The Clare People Archive

THE Gort Family Resource Centre will this week celebrate 5 years of community work in the area with the announcement of a number of new opportunities for local people.

The centre, which is based in the town’s square, is about to extend its premises and and also expand on the number of community facilities and courses on offer.

“The resource centre is driven by a group of volunteers who represent the different people and needs of the community. It’s open to all and anyone interested or curious should come in,” said Sandra Farrell, Centre Administrator.

“We have now expanded our offices by taking on the second floor of our premises here in the square. That will allow us to increase what we can do with and for the local people.”

The group provides a range of serv- ices including citizen information days, migrant information, employ- ment and career guidance, money advice and budgeting and work with the gay and lesbian community.

“We have a lot going on at the mo- ment. We were lucky enough to get funding for six computers and have been running programmes for older people to get some basic computer skills. That is very popular and we are about to start a new eight week course from the beginning of Sep-

tember,’ said centre co-ordinator Ann Rozario.

“We are also about to start parent- ing classes for single parents. There are still places in that so anyone in- terested should give us a buzz. We have new programmmes starting all the time and are always looking for people interested in volunteering.”

Indeed, the actions at the centre are driven almost exclusively by volun- teers.

‘“T have been helping out a lot with the directory which is a book of useful local number in English and Portuguese,’ said volunteer Helen Scribens.

“It’s nice to do something for the local community – to give something

back. You get to meet a lot of differ- ent new people from the area. It’s a lot of fun.”

The centre has recently taken on a development officer who will look at different ways to grow the service over the next number of years.

Frank Murray, who was one of the founding members of the Gort Bra- Zilian Association, will look after the development of facilities for the Bra- Zilian community, the elderly, lone parenting youth and isolated men.

New events and programmes are being announced in the resource cen- tre on a regular basis.

To keep in touch with goings-on contact 091 6309021 or call into the centre.

CARRON was the venue last week for the launch of a new scheme which it’s hoped will bring walking in the Burren to a whole new level.

North Clare is a beautiful place when the sun shines, and it was in one of those rare patches of sunshine last week that newly appointed Rural Recreation Officer, Eimer McCarthy, met with two local landowners to fi- nalise the new walking scheme in the area.

The scheme, which has been intro- duced in 12 counties by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv, will see a new partnership approach to rural walks, with farmers being compen- sated for the use and uptake of their

land.

“The real significance of today is that we initiating this new walk scheme payment which means that the government are now paying land owners on national way marked ways for access through their land,” said Eimer.

“We have been walking with the National Trails Office who have sup- plied me with six inch maps on which I can identify farm boundaries. This morning I met with two farmers on the Carron Loop, which is part of the Burren Way, and I met them so that we can agree their work plans so that they can be part of this new walks scheme.

“The thing that is great about the Carron Loop 1s that it is off-road. It starts from Cassidy’s Pub and goes

off road for a nine kilometre loop which is a wonderful walk, very sce- nic and rustic but safe and well sign- posted.”

It is hoped that the new scheme will see farmers and walking organisa- tions working in partnership to pre- serve the country’s tradition walks.

‘This scheme is an important step in enhancing the quality of the four National Way Marked Ways in Clare, while also benefiting local farmers, and of course walkers themselves,” Gerard Kennedy, Rural Resource Development and The Burren Way Ltd.

“It should increase County Clare’s position as a leading walking desti- nation, and with suitable promotion could attract increased numbers of walkers to the county, benefiting lo-

cal businesses and service providers alike.”

Once the scheme is up and running in the Burren Way, plans are in place to extend it to the Mid-Clare, East Clare and Lough Derg Ways.

Meanwhile a number of events have been organised to mark National Trails Day which takes place on Sep- tember 28. To learn more about these check out www.nationaltrailsday.ie.

MAYBE Shannon, in a club cham- pionship gone wrong weather-wise, could be the spark for St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield to roll back the years to when they were the most feared club in the land.

