WHILE pen has yet to be put to paper to formalise a contract, it has emerged this week that Clare junior soccer club Avenue United FC are the front runners to buy the former Roslevan GAA grounds.It appears the Ennis-based soccer club may edge out Clare GAA for the property after county board officials conceded this week that they may have missed out on doing a deal for Roslevan.Chairman Michael O’Neill confirmed the GAA had “a big interest” in the property but it is their understanding that Roslevan had been sold but, he said, “We have nothing to prove this”. Avenue United’s chairman, Gearóid Mannion, confirmed to The Clare Champion the club are interested in the property and have been for some time.“Yes, we have placed an offer on the facility,” he added.However, he cautioned, “As everybody who has ever bought a property knows, it is not owned until contracts are signed and we have not signed a contract”.Local auctioneer …

Ennis                    10Presentation     12ENNIS U-15s were just pipped at the post in this very competitive league final played at Coonagh last Sunday.

SHOCKWAVES from Wednesday’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Japan were detected in North Clare, due to a new scientific instrument at the Cliffs of Moher. While people in the area would not have felt the earth move, the newly installed seismometer at the Cliffs recorded the event.The state-of-the-art device, funded by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) and part of the Outreach Programme for Seismology in Schools run by the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), is the first of its kind to be installed in County Clare. The programme has 55 seismometers installed in schools countrywide.Tom Blake, INSN director and experimental officer with the School of Cosmic Physics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), said the seismometer is so sensitive it can easily pick up strong seismic activity on the other side of the world.“The earthquake near the east coast of Honshu in Japan was clearly picked up by the Cliffs of Moher seismometer approximately 10 minutes after it …

FIVE men, engaged in removing tonnes of scrap metal from the wreck of the Greek-owned ship ‘Okeanos’, which ran aground off Kilcredaun Point in Carrigaholt 65 years ago, were forced to abort the salvage operation last week after the intervention of Kilrush gardaí.It transpired that the men, who had arrived with cutting equipment, an excavator, tractor and trailer, had trespassed on private property and did not have the approved permission of the Revenue Commissioners to remove the scrap.The 7,000-tonne Okeanos ran aground in 1947 and part of the wreckage can still be seen at low tide. The Panamanian-registered ship had transported 5,000 tonnes of grain from River Plate in Buenos Aires to Limerick when it ran aground off Kilcredaun Point under somewhat mysterious circumstances.Last Thursday, the five men had been removing steel from the wreck for some time before the landowner, Stephen Rowan, became aware of what was going on.He went down to the site of the wreck and informed …

A SCARIFF man is in a critical condition in hospital in Limerick after an incident led to him being thrown from a moving car.The local man, who is a publican, had attempted to confront a youth who had left his off-licence business without paying for cans of beer. The car in which the youth was in “sped off” while the publican was holding onto it.Gardaí have confirmed the car drove up to 30 yards while the publican was still holding onto the vehicle. He was then “thrown to the ground”. His injuries have been described as “critical”.Inspector John O’Sullivan of Killaloe Garda Station explained how the incident unfolded. “The incident occurred a little after 10pm. A youth went into an off-licence in Scariff to buy some cans. He was asked for identification and he left again, saying that he needed to go to the car to get a wallet. Shortly after that he returned and got the cans. He produced …

IN excess of 100 competitors took part in the Ennis duathlon at Lees Road on Sunday.

THE children of Ennis Educate Together school are in the frame to be picture perfect for this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in the county capital. The 45 pupils of fourth and fifth classes have been busily working on their entry for the parade for the past month with artist David O’Rourke. And they are now looking forward to showcasing their works of art to the many people who will throng the streets of Ennis for the parade on Saturday.Their entry for the parade, which was themed ‘Ennis – A town of many cultures’ features framed portraits of different well known characters, with the children themselves becoming part of the art.Principal Seán Ó Confhaola explained, “The children created individual frames and chose characters to go in the frames. Then they cut out holes so their faces could go into the art. They will literally be walking portraits in the parade.”This is the first year that Ennis Educate Together has taken …

Three Clare publicans found themselves with combined bills in excess of €185,000 late last year after revenue audits revealed they had under-declared their income tax and VAT.John Redmond of Circular Road, Kilkee had the highest of the Clare liabilities. He was found to owe in excess of €70,000 tax, more than €8,000 interest and €21,146 in penalties, totaling €100,000.Fellow Kilkee publican Michael O’Mara of 12 O’Curry Street, was found to have under-declared tax to the value of €31,741. He was charged interest of more than €5,000 and penalties of €12,697, bringing his final settlement to €50,000.Patrick Reddan with an address at Main Street, Killaloe was found to owe just under €24,000 in tax, less than €5,000 in interest and just over €7,175 in penalties. His total settlement was €39,962.  A West Clare farmer was among more than 400 people fined or penalised between October 1 and December 31 last year. Kevin Sexton of Craggaknock in Mullagh was fined €6,000 as …