The Clare People Archive

Flynn to run again at the behest of leader Kenny

A FOUNDING club in the Clare Soccer League has joined forces with a founder member of the Eng- lish Football League in a move that could pave the way for professional soccer careers for the cream of its underage talent.

Lifford AFC, the only Clare club to produce three schoolboy internation- als has linked up with Notts County in a venture that will give its play- ers direct access to the English club’s School of Excellence.

“It’s an exciting departure for the club,’ says Lifford chairman John O’Neul. “In the past we produced schoolboy internationals like David Ryan, Alan Brooks and Gary Flynn, so in the future if we have players who might be good enough to pursue professional careers, this link with Notts County gives them a chance. It will be for Lifford players only,” adds O’ Neill.

The link up between the two clubs has come about through Lifford head coach Mick Kennedy’s friendship with Notts County’s Mick Leonard, who comes to Clare this week to for- malise the new arrangement. Both began their professional playing ca- reers together at Halifax Town.

“Players coming through the ranks of Lifford will be given a chance with Notts County. Mick Kennedy (picutred below) will be responsible for assessing and coaching the play- ers, and Notts County will take them on,’ says O’Neill.

The relationship between the two clubs is being seen as the next step in Lifford’s development. It comes in a decade that has already seen the club purchase and develop one of the best soccer grounds at this level of the game at Cassidy Park in Drumcliffe.

IT’S doubtful if Cusack Park in its storied 73-year history has witnessed anything quite like this. There was a lone piper and two drummers behind the wire on the near the Clare dugout — Mayfield and Blackpool boys they proudly proclaimed.

The drums were beating while the piper played, and talked as they tried to get on the other side of the wire. “Is Frank Murphy your boss,” the piper roared when Clare County Board officials moved quickly to close the gates from the VIP section onto the field.

The pipes stayed playing, and the drums stayed beating, as the May- field and Blackpool boys planned their next move.

Meanwhile, out on the field Con- sidine clasped Donal Og Cusack by one hand, and threw the other hand around him in congratulations. This

was Tony Considine, not stand-in Cork manager John Considine.

SURI ENC BNIBeIr DIEM che BWM lool! away explaining away a remarkable recovery. “A great win. Six points down, it was as if the lads made up their own minds that they were going to win. I had an armchair ride when they kicked into gear in the last ten minutes.

“TY couldn’t do much, I didn’t have to do much, the lads did the business. We had only two nights with them and in that limited time we couldn’t get them any fitter, any faster, we couldn’t do any hurling, couldn’t change any game plan — we just pulled them together.

“In fairness today the lads did what was required. They started badly in the second half, only one score in the first 15 minutes, but we found our rhythm near the end and maybe Clare took their foot off the pedal.”

Donal Og meanwhile was giv-

ing another interview, as was Ben O’Connor, while the drums and pipes could still be heard in the back- ground. “This is what we wanted,” said O’Connor. “We wanted to be hurling and playing the top teams in the country. This is the first step back, and, hopefully, we will be able to drive on from here. We don’t want to talk about it anymore. We are back doing what we want to do now, which is playing hurling.”

Then they moved off, but as they drew closer to the dressing room the noise grew louder. You guessed it — the drummers and pipers had breached the county board defences and were outside the Cork dressing Kelson

Others supporters were there too — forming a human tunnel to let Ben, Donal Og and Considine through. Roaring and backslapping as they travelled.

You could call it a tunnel of love.

WHAT is it about Cork that causes Clare to implode at the vital time? The 2005 All-Ireland semi-final. The 2008 All-Ireland quarter-final. Prime examples of Clare’s failure to see out the game when coasting to vic- tory against Cork but Sunday’s lat- est clash has to go down as the most dramatic turnaround. Six points and a player up with only eight minutes remaining, Clare inconceivably shot themselves in the foot, allowed Cork to gain momentum and facilitate a perfect return for their 2008 squad.

Of all the four league games to date, this was undoubtedly the most gut-wrenching pill for Clare to swal- low and as manager Mike McNamara came to speak to the unusually large media contingent outside the dress- ing room, his face understandably cut a picture of sheer frustration and disappointment as he contemplated what went wrong.

