The Clare People Archive

HISTORY will be made in north Clare this September as all three secondary level schools in Ennisty- mon will begin the school year with female principals for the first time Vole

This follows the appointment last week of Ann Tuohy as principal of the Christian Brothers’ Secondary School in the town – the first female principal appointed in the schools ROI (erase) ae

Ms Tuohy will replace current prin- cipal Michael Concannon who will retire this September after 40 years of service to the school.

Indeed, Mr Concannon was only the second lay teacher to be appointed to the school following the appointment of its first non Christian Brother prin- cipal, Michael Mulqueeny, in 1995.

This news follows the confirmation last May of Mary Joyce’s appointed as the official successor to former principal Enda Byrt at the Ennisty- mon Vocational. Ms Joyce, who has filled the role of acting principal for the previous 12 months, was the first full-time female principal appointed at the Ennistymon Vocational School in its 52 years history.

Mr Byrt, who is a former Irish international basketball coach, fin- ished his many years of service to the school last year and has returned to America where he coached basket- ball for a time in the 1990s.

Ms Tuohy and Ms Joyce are joined

by Ennistymon Scoil Mhuire princi- pal, Seosaimhin Ui Dhomhnallain, completing a full sweep of the main jobs in local secondary school edu- cation by women.

Scoil Mhuire has a long standing tradition of appointing a female prin- cipal to the all girls school.

As a Moy native, Ms Tuohy is no stranger to the area and 1s a past pu- pil of Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon. She brings a wealth of experience to the role having thought for years at St Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon

A spokesman for the school wel- comed Mrs Tuohy back home to north Clare.

“Both the staff and pupils of En- nistymon CBS welcome her to the

Monastery and wish her well in her new post,’ said the spokesman.

‘The school has often been referred to as a ‘small school’ but it was re- cently listed as 17th for students at- tending university in the national league of graduates attending uni- versity.

“Despite its size, the school offers a wide selection of subjects and the number of business people, academ- ics, farmers and sports people is greatly beyond proportion to the size of the school. For this the teaching staff and past principals must take a large share of the credit.”

Plenty of events to dig during Heritage Week

PLANNING permission to Hutch- inson 3G to construct a 120 ft high mast on Woodcock Hill near Cratloe has been refused due to fears that it would endanger or interfere with the safety of aircraft and pose a risk of a major accident taking place.

In making the decision, Clare County Council took into account an objection lodged against the develop- ment by the Irish Aviation Authority (CFV.

Earlier this year, Hutchinson 3G lodged plans for the development. The site is to provide broadband cov- erage in the residential areas, com- mercial premises and traffic routes around Sixmilebridge.

The six radio dishes on the mast were also required to connect with National Broadband Scheme sites in the west of Ireland.

In its decision, the council stated that it is considered that the proposed development would endanger or in- terfere with the safety of aircraft or the safe and efficient navigation and would pose a risk of a major accident occurring.

The proposed development is there-

fore contrary to the proper planning and development of the area

In its submission, Tom Cooney of the IAA Corporate Affairs stated that the proposed structure — which is 710 metres from Woodcock Hill Radar – will adversely affect the pro- pogation of signals trasmitted and received by Woodcock Hill radar.

He said: “The existing mast struc- tures on Woodcock Hill already in- troduce significant azimuth errors. Locating this mast at the proposed site will exacerbate an already sub- standard situation.

He added: “It 1s the opinion of the [AA that this structure will adversely impact on the operation of our Wood- cock Hill radar. Accordingly, we recommend that the council refuse planning permission for the mast.”

Hutchinson 3G told the council that the site will be the main transmission link for national broadband sites in the western region with six radio link dishes proposed.

Hutchinson stated that the appli- cation clearly demonstrates that the proposed development is required as part of the rollout of the broadband network under the National Broad- band Scheme.

A HIGH court bail application for the man accused of murdering Leslie Kenny in Kilrush almost two weeks ago will be made next Monday, a court heard yesterday.

