturn last year’s result.

From the outset, Ballyvaughan took the game to their neighbours, pulling four points clear by the 12th minute with points from Kevin Carrucan (2), Stevie Hynes and a John Martyn free and also had three wides in the

same period.

Ennistymon even had an extra player around the middle of the field with Lawrence Healy roving from his full-forward berth but it took them 17 minutes to open their ac- count through Sean McConigley. That score did give them confidence though and while Ballyvaughan mis- fired, Ennistymon thought they had weathered the storm by pulling level by the break with further scores from Brian Conway and Joe Dowling (2).

The second period began in seesaw fashion with Carrucan and Conway Swapping points by the 38th minute but once Carrucan grabbed his fourth point of the game at the turn of the final quarter, Ballyvaughan upped the ante once more. Aided by several changes to their forward line, Ballyvaughan kicked five further un- answered points by the 54th minute, three from substitutes Jason McDon- agh, Tomas Francis and the lively Jack Queally.

Ennistymon had no answer to Bal- lyvaughan’s charge and their heads dropped all too easily after Mc- Conigley’s flick towards goal was acrobatically saved by goalkeeper Damien McNamara.

Instead, Ballyvaughan piled on the misery with McDonagh adding two more points to his tally as they eased

up to victory and open up the group once more. Another win over Wolfe Tones and Ballyvaughan’s meteoric rise through the ranks could reach new heights. They won’t be written off again, that’s for sure.