“We gave them the initiative. We gave them the scores exactly when they wanted them and we conceded scores again, and goals again at in- opportune times for us. We conceded goals at vital times in a game that we were coasting towards victory. Sport has that knack of kicking you in the face just when you think you have turned a corner but sport has also a knack of lifting you up when you are down so we have Kilkenny next week and I think if we play as well as that against Kilkenny, we would probably beat them.”

And McNamara was the first to concede that it is difficult to turn their luck around when confidence and the winning habit deserts a team.

“Probably had we won a game early on in the league, then things fall into place but when you are struggling for points, when you want points badly, sometimes it doesn’t go your way. UNC MOM me UIMOloMny Sue) Imm sLUeMmB ele team, it’s just a little correction here and there. There is very little wrong with the manner of their perform- ance as you have seen, they played

extremely well for most of the game. It was a good game of hurling and we probably dominated most of the exchanges in most quarters of the field. That we finished on a losing note would just be put down to the vagaries of sport more than anything else. Look what one kick yesterday could have done in a rugby match to Ireland’s hopes and dreams. So we feel we are in the same situation, we need to get a few more scores on the board and we need to play with a bit more confidence. But again there is a bigger picture down the road so we would like to pick up a few more points in the league and hopefully we will.”

If things weren’t problematic enough for Clare at the moment, news that Gerry Quinn had left the panel after a training dispute on Friday spread like wildfire over the week- end but when asked whether or not Quinn would return to the panel, Mc- Namara’s response was open-ended. “T would imagine that’s up to Gerry Quinn. The story of Gerry Quinn is very simple. He is gone off the panel at this point and time. That’s as much

as I’m prepared to say”’

Rooted to the foot of the Division 1 table after four games, Clare now must win all their remaining fixtures to stand any chance of avoiding the drop and to do that, McNamara sug- gests that he needs his strongest side available.

“We have to start pushing now. We pushed Brian O’Connell out there today and as you saw, he was a lit- tle ring rusty. Tony Carmody was pushed out there today and we have to start getting our better players back in the form that can win match- es. Hopefully when that happens we will turn the corner, get out of the hole we are in, win a few matches and get a bit of pride and spirit going in the crowd again.”

The reality for Clare is that they have now been beaten by all four Munster sides so far in the league. If the bigger picture is securing a Munster Championship, that is not the type of statistic that breeds con- fidence.

PLANS for a contentious compound to the rear of the town hall in Shan- non have been resubmitted by Clare County Council.

The plans were lodged earlier this year and met with stiff opposi- tion from local residential groups, An Taisce, Duchas na Sionna and a group set up amid concerns about the plan called ‘Save the Shannon Town Hall Woodlands’.

The plans were withdrawn earlier this month and the council said it

would make adjustments to the ini- tial proposal, based on issues raised during the public consultation proc- ess, before resubmitting it.

The plan has now been resubmitted, on what the council says 1s a smaller site (reduced from 1,/00 square me- tres to 1,450 square metres).

The council now plans to relocate the depot building on the site directly to the rear of the town hall. It says that traffic movements to and from the depot will be limited to around 60 a day – mainly when workers ar- rive for and leave work.

It also says that council vehicles will be parked at the depot overnight and security measures will be put in place to discourage anti-social be- haviour in the vicinity.

The council says that by placing the building directly behind the town hall, it will not be visible.

“Its original location meant it could be clearly viewed from the road. Other than that, there are no major changes,” said Shannon Town Man- ager Ger Dollard.

He said the proposal was “very modest, very low impact and will

have nothing but a positive benefit for Shannon town”’.

However, local resident Don O’Sullivan says he is “disgusted” that the planning application has been re- Submitted, in the same location.

“There is very strong feelings about this in the town and I believe that the timing of the approval (if this is what is achieved by the county coun- cil) and the local elections will not be missed by the voting population of Shannon. I, for one, will vote to ensure that we get councillors on the local and county councils whose pri-

mary interest is in representing the people of the town,” he said.

