The Clare People Archive

FIVE Leaving Certificate students at St John Bosco Community Col- lege, Kildysart received their bronze Gaisce Awards and certificates on behalf of the President at an informal ceremony in the college last week. President McAleese was _ repre- sented by Clare hurler Tony Griffin

who said the recipients had achieved a lot to deserve the award and would be a great sample of more to come in their lives. He congratulated the students on taking on and complet- ing the challenges required to merit bronze and encouraged them to go on undertaking challenges through their lives.

College principal Marion Cough-

lan Flynn said she and all in the col- lege were very proud of the five for their achievements. Gaisce stood for heroism, courage, valour and great tribute was due to teachers Deirdre Convey, deputy principal, and Car- mel Moroney for their input.

Student spokesperson Laura Mc- Carthy explained how they attained GPT erom ir Abts

The President’s Award works on the basis of personal challenges in four activity areas.

First, participants take on a per- sonal skill for an hour a week over 26 weeks. Next they select a commu- nity activity for an hour a week for RR (2

A TEN-YEAR-OLD girl has sus- tained severe brain injury after she was hit by a car while crossing the road in Ennis.

The grave extent of the girl’s in- juries emerged last week, when the driver involved in the accident ap- peared in court.

The young girl had just waved to her friends, whilst crossing the road, when she was struck. She was flipped into the air and landed at a back wheel of the car and lost consciousness.

She sustained serious injuries and continues to receive medical treat- ment.

Sharon Shanahan (33), of Killura, Ennistymon, pleaded not guilty to driving without due care and atten- tion and at the end of the contested case at Ennis District Court, she was found not guilty by the judge.

The accident occurred close to the intersection between Circular Road and Childers Road, Ennis, at 5.50pm on February 25 last.

The girl’s 10-year-old friend re- called, in court, spending time with the young girl immediately before the accident. She had called to his house in that area to collect a mobile je) ateyaten

He said he, the 10-year-old girl and another friend, aged 12, walked across the road. “We stopped half way and she went forward. We went back. She turned around and waved back. I saw a car coming,’ he re- or Naeem

He said the 12-year-old girl called out the 10-year-old’s name. “She got hit. I think it was her head that hit the window. She slid across the car. She landed a foot away from the path. She was saying Oww and all that,” said the boy.

“She just got hit and the phone was on the grass. My dad said not to move her in case she had broken her neck,” he added.

The boy said the car was going “very fast.” “It went too fast. All I could see was a red car and a woman with blonde hair in it. If the car was going a little slower, I don’t think she would have gone into the air so high,” he explained.

He said he felt the driver probably thought the little girl would move, “but she didn’t.”

Under cross-examination from de- fending solicitor Stephen Nicholas, the boy said he was certain that the girl was waving at him. “She must have been on the footpath?” asked

Mr Nicholas, to which the boy re- plied, “No.”

“Why would she stand on the road and turn around and wave’? It is very dangerous to stop on the road and wave, said the solicitor. The boy said, “There were no cars coming.”

Mr Nicholas noted that the boy had said in court that the car had been travelling at speed. “It is a very 1m- portant fact but you never said to the guards anything about the car going fast,” he said. The boy replied, “But it did go fast.”

The 12-year-old girl who was also there that evening told the court the 10-year-old was about a step or two away from the edge of the footpath when she was hit. “She waved before she got to the footpath,” she said.

Lisa Russell (25) told the court she was driving behind Ms Shanahan’s

car that evening. Asked to recall the accident, she said, “There were two kids on the right hand side and as I looked at the left, I couldn’t see the child’s head. I could see her body. She was hovering as such. She was flung around. She ended up in a ball at the back tyre.”

Asked about the manner of driving, she said, “I didn’t take any notice to be honest.”

The court heard that Ms Shana- han’s Ford Focus car was damaged in the impact – the front bonnet was dented, while the lower part of the windscreen was cracked.

Garda Joseph Ryan, who attended the scene of the accident, said the little girl was unconscious. She was immediately taken to Ennis General eevee

A statement made by the driver,

Ms Shanahan, was read to the court. In it, she said she was driving to the Adult Education Centre on the Kil- rush Road, when she took a wrong turn and ended up in the Cloughleigh area. She said she was unfamiliar with the area. She saw children and the next thing she could recall was a child hitting her windscreen. She stopped and got out of her car. The girl was lying on the ground at the back passenger wheel. Ms Shanahan was in deep shock and started to col- lapse.

