The Clare People Archive

WASN’T the most polished perform- ance but as expected Kilkee saw off the challenge of St Joseph’s with plenty to spare on Saturday.

Despite looking comfortable for long stretches, Kilkee found them- selves mired in a struggle midway through the second half when David O’Brien’s goal cut the Blues lead to just two points.

St Joseph’s had struggled to create and convert scoring opportunities all afternoon but were suddenly thrown a lifeline with O’Brien’s goal. They didn’t avail of it. Instead Kilkee re- sponded perfectly by reeling off four straight points.

Lissycasey’s destruction of Miul- town later in the day served to halt Kilkee’s progress to the knockout stages. But a positive result next time out against Miltown should see the Blues through.

They may not have been firing on all cylinders but the fact was that Kilkee didn’t need to. Barefield brought plenty of athleticism and aggression but a poor performance was marked by a recurring failure to properly execute basic skills. Too many handpasses, kick passes and decent chances went astray.

Ger Fanning was effective raid- ing forward from defence and David

O’Brien was the pick of the forwards but apart from that there was little to cheer about St Joseph’s display.

Once they had ironed out the kinks in their passing, the Blues greater class shone through. David Russell and Michael O’Shea were quietly effective while Kevin Larkin and particularly Noel O’Shea turned in assured performances.

The Blues were comfortably into their stride with points from Michael O’Shea, Chris Williamson and Noel O’Shea putting them 0-3 to 0-0 ahead by the 8th minute.

Colm Mullen converted a free for St Joseph’s first score three minutes later before Paul Dullaghan blast- ed a point from a tight angle. PG O’Donnell’s failure to convert from dead in front of the posts was com- pounded in the 24th minute when David Russell took Barry Harte’s pass and buried a goal.

Mullen hit a free but Kilkee ended the half 1-5 to O-3 ahead with points from Michael O’Shea and Barry Je Nate

Points from Mullen and David O’Brien were cancelled out by terrif- ic scores from Williamson and Noel O’Shea. Kilkee’s lead was shaved from five points to two in the 42nd minute when David O’Brien collect- ed a low pass from his brother Chris- topher to poke to the net.

But the goal served only as a prelude to Kilkee’s best spell of the game. Fitzgerald, Larkin (2) and Noel O’Shea were followed by a goal from Fitzgerald in the 58th minute. St Joseph’s hit three late points on the trot but by that stage, the game was well and truly up.

THEY came from Holland, the UK, ths USA and even Japan to hear the music in the air in Feakle over the last week. The Feakle Music Festi- val enjoyed sell-out events and big crowds supporting the workshops and enjoying the sessions.

A musical adaptation, by Sean Tyrrell, of the famous poem “The Midnight Court’ composed by Brian Merriman, performed fittingly on the shores of Lough Graney, went down a treat and later that evening there was a second concert with re- nowned musicians Tony Mac Mahon and Steve Cooney.

The musical style of east Clare was what brought musicians and music

lovers from all over, and many were returning for the umpteenth time to enjoy the festival programme and the beauty of the area.

This year the festival celebrated the role of dance and particularly the influence of dance teacher Kathleen Moloney from Glendree.

And one of Ireland’s foremost com- posers, Shaun Davey was on stage for the Friday night recital in the parish church.

“It was a good week and people turned out in good numbers. The festival is as much a_ draw as it’s ever been and every year there’s something more to enjoy,” said lo- cal publican and festival committee member, Gary Pepper.

AFTER a long road, the Feakle- based Clare Accessible Transport (CAT) service has revved up and moved to their new base.

The new state-of-the art building is on the site of the old creamery and the CAT are delighted with the move.

“We were very glad to have the premises in the main street in Feakle to get started but we’ve outgrown it.” said CAT’s Laura Ward. “The new premises is fully accessible for peo- ple with a disability; we have a com- munity meeting room and training centre and we can now develop our IT and communications systems, as broadband has arrived in Feakle, just when we made the move.”

And now that broadband is avail- able to the service, they are develop- ing their website to give out infor- mation about CAT and make route planning easier for clients.

‘Just log on to catconnects.ie and search you town or village to see what routes are going your way.”