The chairman of Duchas na Sionna, Greg Duff – who is a Labour council- lor in the town – said, ““The proposed depot’s site in a green area 1s once again demonstrating a lack of vision and concern in relation to the needs of the local community. I am call- ing on the town manager to seriously consider the many alternative sites that were not seriously considered previously.”

Submissions on the project can be made up until May 8.

Claire Gallagher and Ronan Judge

CLARE could be one of the first lo- cations penciled in on US president Barack Obama’s itinerary should his much proposed visit to Ireland come to pass next year.

This follows the surprise appoint- ment of Dan Rooney (pictured below with President Obama) as US Ambas- sador to Ireland by President Obama last week. Rooney, a long-time sup- porter of the president, has strong Clare connections and visits the area on a regular basis. Indeed, the ambas- sador’s brother Pat has owned a house on the Liscannor Road in Lahinch for more than a decade and currently rents a property in Ennistymon. So close is the Rooney family’s link to north Clare that they hosted a pre-wedding dinner for the ambassador’s niece in a local restaurant two years ago.

Dan Rooney is the owner and chair- man of the Pittsburgh Steelers foot- ball team in America. He 1s also the co-founder of the Worldwide Ireland Funds, which has raised millions for education programs in Ireland.

A spokesperson from the American Embassy in Dublin would not confirm any details of Mr Rooney’s appoint- ment or a possible visit by President Obama to Clare until after the ambas- sador is officially received by Irish President Mary McAleese.

WHITEGATE staged a remarkable comeback against Corofin on Satur- day to book a place in semi-final of the under 21 B championship.

Trailing by ten points at half-time, Whitegate were still six points adrift with seven minutes left.

It looked like their efforts would be in vain until George Waterstone buried two stunning goals to tie the game at 3-9 to 3-9.

With the wind and momentum howling in their favour, Whitegate edged home with points from Stephen Malone and Michael Dooley.

Corofin must still be wondering how it all happened. Playing with a strong wind in the first half, Corofin

had racked up a hefty 2-8 1-1 lead by ne VOM Bb pales

Their players, notably Kevin and Stephen Heagney, Luke O’Loughlin and Damian Ryan were all perform- ing strongly.

But Whitegate weren’t about to exit without a fight. Goalkeeper Andrew Fahy kept them in touch with four sweetly struck frees. Malone and Dooley kept plugging away in the forwards before Waterstone supplied two moments of real class.

Even the loss of a sloppy seventh minute goal to Whitegate’s Michael Dooley failed to halt Corofin’s first half charge.

Stephen Heagney had already erabbed two points before Declan Lee slammed home Corofin’s first

goal in the 14th minute.

Heagney tipped over a free before his older brother Kevin goaled to make it 2-3 to 1-0 in the 21st minute.

Dooley picked off a point but there was no respite for Whitegate. Corofin piled on five more points through Ea- mon Malone, Kevin Heagney (2) and Stephen Heagney (2) to lead by ten points at half time.

Whitegate had the wind in the sec- ond half but 10 points looked a for- midable challenge.

They quickly got to work. Fahy walloped over two long-range efforts leaving two shorter ones for Dooley to covert. Malone pointed in that pe- riod also as Whitegate cut Corofin’s lead to five points.

Kevin Heagney smashed home

Eoin Malone’s pass for Corofin’s third goal in the 47th minute.

The score stood 3-9 to 17. It mat- tered little to Whitegate. Fahy con- verted a free and a 65’. Waterstone retrieved a pass out wide in the 54th minute, cut inside and found the net from 20 yards.

Whitegate re-claimed possession from the resulting puckout.

The sliotar dropped to Waterstone. This time his strike was defter but the outcome was the same. Goal. 3-9 to 3-9.

Points from Malone and Dooley pushed them into the lead.

GOO ITs MC SUUMDRc BD ITcMBOKO)OOMNeCoMIECO den loss of their comfortable lead, cut the deficit to one point through Stephen Heagney’s free.

Seconds later Whitegate players and coaches were leaping around the pitch, celebrating a victory that de- serves to be remembered for a long, long time.