“T do not know how the girl came in contact with my car. I was driving normally and concentrating at the time,” she said.

Garda Ryan said that with her consent, he checked Ms Shanahan’s mobile phone and it showed that no phone calls had been made and no

text messages had been sent at the time of the accident.

Mr Nicholas put it to him that the public service vehicle (PSV) inspec- tor’s report would suggest the impact was at low speed and the garda ac- cepted this.

Gda Ryan said that the girl received serious injuries as a result of the ac- cident. A medical report said she has suffered severe brain injury.

She is alert, but disorientated and is currently undergoing physiotherapy and speech therapy.

Sharon Shanahan told the court she has been driving for nine years and was never in court before.

Asked did she see the little girl, she replied, “No.”

“T was going pretty slow. I wasn’t sure where I was,” she said. She said she could not explain how the acci- dent had happened.

Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecut- ing, put it to her if she was taking ad- equate care and attention, she would have seen the girl. She replied, “I was driving with care and attention. I’ve no idea where she came from.”

Mr Nicholas noted that the girl sus- tained “horrific injuries, but that is not what the case is about. It’s about Whether the accused was driving without due care and attention.”

He said the boy was mistaken in saying there was speed involved, adding, “Maybe the children are mistaken when they say where she was on the road.”

Judge Joseph Mangan said the ac- cident was “very unfortunate” and he sympathised with the little girl’s family. He said that Ms Russell was to be commended, but “nothing she has said will enlighten us to the de- fendant’s manner of driving.”

He said that while the boy suggest- ed the car was moving fast, he had not referred to this in his statement at the time of the accident. “It’s too vague,’ Said the judge.

He said, crucially, the little girl was not in court “for obvious rea- sons” and said her injuries were not relevant as to whether the defendant was culpable.

“In all the circumstances, I have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt before I convict somebody. On no ac- count can I say I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt,’ he said and dis- missed the charge.

THERE were no winners and for the family of the young girl and the driver of the car, the pain will never go away.

A drive to Ennis for Sharon Shana- han was brought to a sudden halt, af- ter her car struck a 10-year-old girl, who had been crossing the road.

While Ms Shanahan, a special needs assistant in a north Clare school, was cleared of a charge in connection

with the accident, the tragic crash has undoubtedly changed her life.

She cannot explain how the accident occurred, but is acutely aware that what happened that fateful evening led to a little girl receiving horrific injuries. The girl’s family are forced to contend with her injuries. The lit- tle girl left her home that evening to go to her friend’s house to collect a mobile phone, but tragically ended up in hospital.

It is every parent’s worst nightmare.

The girl’s distraught mother heard details of the accident in court last week, where the extent of her injuries were revealed.

The girl was unable to be in court, but her friends were there to tell what happened. She had been crossing the road and waved to two of her friends, when she was struck. They watched in shock and called for help as the little girl was propelled into the air before landing behind the car.

Rarely do children of that tender

age give evidence in a court case and their evidence was compelling. Both the little boy and girl – friends of the girl at the centre of the case – put their emotions to one side as they recalled the evening of the accident.

Both witnesses were categoric in their evidence and recalled it as they had remembered. Their honesty stood out as neither was overawed by the occasion. Prior to taking the oath, the little girl was asked if she understood the consequences of not

telling the truth. She explained that she did; that failing to tell the truth in the witness box with result in her get- ting into “big trouble.” She, and the boy, confidently described in court their recollections of the accident; both unfazed by the occasion in the courtroom.

Like the little girl’s family and the driver of the car, these two children were also deeply affected by the ac- cident. A stark reminder of the trau- matic effects of road accidents.

IN the end, it came down to fresh- ness. The ability for Kilmurry Ibrickane’s management to be able to look up at their thirty plus panel in the stand and carefully choose the right player to instill some new life into the team’s tired limbs while Lis- cannor only had the bare bones.

But it wasn’t just a wealth of tal- ent in the squad that saw Kilmurry Ibrickane complete the perfect do- mestic year, it was also a freshness of ideas and drive that came from their new manager Micheal McDermott. Kilmurry Ibrickane always had the talent, it was just knitting that ability together that had been noticeably ab- sent in recent years so McDermott’s introduction was certainly a breath of fresh air.

And as the final whistle blew on an- other successful final, he took a sec- ond to reflect on their latest achieve- ment.