Remember when they were kings in °99 — county, Munster and All-Ire- land champions, but when those titles would have counted for little had they failed to finally exorcise their Clare- castle demons in championship.

It finally happened in Shannon, a semi-final showdown moved from Cusack Park because of the inclem- ent weather. So it was that this fixture fell in Cusack Park and was trans- ferred to Shannon.

So it was that St Joseph’s produced their best display in three years. With seven survivors from their storied championship years from 1998 to ’O1 still manning gaps all over the field they blitzed a Sixmilebridge team re- duced to bagging a consolation goal two minutes from time.

But that’s not to suggest that this St Joseph’s is an ageing team digging out one final kick at the big time — at the kernel of this their impressive seven-point win was the fusion of old and new.

The work of the last few years in getting the blend right seems to be clicking into place. St Joseph’s have finally emerged from a three-year championship slump with their new team, built on familiar foundations, but with enough young blood to give enthusiasm and no little adventure.

Cue their first half display in this one when they ran a ragged Sixmi- lebridge off the park and into their dressing room at half-time trailing by 1-11 to O-7. Double scores and St Joseph’s were full value for eve- ry point of that lead as they left the ‘Bridge floundering in their wake.

It was champagne hurling at times, with intensity and hunger for the sli- otar and scores that following over- whelming a Sixmilebridge side that only offered some token resistance through Caimin Morey up front.

St Joseph’s had big performers eve- rywhere — David Hoey sniping pos- Session in the half-back line; Ken Kennedy beside him keeping Niall Gilligan very quiet; Marty O’Regan having his best championship game ever in the corner; Greg Lyons’ in- dustry in the middle; Seanie McMa- hon’s impressive championship debut as a forward; Michael McNamara’s haul of scores.

Of course a 1-1 inside three min- utes was the perfect launching pad. Darragh O’Driscoll fired over the Opening point, while the goal came after David Fitzgerald could only bat a 60-yard sideline cut from Conor

Hassett into the path of Michael Mc- Namara who flashed to the net from ATE TECK

St Joseph’s never really looked back and though Sixmilebridge responded with two Niall Gilligan points, it was “The Parish’ who really caught the eye as they chased after the two points with a real sense of purpose.

Conor Hassett knocked over a cou-

ple of long range frees for fun while Michael McNamara had the facility to pop up anywhere and then more importantly pop over the points. Mc- Namara put St Joseph’s 1-4 to O-2 in front by the 13th minute and there was much more to come.

Caimin Morey did reduce the gap to three points by the 15th minute as a clear pattern began to emerge.

Whenever the “Bridge looked like edging towards parity, St Joseph’s just moved through the gears at will and eased away towards half-time. David Hoey and Seanie McMahon stepped up with inspirational scores by the 20th minute, while a two-point scoring burst from Greg Lyons in the closing minutes of the half again showcased St Josephs’ hunger.

The “Bridge were just hanging in there thanks to points from Derek Fahy, Niall Gilligan and Caimin Mo- rey in the closing ten minutes of the half, but even at that the last act was played out by the hardworking Dam- ian Kennedy when he got his name on the scoresheet in the final few seconds.

There never looked like being a way back for Sixmilebridge, albeit that they had the wind advantage to come. St Joseph’s had the hunger again though and points by Michael McNamara and Conor Hassett post- ed their early intentions.

A tally of 1-4 in the second half was never going to be enough for the “Bridge, especially against a St Joseph’s team that were rampant at times. There was the individual bril- liance of Greg Lyons’ scores, and the teamwork behind Michael McNama- ieee

Teamwork and individual brilliance are potent forces that could carry St Joseph’s a long way in 2008.

INSPIRED by a surprise victory for St Joseph’s on Friday night that opened up the group once more, both teams pinpointed this game to get their challenge back on track.

As a result, Corofin and Tubber tore into each other in real local der- by fashion, producing a compelling yet open encounter in the last of the championship games on Sunday.