THE hurlers of Kilmaley and The Banner/Ruan were left 1n no doubt as to what their hosts Eire Og thought of them on Saturday afternoon when shunted on to the unlined second- ary pitch to play this championship game.

It wasn’t good enough — if the club agreed to open its facilities for a championship game in the first place, the least it should have done was to have made the club’s main pitch available, instead of having the county board fixture play second fid- dle to a challenge game.

However, this state of affairs wasn’t

for Kilmaley and Banner/Ruan to kick up about — that’s the county board’s job. All they could do was make the best of their ungenerous hosts and get on with it.

In this regard, Kilmaley certainly made a better fist of it, romping to an eight-point win on the back of a blis- tering start that saw them race into a O-6 to no score lead inside the first ten minutes and the overall display of sharpshooter Daire Keane who scored 11 points over the hour.

This opening salvo was all the more noteworthy as Kilmaley were playing against the breeze that was blowing down the field towards the St Flannan’s handball alleys. And it

was virtually the single-handed work of right-half-forward Keane, who bagged five of the six scores.

Two came from play, while he also converted two frees and two 65s as The Banner/Ruan were left reeling by the early onslaught. However, they threw themselves a lifeline as early as the 15th minute when Eoin Hanrahan ran on to a long delivery from Brendan Lyons and pulled a low ground shot to the net from sev- TUE NK Oe

The Banner/Ruan looked like mak- ing areal game of it when Pat Keegan drove an 80 yard free over the bar in the 19th minute, but 1t was the cue for Kilmaley to hit another purple patch

and a flurry of six more points to a lone reply from Keegan gave them a Q-12 to 1-2 interval lead.

Again it was down to Daire Keane — this time he bagged four more points within the space of five min- utes while John Cabey and Mickey O’Neill chipped in with a couple to put Kilmaley seven clear at the break.

The Banner/Ruan started the sec- ond half with early points form Pat Keegan and Finchra Hayes, but five points was as close as they got. Kil- maley steadied themselves once more when the impressive Stephen McNamara pointed and were never troubled thereafter, outscoring Ban- ner/Ruan by O-3 to 0-1 in the closing 20 minutes as the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion.

TAKING the medical card office out of Ennis will destroy the flexibility of the service and could leave many people who are entitled to medi- cal cards without them, it has been warned.

The Health Service Executive has announced that it is to close the medical cards office in the Sandfield Centre in Ennis, where 11 staff are currently employed.

The service will be centralised in Dublin as part of the HSE’s plan to Am eKe ys ASF

But Ennis councillor Joe Arkins, has warned that centralising the

service in Ennis will take away vital flexibility.

‘‘A person may be over the earnings limit for a medical card but they may still qualify. If someone lives in Mul- lagh and drives to Ennis to work, that is the kind of thing that can be taken into consideration and that takes lo- cal knowledge. We now have to try to translate that information to some- one in an office in Dublin. It won’t work,” the councillor said.

STAs Cima sc bunce mm sit mmenomm Els. ibility of the service will be seriously WOK oee

‘At present you can go to the office in Ennis, outline your circumstances and have an emergency medical card

in a matter of hours. That will be gone. This is a totally retrograde step and flies in the face of the Govern- ment’s decentralisation policy.”

The decision comes following a stark warning from the head of the HSE, Professor Brendan Drumm, that required cost-cutting measures will soon begin to impact on front- line health services.

11 staff are employed in medical card and drug payment services at the Sandfield centre which is one of 32 offices across the country.

The jobs in Ennis and other centres are now under threat following con- firmation from the HSE that it plans to centralise primary care re-im-

bursement services to Dublin to save €10 million a year with temporary staff to be made redundant and other staff redeployed to other jobs.

Staff in Ennis say they are also concerned about the loss of personal contact with members of the public and IMPACT union spokeswoman for Clare Sinead Wynne said there is more than administration services being lost.

Ennis staff are now looking to their union to open negotiations with the HSE in a bid to reverse the plans and IMPACT has called on the public to support it’s members “before the people of Clare lose another impor- tant service”.