“It was extremely hard on the heart, there is no doubt about that. It went really down to the last five minutes to win that game and we said that at half-time. We knew they would come back strongly like they did against Doonbeg and you know, probably what won it for us at the end of the day was the freshness of the panel we had. The ground was a little bit heavy and sticky but the lads gave everything and the last five minutes

is when games have been won and lost, the All-Ireland was won and lost in that five minutes this year and it was no different there today.

‘The most important thing we said before the game was that on a day like today, you do not concede a goal because if we had done in that sec- ond half, I said that the roof would lift off that stand and give them the incentive they needed to go on and win. That’s why guys threw bodies in the way and there are a lot of sore bodies in that dressing room. Small men stood up to be big men today and we couldn’t have asked for a more wholehearted performance. It wasn’t a day for great football but it was a day of effort and heart to win a county title.”

Unbeaten domestically, McDer-

mott’s next challenge is for a provin- cial title but while he admits it has crossed his mind during the year, he won’t be planning anything immed1- ately.

“It definitely won’t be talked about for a few days but in the back of my own mind, I knew that we have a bunch of guys who are extremely talented here and if we won a county title today, we would give them a few days to celebrate but there 1s a mun- ster championship there to be won and we are going to give it every- thing and represent Clare as best we can. And maybe bring home one.”

With his track record so far, you wouldn’t doubt him for a second.

THEY stood together in Cusack Park and looked on. Kilmurry had it all. Another County title, a night of long celebration and a season that stretch- es into the provincial championships. Everything. Liscannor had tears, re- egret and the rain.

So they stood and watched. A group and a world of emotion away from the tightly packed circle of red and green jerseys, ever expanding on the muddied surface of Cusack Park.

They listened to Shane Hickey, Kil- murry Ibrickane’s winning captain, as he collected Jack Daly. Hickey spoke fiercely about the honesty and integrity of Liscannor football. It was a nice touch but Liscannor looked lost and utterly disconnected from the joy exploding around them.

They will know and reflect in the years to come that this was a game there for the taking. One kick. One lousy kick could have made all the difference as the gap between the teams, in an increasingly tense sec- ond half, narrowed.

Liscannor couldn’t find a way. Kil- murry did. Looking suddenly un- burdened, they rattled off three late points in the closing stages and the margin widened to double scores.

“That’s football’, said Liscannor manager Tommy Curtain at the end of Hickey’s speech and as the teams started to file towards the dressing room.

He added, “The final scoreline is not an indication of how the game went. We were in better scoring position than they were in on a cou- ple of occasions. There was there

when were on the left hand side of the square. So we had the chances. I think at one stage there, we had a wide and we were only two points down. Had we got the point we could have driven on”.

The knee injury suffered by Niall Considine in the 4th minute made tatters of Liscannor’s game plan. Considine had to come off and Cur- tain was forced to deploy one of his team’s most potent attacking threats, Alan Clohessy, to wing back, to cur- tail the influence of Stephen Molo- eae

The loss of Considine was a devas- tating one, according to Curtain.

“We were right in the game we fairly gave it our all. But the loss, I thought of Niall Considine, in the first few minutes was a telling factor. What happened was we had to de- ploy our wing forward to a wing back position and I think that took away a lot of the fire from our bellies. Even at that, we were well in the game. We

had some very good chances in front of goal and didn’t take them. But fair play to Kilmurry. We congratulate them. We were beaten by the better team”.

Curtain said Liscannor were ill equipped to absorb the loss of such an influential player.

“It’s ok for Kilmurry to lose a play- er but for us in Liscannor to lose a county player, especially when it was Niall, it was a huge loss to us. I feel if we had Niall we would have driven on and we’d probably have won the eee

Fireworks thrown from the stand fizzled out on the grass. Smoke drifted and the rain continued to fall. Curtain left with his players as the evening sky grew dark. The wait for Liscannor goes on.

THESE 16 exclusive and very luxu- rious detached houses in Blackwater are marketed as ‘bespoke’ proper- ties, in other words all of the proper- ties are totally unique and tailored to each individual client.

According to the developer Seamus Danagher “We deliver the highest level of workmanship which is per- sonally supervised from inception to

completion”’.

The exclusive development is situ- ated in a sylvan setting, close to all amenities and within a few minutes drive of Limerick city. It is also with- in easy access of the N7 for those traveling regularly to Dublin.

Selling agent Lisa Kearney of Rooney Auctioneers, Limerick com- mented, “We are confident that this exclusive development will spark the imagination of potential buyers and

demonstrate that a Springhill be- spoke property is the perfect choice for their new home”.