The service – which has charitable status and is funded by the Rural Transport Programme, the HSE and the Community Service Programme – now has 3,500 who also support it with the fares they pay.

They are making 3,000 passenger trips a month all across Clare, and now cater for a broader range of people than ever.

30 per cent of our passengers are under 25 years of age and we cater for tourists as well,” said Laura. ““We get emails from Japan and Italy, lots of places, booking trips. We want to support tourism through sustainable transport.”

On the road for seven years, CAT provides flexible transport for any- one who wishes to join. The service is free to travel pass holders and 1s reduced for under 16’s.

There are also ‘fare zones’ depend- ing on how long a journey is and the fares vary accordingly.

Now employing 21 people, full- and part-time, the service has expanded

into the MIDAS – Mini Bus Driv- ers Awareness Scheme – training for community drivers.

“It’s a mobile service which teach- es best practice and safety for people who drive groups,’ said Laura.

Becoming a member of CAT is easy and not expensive.

“You can email Clare Accessible Transport at ourbus@catconnects.ie,

call on 061 924375 or low call 1890 687287 or just turn up at Dunnes Stores and get a membership form from the driver,” said Laura. All CAT buses are wheelchair accessible.

THERE was some good signs for the local construction industry last week with the news that Cleary Develop- ments has just signed one of the larg- est construction deals of the year.

The company, which was found- ed my Miltown Malbay man John Cleary Snr, is to build a new private hospital in Cork for Sheehan Medi- cal – the group who own the Black- rock Clinic in Dublin and the Gal- way Clinic.

Cleary already employ some 80

people in the development with a further 90 subcontractors due to be brought on board in the coming weeks. With such a big project, the positive effects will be felt as far away as Clare.

‘The company was founded by my father, John Snr, who came from farming stock outside of Miltown Malbay,” said John Cleary Jnr.

“The company has been grow- ing well over the years and we have completed developments totalling around 250 to date. This projects is a major contract for us and will see the

construction of a 1,400 square foot hospital in Cork.

“The company has it’s roots in Clare and we are always looking to provide opportunity for Clare-based businesses and builder whenever we can. We have a number of people from Clare working for our compa- ny but, as well as that, we try to use Clare contractors whenever we can.

“Ennis Lifts for example have been contracted to provide all the lifts for this hospital – a contract which is worth in the region of €400,000. Whelan’s were also heavily involved

in the early stages of construction, and provided all the pre-cast con- crete work in a contract worth more Were oe mpsesbelONe

“We still have a house up in Mil- town Malbay, and we are always up there at the weekend to go fishing or just enjoy the area.”

Besides creating almost 160 jobs during construction, the new hos- pital will also create 350 new posi- tions when the hospital is officially opened next April. This will consist of at least 75 doctors on site with some 100 ancillary staff.

THE coveted Mr Ireland title has made its way to Shannon.

Kamal Ibrahim (23) has achieved the honour, having fought off compe- tition from nine other finalists, at the Strand Hotel in Limerick last week.

He has now won the right to com- pete in the Mr World competition in Korea in September, while he has also secured a €25,000 contract with a top modelling agency in Dublin. A native of Thomondgate in Limerick, Kamal currently lives in Shannon with his Polish-born girlfriend, An- eta, who is an airhostess with Rya- ene

Kamal was born in Limerick, but his exotic looks are due to his mother hailing from Italy and his father from Nigeria.

Kamal works as a security supervi- sor in the Trinity Rooms in Limer- ick. He has also modelled with the Celia Holman Lee agency in Limer- ick for the past five years. Up until six months ago, he also worked as a recruitment consultant.

He thoroughly enjoys modelling and was thrilled to win the Mr Ire- land title. He will now avail of a

€25,000 contract with John Comp- ton modelling agency in Dublin.

He represented Clare in the Mr Ire- land competition, but did not rate his chances of winning the contest.

“I entered only four weeks before it started. I wasn’t in it to win. I was

in it for the experience. However, as I learned more about it, it changed and I was preparing myself for it,” he said.

“The competition was based on physique and looks, while character and personality were important,” he added.

Participants had to model three dif- ferent outfits and engage in a ques- tions and answers session with the judges. Everyone was judged on a points-based system and Kamal was the outright winner in the end.