Brendan O’Sullivan (24), of 10 O’Gorman Street, Kilrush, is charged with murdering Mr Kenny (26), con- trary to common law, at O’Gorman Street, on the morning of Wednesday, July 29 last. The defendant has been in custody since the date Mr Kenny was shot dead in the front garden of a house at O’Gorman Street.

During his second appearance be- fore Ennis District Court last week, Mr O’Sullivan was further remanded in custody, to appear in court again next Monday. On that date, the court was told that a bail application would be made to the High Court yesterday (Monday).

However, in court yesterday, de- fence solicitor Patrick Moylan said that application will not now be made until next Monday, at Cloverhill Courthouse. He said he was inform- ing the court that his client would be appearing in the High Court next Monday and therefore would not be in a position to attend the District Sous

The solicitor said that his client had been in custody in Limerick prison and has now been moved to Clover- hill prison, in advance of the High Court bail application.

Inspector Michael Gallagher, pros-

ecuting, pointed out that it was his understanding that the higher court would take precedence.

Mr O’Sullivan will appear before the High Court on Monday and is ex- pected to appear again at the District Court in Ennis on Monday week.

At his initial court hearing, Ennis District Court heard that in reply to charge after caution, Mr O’Sullivan said, “I didn’t intend to do this. I was trying to protect my family.”

His legal team told that court hear- ing that the accused would be fully defending the charge. His lawyers also revealed that an independent autopsy has been carried out, at the request of the defence. State Patholo- gist Professor Marie Cassidy has car- ried out a post mortem, at the request of the State.

that there was “strong sup- port” for the call for staff to occupy the plant.

“We had a long meeting with staff and that was one of the suggestions which had strong support. On con- sideration, it was decided that they would not go ahead with this plan. The reason that staff feel strongly

enough to stage a sit in is that they don’t trust what they are being told. Long before the announcement last week, it was known that there would be this number of jobs here after the cuts. But management employed this shock and awe tactic of saying all the jobs would go, just so people would be grateful for what they got.”

Both unions have said they will continue to explore all avenues to resolve the current dispute prior to taking industrial action.

While the company has indicated it is willing to keep an additional 160 jobs at the Shannon plant, on top of the 80 initially indicated, it employed over 600 workers up until late last year and up to 1,000 at one stage.

It is also offering redundancy terms worth a fraction of previous pack- ene

“We must save as many jobs as pos- sible,’ Ms O’Donnell said after an- nouncing the decision to ballot for industrial action. “But we also need far better terms for anyone facing redundancy in the present bleak en-

vironment.

“Workers at the plant are extremely apprehensive about the future and it is far from clear what the manage- ment agenda for the plant is. We re- quire a full and frank disclosure of all the options with them.”

TEEU Regional Secretary Pat Keane said, “We are all committed to doing everything possible to keep these highly skilled jobs in Shannon. The mid-west cannot afford to lose more jobs in manufacturing.

“We will exhaust every avenue to resolve the dispute locally, if we can, and use all the avenues open to us prior to taking industrial action, pro- vided that management adhere to lo- cal procedures. So far they have been far readier to talk to the media than to their own employees and unions.”

HAPPY US-bound passengers trav- elling to Philadelphia, Newark and JFK airports were celebrating being the first to travel to the US from Eu- rope without having to face further customs checks State-side.

“This will save me hours,” said Robyn Shephard as she boarded her New York flight.

Robyn was on holiday this time, but comes to Ireland regularly on busi- ness. “Ill be coming through Shan- non from now on,” she said.

US Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, who was in Shannon to see the US Border Protection and Cus- toms Preclearance facility in opera- tion for the first time last week, said, “The facilities are just outstanding. I think what it will do 1s it will get peo- ple to come here. The United States has always had a great relationship with Shannon Airport. It is very easy now to come to Shannon. Mainly it will help the passengers – they can come from all over, get here and get on with it.”