Buyers can choose from a four or five bedroom option, each with sig- nificant, well appointed living ac- commodation.

These houses offer a real sense of presence and substance. The highly impressive exterior of each house is matched by the equally stylish inte- ule)e

“The houses deliver a_ definite “wow factor’, said Lisa, who added, “while the finishing touches differ with each individual property, own- ers can expect Georgian style sliding sash timber windows, external and internal solid wood doors and hard- wood fascia and soffits.

“They come with solar panels and old style slate and ridge tiled roof. A cobble lock driveway, with in-set up- lighters, and paved patio are includ-

ed, plus the lawns are seeded”.

Apart from the super high standard finishes, the houses can then be fitted out to the requirements of the indi- vidual buyer.

The show house has just opened, viewing of which is by appoint- ment only through selling agent Lisa Kearney of Rooney Auctioneers, Limerick. You can contact them by ringing 061 413511 or by email at lkearney@rooneys.eu.

THERE were a few years there when it looked as if the golden generation of Kilmurry Ibrickane footballers that were farmed and nurtured on Pairc Naomh Mhuire in Quilty were letting the best years of their sport- ing lives pass them by.

They were the supposed bluebloods — the most richly talented group of underage players ever produced by a club in the county, but a harvest that had failed to deliver ever since throwing away a glorious opportuni- ty to reach the All-Ireland Club final welt ey

That February day in Pearse Sta- dium, Kilmurry Ibrickane should have beaten Ballina Stephenites in the All-Ireland semi-final, but when they didn’t deliver on their All-Ire- land potential they seemed to stop delivering on their own stage back home in Clare.

Until October 19, 2008 that is.

This was the day that a band of brothers in green and red finally stood up and delivered a county title back to the barony of Ibrickane. It’s true that in the four years since their last championship success they’ve produced some stunning displays of “Total Football’, but as the Dutch found out in ’°74, ‘Total Football’ doesn’t necessarily win silverware.

The “Total Football’ came in the semi-final win over St Senan’s Kil- kee, but that counted for nothing

until the Jack Daly Cup was brought back to Mullagh, Coore and Quilty.

As captain Shane Hickey put it from Cusack Park’s Ard Comhairle when accepting the cup, “the Jack Daly has wandered around from parish to par- ish for the last four years but its back to where it belongs tonight”.

It was hard to argue when you con- sider that Kilmurry Ibrickane have been unbeaten this year. And, they’re not finished yet as the prospect of a Munster Club final appearance opens out before them.

“We’re really looking forward to Munster,” said a jubilant Kilmurry Ibrickane manager Micheal McDer- mott minutes after the final whistle. ‘““Kilmurry have a great tradition in Munster, they were in a final in the early 90 and then they won it the last time they came out of Clare in 2004. That’s the aim for this team. We’ll enjoy the next few days and then start focussing on the next game. That’s what we’ve done with all games this year. It’s been from one game to the next.”

You believe McDermott, except you think that the celebrations back in the barony of Ibrickane might last longer than just a few days.

They’ll last for the week.

BLACK and amber as well as blue and gold colours have been affixed to the Canon Hamilton Cup this week.

All in readiness for the big day out When the senior championship cup will sit on its perch in Cusack Park’s Ard Comhairle, waiting to be taken home by either Newmarket-on-Fer- gus or Clonlara.

The colours will have an extra sig- nificance this year — all because of Canon Michael Hamilton, the col- ourful cleric who in a long, distin- guished and sometimes controversial

GAA career ruled the Clare County Board with an iron fist, commentated on an All-Ireland football final for Radio Eireann and famously brought the 1947 All-Ireland football final to New York.

It’s 39 years since Canon Hamilton fell 11] during a county final between Clarecastle and Newmarket-on-Fer- gus in Cusack Park and later died in Ennis General Hospital, but he’d loved to have lived to see the day when Newmarket-on-Fergus and Clonlara clashed in a county final.

You see, Hamilton was a man of both Clonlara and Newmarket-on-

Fergus. Born and reared in Clonlara; parish priest in Newmarket-on-Fer- gus for many years. He was in Trea- cys Field in O’Callaghan’s Mills when Clonlara beat Scariff in the °19 final; he was there for most of New- market’s triumphs from the ‘20s to the ‘60s; he would have seen the East Clare final between the two in Fr Murphy Park in ’36, but the day he would have yearned for most of all would be Clonlara v Newmarket-on- Fergus for his cup in Cusack Park. On leaving Clare to take up a new clerical post in Nenagh in 1956, Hamilton showed that modesty

wasn’t part of his make-up, by buy- ing acup, naming it after himself and presenting it to the county board for the senior hurling championship.