As he savours the success, Kamal will now prepare for the Mr World

contest. He will spend four weeks in Korea for the competition. “I am go- ing to be training to get into shape. There will be a lot more gym and a lot more dieting. There will be a lot of work with my agent with regard to public speaking,” he said.

He is optimistic about his chances of success in Korea.

“IT am over the moon. I am really focused on what it is I want to do. I have every intention of going to Mr World and winning it and bringing it back,” he enthused.

Get quizzical for Tanzanian orphans

RECENTLY released figures from the European Student Barometer sur- vey show that Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) students rate their college more highly than students of other Irish and European colleges are ranking their own institutes.

The European Student Barometer is an online student survey which is conducted independently by the re- Search institute, Trendence; it’s the largest survey on career, education and employer topics in Europe. This year, over 195,000 students from more than 775 European institutes in 22 European countries answered the SHAY

In the “evaluation of university/col- lege performance” section of the re- port, LIT students ranked the college above the national and European rat- ings for practical course content, lec- turer/tutor availability and helpful- ness, course content and structure, teaching quality, accommodation availability, assistance with career planning, and inexpensive location.

In terms of practical course content, 86.4 per cent of LIT students believe that the college’s course content is good or better, as opposed to the na- tional average of 73 per cent who be- lieve their college or university have practical course content.

Active learning through a fusion

of theory and practice is a term which LIT has coined to describe the hands-on and practical nature of their programmes, and with statis- tics like this, the college says their programmes, which provide practi- cal learning for students, continue to thrive.

The report also queried students on their top reasons for choosing an institute or college. 62.2 per cent of LIT students said course content and structure are the most important fac- tors when choosing a college or uni- versity course.

Dr Maria Hinfelaar, President of LIT, said these sort of statistics confirm LIT’s choice to introduce exciting new programmes. “We have a great number of new pro- grammes that have been validated and are ready for their first in-take of students in September. These programmes have been developed with industry and professional bod- ies to fill gaps in terms of education provision in Ireland and will have excellent career prospects for these students when they have graduated. Programmes include: Business Stud- ies with Sports Management, Build- ing Surveying, Good Manufacturing Practice & Technology, Investiga- tion Techniques and IT Security, and more. These programmes will be available via direct entry application to LIT in August,” she added.

AN BORD Pleanala yesterday gave the green-light for contentious plans for a 64-unit housing estate in the south-east Clare village of Ard- ueeKeva Ut orem

In giving Joe McMahon planning permission to construct the homes, the appeals board ignored the strong recommendation of its own inspector to refuse and local residents’ opposi- tion.

Mr McMahon has been seeking to develop the site since 2006, and first applied for 176 homes at the site.

The application before the board 1s

the third application Mr McMahon made for the site.

However, the inspector in the case concurred with the views of local residents opposed to the plan.

At the end of his 15-page report examining the proposal, the board inspector stated that “whilst there would appear to be no technical bar- riers to a grant of permission in this instances, I have fundamental con- cerns that the scale, form and overall design of the development proposed and its relationship to the broader settlement would represent a poorly conceived and insensitive extension to the settkement which would de-

tract from its overall character and appearance’.

He added, “Whilst recognising that the form and intensity of develop- ment has been modified significantly from the previous application, the reduction in density and the revised form and layout are insufficient in my view to overcome the previous objections to the development.

“The proposed development, by virtue of its scale, design and layout, would constitute a suburban form of housing estate in a rural village which is not designated for major ex- pansion and does not have the range of physical, community, educational

and commercial services or the transport services required to serve such a development.

“The proposal would therefore fail to provide for the orderly, planned de- velopment of Ardnacrusha, seriously injure the character and amenities of the area and would conflict with the zoning objectives of the site,” he concluded.

However, the board over-ruled his strong recommendation to refuse.

It stated, “In deciding not to ac- cept the inspector’s recommenda- tion to refuse permission, the board had particular regard to the planning history of the site and to the reduced

scale of the proposed development and considered that the proposed development would be acceptable on these zoned lands.”

The appeals board gave the pro- posal the go-ahead “having regard to the residential zoning of the site, the pattern of the development in the vic- nity and the scale and layout of the proposed development”.