Airport Director Martin Moroney said that the service will open up very significant opportunities for business development over the years for Shannon.

“This is an historic day for our airport and, indeed, a milestone mo- ment in Irish-US relations. Shannon is the first airport in Ireland to have these facilities in place, and repre- sents a major upgrade of the pre-in- spection which commenced in 1986.

It is a very proud moment for us and we look forward to maximising this opportunity in the years ahead,’ he Sr nLe

Shannon Airport Chairman, Pat Shanahan paid tribute to all involved in getting the service up and run- ning. “A lot of effort has gone into the establishment of this service and we are indebted to the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey and his officials for all they have done, as well as their counterparts in the US Homeland Security Department and our team, of course, at Shannon Air- port.”

Mayor of Clare, Tony Mulcahy has described the opening of the services as “a landmark development for the County Clare hub and the mid-west region.”

The Shannon councillor said that the delivery of the new facilities underlined the resilience of the mid- west region and the argument for a fully independent Shannon Airport Authority.

But concerns were raised this week in an Oireachtas debate that Shannon may be put at a disadvantage when Dublin Airport opens its own facility at the end of 2010.

Charges for use of the facility are €10 per passenger. Deputy Pat Breen said that it is “farcical” that the Dub- lin Airport Authority is the body set- ting the charges for Shannon “in the full knowledge that its charges will be much lower,” he said.

CONFUSION reins over the final Cusack Cup relegation spot after Liscannor failed to show for their play-off with Shannon Gaels on Sat- urday, citing the reason that score difference should be used to decide promotion and relegation issues.

At the March meeting of the Clare County Board, it was agreed that the score difference rule would be implemented for league competi- tions. However, when both Shannon Gaels and Liscannor finished their Clare Cup campaigns on four points, the county board arranged for a rel- egation play-off to be played even though Liscannor had a superior score difference of 26 points.

The fixture was scheduled for last Saturday at Quilty but only Shannon Gaels fielded. Referee John Brew began proceedings and subsequently awarded the Gaels a walkover.

However, speaking to

CLARE’S championship challenge came to a grinding halt on Satur- day as an experienced Wexford side eased to a comfortable victory in east Clare. Essentially this was a straight semi-final play-off as both sides had started the day on level points in the eroup, the 2007 All-Ireland champi- ons led from start to finish and gave Clare another hurling lesson of the standard required at the top level. Wexford’s smooth interplay and scoring ability up front were the main differences between the sides and Clare, aside from a gritty second quarter, were never allowed to settle into their stride. The margin could have been greater too only for anoth- er superb display from centre-back Deirdre Murphy who never threw in the towel at any stage and in truth, the entire defensive unit coped admi- rably considering that the game was predominantly played in their half. Clare were also tactically naive, especially in the first half with the aid of a stiff breeze that blew to- wards Tuamgraney as they opted to use Claire Commane as a third mid- fielder. While it did work to an extent as the Corofin player gathered a lot of possession, it also took away any threat close to goal as the majority of Clare’s supply went straight down the centre to the spare Wexford player. In a period when Clare were firmly on top and battling to get back into the game, this was hurling suicide and seemed an impulsive tactic to Wexford’s bright start of five un- answered points. Also if Clare had

rehearsed it beforehand, they would have surely been drilled to play eve- rything down the wings and keep the ball away from the spare player at full-back.

Clare did manage to score their only three scores of the game through Sharon O’Loughlin (2) and Fiona Lafferty during this period but with the majority of the forward line below par, essentially they needed a goal to instill some belief but in truth, it never looked like coming due to Wexford’s extra defender.