It was as important to him as the the Polo Grounds All-Ireland — but a contest between Clonlara and Newmarket for his cup would have definitely put Polo Grounds men like John Joe O’Reilly, Joe Keohane, Mick Higgins and Paddy Kennedy in the shade.

Clonlara have never been Canon Hamilton contenders, apart from the contribution from Colm Honan and co to the St Senan’s team beaten by

Newmarket in the 1972 final; the Blues meanwhile filled their former parish priest’s cup 13 times from 1963 to 81.

Sixty minutes on Sunday will see where the Canon Hamilton gets its first fill of drink. Clonlara? Newmar- ket-on-Fergus?

Wherever it is, it’s true to say that the Canon Hamilton will be going home.

FINE Gael Town Councillor Johnny Flynn has been nominated to contest the Ennis East electoral area in the upcoming county council elections.

Initially it had been suggested that Cllr Flynn, who is also nominated to contest the Ennis Town Council elec- tion, would be nominated to contest both Ennis East and Ennis west.

At the Fine Gael convention on Fri- day night, sitting Fine Gael county councillors Sonny Scanlon and Paul Murphy were also nominated unop-

posed to contest the election in Ennis west.

Cllr Scanlon is no stranger to the hustings, but it will be the first coun- ty council election contested by Cllr Murphy who was seconded to the local authority last year when Joe Carey was elected to the Dail.

Tony Mulqueen is currently the sole campaigner in Ennis West for Fine FTO E

Sources close to the party have said that once all of the conventions are over, Fine Gael hopes to add another name to the Ennis West ticket and

the Shannon Electoral area.

Meanwhile, Mr Mulqueen is look- ing forward to representing the party in the new electoral area of Ennis west.

“TI will stand for the interests and needs of the people of the Ennis area, be it Ennis Town, Inch, Kilmaley, Toonagh Kilnamona or Barefield,” he told delegates.

This Government needs to get a clear message from the people of Ennis West and Clare that we have had enough. We have had enough of empty promises, we want action not

spin,” he added.

Last night in Killaloe under the chairmanship of North Tipperary Counciller Phil Butler, newcomer Pat Burke from Whitegate was nominat- ed beside the two sitting councillors – Joe Cooney and John McInerney to contest the Killalloe area for Fine FTO E

On Monday, November 3, the En- nistymon area Fine Gael convention will take place. Sitting councillors Joe Arkins and Martin Conway were the only names put forward when nominations closed.

RESIDENTS of an entire terrace in Ennis have taken the unusual step of seeking to have their homes zoned for commercial development to in- crease their market value.

The owners of 33 homes along Steele’s Terrace, opposite the court- house and Fairgreen, have lodged a submission with Clare County Coun- cil to have their homes rezoned to

allow small-scale commercial activ- ity take place and have employed a planning consultant to advance their case.

In a comprehensive submission, the council has been told that when Steele’s Terrace was originally zoned for residential purposes, the houses were occupied by indigenous fami- Wty

This is not the case today as most of the houses are rented to transient

occupiers so the need to retain resi- dential usage for families is not as great. A small number of the houses are used as medical offices since the early 1990s.

“The terrace is now on the town- side of a substantial retail land use at Sheil’s and beside prime land at Kelly’s corner which will be redevel- oped for commercial purposes. It is also opposite the courthouse, which has been redeveloped.

‘The general pattern of the develop- ment has changed substantially over the last number of years and there is a local demand for small offices for solicitors, accountants similar to Bindon Street.

‘The houses in Steele’s Terrace are old and were built to different resi- dential expectations. They cannot compete with modern purpose built residential acccommodation from the point of view of bedroom space, toilet accommodation, general stor- age and living space.

‘The terrace is part of the archi- tectural heritage of the town and its use for office/residential accommo- dation would not adversely impact on this designation. A similar situa- tion obtains in Bindon Street and the character of the street has not been compromised by its commercial land use.

The planner’s report on the rezon- ing application states that “rezoning to permit commercial uses would in effect be extending the town centre along a 300 metre finger of develop- ment fronting the Gort Road. The draft plan has already rezoned two terraces on Carmody Street to permit commercial uses suited to this type of property”’.

The report concludes that the ter- race be retained for predominantly residential use.

SW elemnterDme(crersCoIROemseomerrlncu ens be made by members of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council.