Despite a strong breeze blowing towards the clubhouse, it was a rela- tively even affair throughout but that SOKO LNAUE NUM Mmoiesleore menace phant was due to a ten minute pur- ple patch directly after half-time in which they outscored Tubber by 2-6 to 0-1 to overturn a one point deficit into a ten point lead.

Admittedly, they took their foot off the gas after that and allowed Tub- ber to charge at them once more but after building up such a mammoth advantage, they deservedly held on to complete the victory.

Essentially, the difference overall was the ability of Corofin and Kevin Heagney in particular, to obtain goals out of nothing. The Clare mi- nor set up Corofin’s first goal for Kil- lian Neylon and then scored two op- portunistic goals in the space of six minutes after half-time, first gather-

ing a John Williams puck-out before slipping his shot into the far corner of the net.

The second was even better when he again fielded from a Darragh Clancy clearance before jinking past his man and burying into the top corner.

At the other end, despite grabbing two late goals, Tubber had four clear goal chances over the 60 minutes that were twarted by goalkeeper John Williams, including a late first

half penalty save from Blaine Earley that would have given Tubber a four- point half-time cushion.

Tubber had started brightly and were Q-5 to O-2 ahead at the end of the first quarter, mainly thanks to three Blaine Earley frees but they were rocked by Neylon’s goal that cancelled out their early advantage.

From that juncture to the break, the sides went point for point until the impressive David O’Donoghue con-

verted his third point of the half to give Tubber a slender half-time lead.

Corofin emerged a more focused side in the second period and mov- ing Dara Shannon to midfield, they opened up Tubber with ease to score 2-6 and push them into a command- ing lead.

Tubber emptied the bench and it sparked a reaction with first, Shane O’Connor and then first cousin Bar- ry grabbing two goals by the 55th

minute to produce a nervy finish.

As the heavens opened though, the game petered out and Corofin held their ground to carve out the much needed win and even up the group once again.

TWO of the four people injured last Friday night in a road traffic collision near Crusheen had to wait for over an hour in the rain for ambulances to reach the scene.

The two car head-on crash occurred shortly before 6 o’clock at Crusheen on the main N18 Ennis to Galway road. Two units of the fire brigade from Ennis and four ambulances from Ennis and Ennistymon attend- ed the incident, however, it took an hour before two of the ambulances reached the incident.

The injured, three women and a man, were taken to Ennis General

Hospital for treatment. The road was blocked for over an hour while traf- fic was backed up for several kilome- tres in each direction. None of the patients sustained seriously injured, however, some were trapped in the vehicles for a short time.

While the first ambulance arrived at the scene within minutes, it took more than half an hour for the sec- ond ambulance to arrive. This meant that the first ambulance on scene could not leave with its patients until back-up arrived. At one point, para- medics were treating one patient on a stretcher and another on the floor of the only ambulance at the crash.

It took a further 30 minutes before

another two ambulances reached the incident, over an hour after the crash was first reported. It 1s understood that one of the Ennis ambulances was returning from a call in Limerick at the time of the incident leaving just one ambulance to cover emergencies in Ennis.

In recent years, a new European Standard of ambulance has been introduced which means that vehi- cles can only accommodate a single Stretcher instead of the two which could be carried in older vehicles. Ambulance personnel in Ennis have long complained about the lack of re- sources within the service.

Last Wednesday night, an ambu-

lance from Kilrush had to travel 80 kilometres from its base to a medi- cal emergency in Newquay in north Clare because the Ennistymon am- bulance was also tied up.

Also last Wednesday, a single am- bulance from Ennis had to make two trips to the same traffic accident to take patients to hospital because of a lack of vehicles. Three cars were involved in the pile up at the New Road/Clonroad roundabout. The ambulance had to take one patient to Ennis General Hospital before re- turning to the scene for the second casualty.

A response was awaited from the HSE last night.