Instead, Wexford simply soaked up the pressure, weathered the storm and tacked on a brace of points before the breakthrough to lead by O-7 to O-3. With the stong breeze to come, Wex- ford would have been quite content

with their lofty position but it was only when Michelle Hearne weaved through the Clare defence for Wex- ford’s first goal in the 39th minute that Clare’s heads finally began to drop. The home side received sev- eral warning signs on the restart with Josie Dwyer’s pull going just wide of the post, Katrina Parrock’s effort grazing the top of the crossbar while Una Leacy’s shot was saved by Clare goalkeeper Denise Lynch. However she could do nothing about the goal as Parrock attracted several defend- ers before offloading to Hearne who shipped a tackle before rifling to the net from close range.

That goal sucked the life out of Clare’s challenge and for the remain- der, it was damage limitation stuff

for the home side who rarely got out of their own half. Five more points would be added before Wexford’s second goal, a carbon copy of the first as substitute Lenny Holohan played in the unmarked Parrock to goal in the 56th minute. Clare prayed for the final whistle but had to en- dure a brace of Kate Kelly points first before realising that eventuality as Wexford march on to a semi-final meeting with defedning champions Cork.

Hardly the way Clare would have wanted to end their campaign but it was never expected to be anything other than a difficult first season back at the top level.

How they actually take those les- sons on board will be much more

significant for Clare’s long term de- velopment.

Clare Shell protester jailed

AVENUE United face off against some of the best teams in the coun- try this week when they compete in the fifth international Umbro Galway Citi}

The Ennis club have been drawn against Templeogue United, Salt- hill Devon and the Gawlay District League in Group A in the under 13 section of the competition.

The tournament will take place at Drom Soccer Park, home of Salthill Devon FC, in Galway City and will run from August 5-8. The Galway Cup is aimed at talented soccer play- ers from 12 to 17 years of age. It at- tracts teams from the UK, the US, Canada, Mexico, the Middle East and Europe, as well as a strong rep- resentation of Irish clubs. The aim of the Galway Cup is to bring inter- national class teams together to test them against quality opposition to develop their skills.

Thousands of spectators are ex- pected from Ireland and overseas to capture the action in Drom Soccer Park. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance gate each day.

“The Galway Cup is now in its fifth

successive year and is considered one of the leading underage soccer competitions around the globe’, said Liam Brady, FAI. “This tournament offers the FAI and overseas repre- sentatives the opportunity to assess players who are on the fringe of the international squad. It also gives the best of our home grown talent a real opportunity to perform at the high- est levels and showcase their ability in front of scouts from the UK and Ireland.”

The Failte Ireland Elite U13 Group includes the first Mexican entrant to the cup from Mexico, Sports Clinic which is associated with Cruz Azul, one of the top Mexican sides. Other teams include the Donegal School Boys, Athlone, North Tipperary, St. Kevins Boys, F.C. Carlow and Gal- way. Salthill Devon enters into this Elite section having won the Galway & District League Cup, and the Con- nacht Cup in 2008-2009.

Fiona Monaghan, General Man- ager Failte Ireland West Region, said, “Failte Ireland is delighted to partner with the Umbro Galway Cup as sponsor of the U13 Elite Tourna- ment. The Umbro Galway Cup is one of the key events on the sporting

calendar in the West of Ireland and has gained strong international rec- ognition since its inception five years ago. Failte Ireland West region has positioned itself as the outdoor and activity region of Ireland and this sponsorship is in line with our stra- tegic goals. The Umbro Galway Cup is a great opportunity to promote the West Region as a destination for sporting events combined with activ- ity based holidays to a wide audience and to showcase Galway as a fam- ily friendly holiday destination with plenty to do for all ages. We look forward to welcoming the players and their families both from home and overseas to Galway in early Au- gust”.

This year Lifestyle Sports and Fail- te Ireland have signed up as “Elite Group” sponsors. Lifestyle Sports will be sponsoring the UI5 Elite competition which includes the FAI Emerging Talent Squad and leading UK clubs such as Sunderland, Ful- ham, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Aberdeen. Cherry Orchard and St. Joseph’s Boys will represent the DDSL and leading Norwegian Club, Valerenga will also compete for the UI15 Elite Cup.