An Bord Pleanala stated “that the proposal would not seriously in- jure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not be prejudicial to public health and would be acceptable in terms of traf- fic, safety and convenience”.

CLARE County Council is pursuing the liquidator of a collapsed County Clare building contractor to com- plete an unfinished pot-holed estate in the Burren village of Corofin.

Last year, Cronan Nagle Construc- tion folded with debts of almost €40 million after falling victim to the collapse in the property market.

George Maloney of a Dublin-based accountancy firm was appointed as liquidator where Cronan Nagle had assets valued at €17.1 million, leav- ing a deficit of about €20 million.

The bulk of the firm’s assets consist of unsold housing stock.

However, the council has issued two separate warning letters to Mr Maloney in connection with the un- finished estate constructed by Cro- nan Nagle, relating to ten homes at Laghtagoona, Corofin.

The council acted after complaints over unfinished footpaths and pot- holes in the Corofin estate.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said yes- terday, “House owners have paid through the nose for overpriced homes and developers should not be

able to walk away from their respon- sibilities.

“It is adding further insult to injury to these homeowners and I am glad that the council is pursuing the liq- uidator to have the estate completed. The uncompleted works should be done now.”

The council has stated that the de- velopment has not been carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of the planning permis- sion.

In respect of an application for four luxury homes at Laghtagoona, the council stated that it “has serious concerns regarding the standard of work in this development”.

The council stated that the roads and footpaths are not constructed to the satisfaction of the council; sec- tions of the estate road have deterio- rated, with the result that the potholes are noted on the access roads within the development site.

The council states that the condi- tions of the planning permission be complied with in full, without fur- ther delay.

It has also come to the council’s at- tention that some of the public lights

within the development are not in working order, while no ‘stop’ or ‘yield’ signs have been provided by the developer.

The council stated that in the event the unauthorized development is continued i.e. that the conditions of the planning permission are not complied with, the council may issue an Enforcement Notice.

Any person found guilty of carry- ing out an unauthorized development is liable to fines of up to €1,950 in the district court and €12.6m in the circuit court.

In relation to the firm’s collapse, AIB is owed €22.4 million, while a number of other lenders and the Rev- enue Commissioners are also owed sizeable sums.

The firm was established in 1999 by Clare engineer Cronan Nagle, and built more than 400 sustainable houses in the west of Ireland. It also had significant property interests in Nigeria.

TOURISM ambassadors will be tak- ing the message that Clare is the place to come to the biggest Irish festival in the world.

More than 150,000 visitors will be getting information about Clare’s at- tractions, culture and heritage in a full-on drive to bring them here.

The Clare Tourist Council will, again this year, lead a delegation to the Milwaukee Irish Festival.

The Clare delegation that includes representatives of the Clare Tour- ist Council, Clare Tourism Forum, Shannon Development and the Cliffs of Moher will operate two stands at the destinations area, which receives a significant amount of visitors inter- ested in coming to Ireland.

According to Flan Garvey of the Clare Tourist Council, it’s especially vital this year that County Clare has representation at the festival.

‘Our experience shows that there are many Irish-Americans who are huge- ly interested in coming to Ireland but gravitate towards Dublin, if there are not other counties to draw them west of the Shannon. We have seen a sig- nificant return from our efforts over the last number of years, and we’re confident that we can have a positive impact on tourism to Clare through our presence again this year.”

Cuimhneamh an Chlair, the Clare Oral History and Folklore Group will also feature prominently at this year’s festival. The fledging group has been invited to speak about their initiative at the renowned hedgeschool lecture

series. According to Tomas Mac Con- mara, who will provide the lecture, there is a huge appetite for Irish cul- tural heritage in Milwaukee and the US. “When Irish/American visitors come to Ireland, they’re not interested in the type of Disneyland tourism that has been created by tourism agencies specifically for their consumption.”

Commenting on future tourism de- velopment in Ireland, he said that, “There is no need for us as Clare people to ape what is being done in France, England or America. Visitors come to Ireland for an Irish experi- ence. We should be proud of our own traditions, customs and identity; fos- ter and preserve those first of all for local people and the knock on effect would be an increase in people want- ing to experience this as it 1s.”