SHANNON Airport got a major boost yesterday, having been cho- sen as the re-fuelling stop for Brit- ish Airways planned business-class only flights from London City to New York.

During the stop at Shannon, cus- tomers will benefit from a special arrangement that will allow them to complete USA arrivals checks, meaning they will by-pass the nor- mal arrivals checks when they land in New York and speed straight

through the airport.

British Airways confirmed that this was a major consideration in choosing Shannon.

It is expected the twice-daily flights will launch in autumn 2009.

The service – the only to offer long haul flights to and from London City – will offer a one-cabin business class product with 32 seats which will flatten out to become beds.

On the ground, customers will be able to arrive at the airport as Iit- tle as 15 minutes before departure. This combined with the ability to

by-pass the usual arrivals checks in New York will make it a very con- venient, particularly for business We MUL ECe

Robert Boyle, British Airways commercial director, said, “Many city workers will be able to get from desk to aircraft in as little as 30 min- utes. This combined with Shannon Airport’s ability to complete USA arrival checks during the planned refuelling stop will ensure custom- ers can make the most of their time and travel desk to desk in the quick- est time possible.”

Airport director, Martin Moroney, welcomed the announcement. “To have a stellar aviation brand like British Airways select Shannon as the stop-over airport for this exclu- sive service 1s a real vote of confi- dence in the future of Shannon Air- port. Shannon has a long history as a transatlantic gateway, having been Ireland’s designated transatlantic airport as far back as the 1930s and we hope this new arrangement with British Airways is the start of a long and successful relationship,” seme BCCe

IT may not be his most prestigious ever nomination, but former Taoi- seach Bertie Ahern (FF) was last week announced as the Chairper- son of the 10th Annual Macra/FBD Young Farmer of the Year Judging Sroyeaveesimteron

Making the announcement last Thursday, a representative from the young farmers organisation said that he was both happy and proud that the former Taoiseach had taken up the position.

This years competition, which will take place in the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny on September 2, aims to recognise and reward the top young

farmers in the country.

The event is run annually by Macra na Feirme in partnership with the IFA and sponsored by FBD Insur- ance.

County rounds of the competition are currently taking place and 29 farmers will make it through to the final where they will be judged ac- cording to a number of criteria in- cluding farm business initiative and innovation, levels of farm efficiency and enterprise quality, farm safety and environmental protection aware- ness, as well as agricultural knowl- edge and community involvement.

The identity of the Clare represent- ative 1s expected to be know in the coming weeks.

The overall winner will be revealed at a special awards ceremony in the Newpark Hotel on September 2nd. The top prize is a specially com- missioned sculpture by Irish-based artist Joy Ledin, a travel bursary worth €2,500 and €1,000 spending money.

Second prize is a travel bursary of €1,000 plus €500 spending money, while third prize is a travel bursary of €500 plus €250 spending money.

Meanwhile, Macra na _ Feirme’s FBD Farmskills competition has been moved to the Gurteen Agricul- tural College, County Tipperary on SE TAUD KC rN AaNOESA I azo

Therefore the six teams represent- ing Clodagh in North Tipperary,

Clonakilty in Carbery, Callen in Kil- kenny, Ballycoog in Wicklow, Kin- negad in Westmeath and Moynalty in Meath, will now do battle in Gurteen for the title of National Farmskills Champions 2008.

The deadline to get forms in for county officer training is tomorrow, August 20. The training will consist of a weekend ’s activities in Killarney on August 29 to 31.

Club officer training is being held on the weekend of September 13 and club secretaries need to have these forms back to Clare Daven- port in national office by Septem- ber 3 if you have any queries please contact Clare on Ol 426 8910 or cdavenport@macra.ie.

ACCOMMODATION is the main expense of college life and is the student’s (and typically the par- ents’) main financial worry. In recent times, there has been a huge change in the student rental market. Today, students throughout Ireland are find- ing an adequate supply of available accommodation, static rental prices and higher quality properties.

Student accommodation around the country has come on in leaps and bounds over the past number of years, with students now getting a fairer deal. Gone are the days when students were happy to live in sub- standard dwellings.

2008 has seen student rental prices staying static for much of the coun- try. It was expected by many in the lettings market that prices would increase this year. However, analy- sis by www.collegecribs.ie, the Irish online student accommodation da- tabase, rent prices have largely re- mained static for another year.

These static rental prices are large- ly down to the recent downturn in the property market and the increase in the supply of rental accommodation. The continued increase of on-cam- pus and ‘Section 50’ (purpose-built, tax-designated student accommoda- tion complexes) accommodation and

the increasing number of properties coming into the rental market in- stead of being sold, has provided for a ‘renter’s market’; allowing students a greater choice in accommodation for the college term.

Dublin still is the most expensive city for students to live in, followed by Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. Research by www.col- legecribs.1e shows that the average price for students in Dublin is be- tween €90 to €120 per week, with city centre and south Dublin being the more expensive areas. Students living in the north of the capital will look forward to paying less. A stu- dent living in Cork will expect to pay between €80 and €90 per week. Students in Galway can anticipate paying between ©70 and €85, while University of Limerick students will be looking to hand over between ©65 and €80 per week, with the students of WIT expecting to pay the same.

Today’s student are more likely to look for more up-market accommo- dation – a departure from what the traditional student once looked for. As a result, landlords are having to update and improve their accommo- dation in order to attract and retain students. Broadband, microwaves, washing machines and dryers are all being demanded by the student of PAU eree

DESPITE the rain, hail and winds
they danced, played and sang in Kil-
rush at the weekend as visitors and
locals made the most of the Eigse
Mrs Crotty.

The public houses and workshops
were a place of refuge and entertain-
ment, as the crowds forgot one of the
wettest Augusts on record with the
help of an accordion, tin whistle or
bodhran.

The Eigse Mrs Crotty Festival is in
its 13th year and the traditional mu-
sic festival has grown to incorporate
music, singing and dancing work-
shops, a Mrs Crotty memorial con-
cert, singing sessions, recitals and a
vibrant session trail.

The five-day festival would not be
possible without the hard work of the
local committee and the influence of
the talented Mrs Crotty.

Born Elizabeth Markham in 1885
near Cooraclare, Mrs Crotty, was the
youngest of the large Markham fam-
ily. By the time of her death in 1960

she had become recognised as one of
Ireland’s foremost exponents of the
concertina

She married Miko Crotty and to-
gether they established Crotty’s Pub-
lic House in the Square, Kilrush. It
was from this House of Music that
Elizabeth Crotty’s reputation qui-
etly grew. Ciaran MacMathtna’s
first excursion to rural Ireland in the
1950’s with RTE’s mobile unit was
to record the talented woman for the
aba MmODON Len

Mrs Crotty was described as a
gentle and unassuming woman and
a natural musician who enjoyed a
unique mastery of the concertina.

It was said that people would seek
out her company and sit quietly cap-
tivated as she played. According to
the official website “what she loved
most of all was teaching and encour-
aging young musicians”.

The spirit of this inspiring woman
was well and truly in Kilrush this
weekend as young people learnt
from talented musicians and singers
as part of the many workshops.

AN APPLICATION for a playground for Killaloe has been given the green light by the planners in Clare County Sonieee

Local councillor, Tony O’Brien, who has been working on securing funding and permission for the ven- ture for more than a year, was told eo xelOle AV AM ERIM (os) @

“T’m absolutely delighted this has got the go-ahead. It’s a facility that

will be a great boost for the area and it will be welcomed by local people and visitors alike,” he said.

Over the last two years, the coun- cil has allocated a total of €102,000 towards the cost of building the play- ground.

€41,000 was allocated the year be- fore last and last year, Cllr O’Brien, seconded by Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald, proposed that a further €60,000 in funding be given under the council’s playground grants scheme.